Where God Lives

In earliest times, God appeared to dwell in nature, and made His presence known from time to time in fire, cloud and earthquake. As the Israelites settled down in the promised land instead of a nomadic life, a permanent ‘residence’ was built for God on Zion - The Temple. The time of building was a time of great joy as people sacrificially brought gifts of material, time and skill.

When Jesus came on the scene, Temple tradition was upset, when Jesus claimed that God lived in him - Jn.14:10 (‘How can that be when God lives down the road in The Temple?’). Not only that, but Jesus declared and foretold the end of ‘Temple Worship’ (Jn.2:19-21), in the rending of the temple curtain, the physical destruction of The Temple, and his own bodily death. In His resurrection, He instituted the era of God’s spirit indwelling the hearts of believers.

But Jesus did not just bring about a spatial change, from centralised to distributed, but rather completion of God’s plan for His relationship with us. Instead of a King-subject relationship, we can now have a direct access Father-child relationship. Instead of the imperfect temple sacrifice system, we can have full and complete forgiveness through faith in the ultimate sacrifice of Christ Himself. Instead of having to rely only on priests and prophets to receive God’s word and direction, we can have Holy Spirit Himself indwelling us as our intercessor, empowerer and personal trainer.

The ‘new’ Temple of God is no longer a building, but the heart and body of every believer, and the ‘body’ of all believers. But to focus on individual or corporate bodies as ‘the temple’ is to still miss the point. Whilst sanctified buildings and bodies are necessary implements, the Temple of God is a relational environment. God inhabits the praises of His people (Ps.22:3). When we are loving one another, that is where God lives (1 Jn.4:12-16). When God’s commands are etched on the fleshly tablets of our hearts (2 Cor.3:3), and our human frailties are forgiven through faith in Christ’s redemption (Eph.3:17), that is where God lives.

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