About Jesus  -  Steve Sweetman

Intimacy In Worship

He focuses his gaze upon his wife across the room.  "She's stunningly beautiful, and she's all mine," he thinks as emotions are being aroused within.  Her facial expression suggests she is deep in thought.  Not knowing if he should disturb her, he hesitates, but not for long.  An inner compulsion urges him to take that first step of faith across the room.  Being awakened from her moment of meditation she graces him with a curious smile.  As his heart begins to quiver at this hint of expectant ecstasy, one gentle kiss redirects the events of the evening.  They're lost in a secret, even sacred, place of intimacy reserved only for them.  You could call this place a sanctuary of worshipful adoration gifted to a husband and a wife by God at creation.  Their intimate exchange symbolizes the intimacy God desires to share with those who are His.  It's why Jesus invites us to worship God in both spirit and truth (John 4:24).    

There is no worship of God apart from the Holy Spirit.  You might say He is the lubricating oil that removes us from the dryness of life.  He is the anointing oil that smoothes our entrance into the presence of God.  Our naked souls stand before Him where nothing is hidden from His eyes.  He is the ultimate universal truth that addresses any hint of dishonesty or adulterated impurity in our lives as we worship Him in spirit and in truth.                

When John 4:24 tells us to worship God in spirit and truth the Greek word "proskyneo" translated as "worship" means to "kiss towards."  Worshipping God, therefore, is an act of spiritual kissing that is only reserved for those belonging to Him.    

You may never have thought about worshipping God as being a sacred kiss, but I believe it's one reason why God created male and female to be husband and wife.  Genesis 1:27 says that God created male and female in His image.  Included in being created in God's image is the desire for intimacy.  In fact  marital intimacy is a reflection of the intimacy our God and Maker desires to share with us.  In this respect the prophet Isaiah said something interesting.  "Your Maker is your husband" (Isaiah 54:5 - see also Jeremiah 3:14, 31:32, Hosea 2:16).  In a Biblically healthy sense of the word, God our heavenly husband desires intimacy with His people, both corporately and individually.        

Biblical worship is a mutual exchange of affection between God and His people.  We adore the One we love and the One we love adores us.  If you have never entered into such intimate worship, ask the Holy Spirit to anoint you with the oil of glad expectation.  He will lead you out of the dryness of life and into the soothing presence of God your Saviour.  He has prepared a special place just for you.   

Post Script  

Some Christians, especially women of certain Christian persuasions, have taken the concept of a heavenly husband to an unhealthy and unbiblical extreme by forgoing marriage and normal human sexual relations with a husband.  Although worship of God can be understood in terms of intimacy, to be clear, we do not engage in some kind of human style sexuality with God.  That is a purely pagan concept.  It was for this reason that temple prostitution has been central to pagan worship throughout history.