God is a spirit? John 4:24?

Question

Someone asked a similar question before: "If verses like John 4:24 say that God is spirit, then how can Jesus be God if he is physical too? I think that is a good question.

John 4:24 states in the King James version that “God is a spirit.” However, since there is no indefinite article (a, or an) in the Greek language from which this verse is translated, the consensus among biblical scholars is that there should not be an indefinite article at John 4:24. It should simply read “God is spirit.” In other words, this scripture does not limit God to being only a spirit, but merely includes spirit as one of his attributes.

After all, we also read that “God is light” (1 Jn. 1:5) and “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8), and yet no one interprets these verses to mean that God is only light, or God is only love. Certainly, the member of the Godhead called the Holy Ghost is spirit, but that fact tells us nothing about whether or not God the Father has a physical body.

I appreciate the input, but 1 Kings 8:39, 43,49 does not say that God is an entity of spirit only. It says that He dwells in heaven.

Tomoyo said "God cannot be human..." I agree that God cannot be human in the sense that we are human. We make mistakes. He is perfect. We are mortal and therefore grow old and die. God does not grow old and he certainly can't die. But does that necessarily mean that we are not the same species as God?

Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."

When Adam begat a son it said that he "begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:" Genesis 5:3.

The words used there "likeness" and "image" are the identical Hebrew words used in Genesis 1:26.

Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus Christ (Who proved to His Apostles that He had a resurrected body of flesh and bones) is in the express image of His Father's person. Read Hebrews 1:1-3 for the full context. So how can the Father not have a body of flesh and bones like the Son?

Answer 1

Good point. I guess we'll know if God the Father has a physical body or not when we get to heaven.

Peace and Love

Answer 2

If you believe God can not be many things. Let me give you an example:
You can be a son, an individual, a friend, a father, a brother, a nephew, an uncle, a good citizen, and more.

That is why the belief in the Godhead is important: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. all separate but each has a function.. The Bible says God is a light--are you not the light of your parents eyes? I don't think your religion recognizes the trinity. Examine it

Answer 3

I personally think God is pure energy. He has the power to speak and for things to be created from His word. Jesus is the word made flesh (physical). The Holy Spirit is a part of God that has been put into our hearts.

It's a pretty simply yet complicated subject. God wants everyone to find out the absolute truth about Him. Keep searching...

Answer 4

Verses 25 and 26 answer the question and more! Not only is God Spirit but God as Jesus answers the ladies statement that she knows one day Jesus will come and explain and He answers I am HE.
That is the triune God . Father,Son and Holy Spirit

Answer 5

Genesis: And the Spirit of God moved across the Earth...

The alpha & omega

God in the flesh.

And I will send the Holy Spirit (per Jesus)

God was, God's spirit moved across the Earth, God sent himself in the flesh, then God again sent his Holy Spirit to guide us until his return. Amen! See you in heaven brother.

Answer 6

I like your analysis...But when the Bible says God is a spirit, it means it as an entity, as we are humans dwelling in the physical universe, God is a spirit dwelling specifically in the spiritual realm. (1 Kings 8:39, 43, 49; 2 Chronicles 6:33, 39)

When the bible says God is light, is it symbolical, literal, personification...and so on. We will of course see that these adjectives as possessed by God cannot mean his entity but are just qualities that he presonifies.

The Greek pneu′ma (spirit) comes from pne′o, meaning “breathe or blow,” and the Hebrew ru′ach (spirit) is believed to come from a root having the same meaning. Ru′ach and pneu′ma, then, basically mean “breath” but have extended meanings beyond that basic sense. (Compare Hab 2:19; Re 13:15.) They can also mean wind; the vital force in living creatures; one’s spirit; spirit persons, including God and his angelic creatures; and God’s active force, or holy spirit. (Compare Koehler and Baumgartner’s Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, Leiden, 1958, pp. 877-879; Brown, Driver, and Briggs’ Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1980, pp. 924-926; Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by G. Friedrich, translated by G. Bromiley, 1971, Vol. VI, pp. 332-451.) All these meanings have something in common: They all refer to that which is invisible to human sight and which gives evidence of force in motion. Such invisible force is capable of producing visible effects.

Another Hebrew word, nesha·mah′ (Ge 2:7), also means “breath,” but it is more limited in range of meaning than ru′ach. The Greek pno·e′ seems to have a similar limited sense (Ac 17:25) and was used by the Septuagint translators to render nesha·mah′.

God cannot be human, one reason that he send his Son, Jesus, in form of a human on earth. The bible says that the magnitude and power of God cannot even be contained by the heavens, how more can a limited space on earth do that? (2 Chronicles 2:6, 1 kings 8.27)
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add: Image does not necessarily mean physical likeness...qualities and characteristics too...we have emotions, so does God, we love, He loves, He feels sad, we do too. But God is a spirit meaning he does not exist in the physical world, but he can produce visible effects in our world.
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Jesus was existing as a spirit in heaven, he was miraculously transferred into Mary's womb and became human. When he died, was he resurrected in body or spirit?

1 Peter 3:18 Why, even Christ died once for all time concerning sins, a righteous [person] for unrighteous ones, that he might lead YOU to God, he being put to death in the flesh, but being made alive in the spirit!

Answer 7

God is three beings, The Father, the Son, and the Holy spirit.

And men were made in Gods shape -The Father

So the spirit is - The Holy Spirit

And Jesus is - The Son - also with a physical body.

Answer 8

You really don't think that Jesus was a spiritual being? yes God is Spirit and manifests Himself to us as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. One God three manifestations... Jim

Answer 9

You're right. The NIV says, "God is spirit," but the KJV says "a spirit." If that was all it said, I could see your reasoning. However, if you put the whole verse together, the meaning is clearer. "God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." In my opinion, this mean God is a spirit that dwells in all of us, for we are the temple of Christ. We have to worship him in spirit, not in flesh, or it is meaningless. We can not understand spiritual teachings when we try to learn in the flesh. We must use God's spirit within us to understand. ;-)

James

Answer 10

When the bible says..spirit..it doesn't mean..like smoke or something without substance.
To say that God is spirit, is correct but he has a physical form. Its not the same as "human flesh" for that was created out of the material of the earth .