Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

14 May 2025

Reading From John 4:1-30

“The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where people must worship.”

Jesus said, “Believe me, woman! The time is coming when you will not have to be in Jerusalem or on this mountain to worship the Father. You Samaritans worship something you don’t understand. We Jews understand what we worship, since salvation comes from the Jews. But the time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. In fact, that time is now here. And these are the kind of people the Father wants to be his worshipers. God is spirit. So the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”—John 4:19-24

From John 4 we learn that God is spirit. This is confirmed in I Corinthians 15:45. When male and female were created in Genesis 1, they were made in the spiritual image of God, as God is spirit and transcends gender. God, in the fullness of His glory and splendor, is not comprehensible to our limited, finite minds. But praise the Lord, we can know Him and enjoy relationship with Him.

In the Old Covenant, worship was centered around a physical tabernacle and later the temple in Jerusalem both of which housed a localized manifestation of the Presence of the Almighty. But in the New Covenant ushered in by acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God, men and women become temples themselves.

As each disciple grows spiritually, they become more like Jesus and these temples are gradually brought together to become one massive, mighty, living temple of the Living God. As the eternal family of God, we form that temple in which He dwells by His Spirit.

“Lord, thank You for revealing more about who You are. Dwell within our hearts and unite us not by might nor by power but by Your Spirit. In the Name of Jesus I pray these things. Amen.”

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.—Ephesians 2:21-22