Life Marks: SIGNIFICANT (Part 3)

As I mentioned last week, history is vitally important for us to understand our spiritual heritage, as well as for understanding our significance in Christ. I hope that you gained some historical perspective on temples in general and, of course, the Temple that was built for Yahweh, as we saw in last week’s blog.

Writing in about AD 64, the writer of the Book of Hebrews told his readers that, “…the First Covenant (the Old Covenant) was becoming obsolete and was about ready to disappear” (Heb. 8:13). The focal point of the Old Covenant was the Temple in Jerusalem, and indeed, it did disappear just 6 years later! Furthermore, as we saw last week, the Old Covenant sacrificial system was just a “shadow” of the good things to come (Heb. 10:1). It was the New Covenant that was always part of God’s plan, a truth revealed to the Prophet Jeremiah over 500 years before Jesus appeared on the scene (Jer. 31:27-34). The Old Covenant with its temple, its priesthood, and it sacrifices just didn’t work because, in that system, God could only “overlook” sin, not remove it. Furthermore, it could not create a new heart nor provide a clean conscience free from guilt as the New Covenant can (see the 9^th chapter of Hebrews for an amazing contrast between the Old and the New Covenants). And a very significant part of that New Covenant was to be a whole new Temple.

It’s interesting to note that a new Temple was prophesied even before Jeremiah recorded his prophecy. In fact, it was Moses, approximately 800 years before Jeremiah, who gave us our first glimpse of a New Temple when he recorded what God had told him, “I will put my dwelling place among you…I will walk among you and be your God….” (Lev. 26:11-12). The apostle Paul refers to this prophecy when he told the church in Corinth, “For we are the temple of the living God” (I Cor. 6:16). What was that again? Yes, Paul said that “we” have become the Temple of the Living God. It is the church of Jesus Christ, composed of all those who have been born again by the Spirit of God, who make up the new Temple. As the prophets foretold, God would dwell “in them” and “walk among them.” God has chosen to dwell “in the church,” not in a temple made by human hands.

This does not mean that God dwells in a “church building.” When Paul speaks of “we,” he is not talking about a building, but about people. The church of Jesus Christ is made up of people, and God dwells “in” and walks “among” His people. Furthermore, when Paul was exhorting the believers in Corinth to live holy and honorable lives, he reminded them that, “…you are a temple of God because the Spirit of God dwells in you” (I Cor. 3:16). Paul wanted to make it even clearer by saying, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?” (1 Cor. 6:19). It was, and is, God who sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within every individual at the moment of their salvation. Sin is removed from our hearts and is replaced by the Holy Spirit who now fills us. And that Holy Spirit is “holy,” because he is God Himself, the third person of the trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

And so, instead of dwelling in temples made with brick and mortar, God has chosen to dwell within every believer, and hence, within the Church. Because God dwells in every believer through the Holy Spirit, Paul goes on to say that, “…we are not our own, because we have bought with a price (the blood of Christ), and therefore, we are to glorify God in our bodies (I Cor. 6:19-20). Paul exhorts every Christian, and the church in general, to remember the fact that we are God’s temple and therefore, He dwells within us. Furthermore, he reminds us that the price that was paid for God to dwell in us was none other than the blood of Christ. That, in itself, should serve as ample motivation for every Christian to honor God in every part of their lives, namely, in their character and conduct.

Indeed, every believer is significant because God Himself (through His Holy Spirit) has chosen to dwell within us. Let me personalize that by saying that if you are a Christian, then God lives within you. Your body is His temple. He has chosen to take up residence within you. You are God’s child, and as we have seen previously, your adoption as His child came at a high price. And that price was not paid by you, but by Jesus. He died that you might live and become part of His family. And in this family, God dwells in and walks among us. What a thought! What a reality! What significance! Every believer in Jesus Christ can confidently say, “God has chosen to live in me!” Wow!

But, there is still more to be said about this New Covenant Temple, but that will have to wait until next week. Hope to see you then.