I AM GOD’S TEMPLE
April 17, 2011
Sermon in a sentence: I will live in the reality that I am a temple of God on Earth.
Scriptures: Ex. 25:8; 1 Ch. 21:21-30; 22:5; 2 Ch. 6:18; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16b-7:1; Gal. 2:20-21; Rev. 21:3, 22
Main points: God’s desire to dwell among His people has long been established. In Ex. 25:8, (around 1450BC), God requested that a Tabernacle be built as a dwelling place for Him and a meeting place for Him and His people.
The tabernacle housed the Ark of the Covenant, the physical representation of the eternal, almighty Spirit of God. Although they could not literally see the Spirit of God and only rarely even saw the Ark, they could look to the Tabernacle at any time and understand its importance as God’s symbolic dwelling place on Earth.
This was a portable Tabernacle, which served them for almost 500 years as they wandered through the wilderness and then settled in the Promised Land.
As King David was getting toward the end of his reign, he had a great desire to leave a grand legacy behind – a permanent dwelling place – a spectacular Temple for his God. This came about after the sacrifice he made on the threshing floor he had bought from Ornan (1 Ch. 21:25), which God sanctified by sending fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice (v. 26).
This was a big deal to David because the Tabernacle and Ark were 10km away in Gibeon at the time. However, because of the urgency of the situation (the angel of the Lord was going to destroy the people:the people David had numbered), he had no time to get there and seek God through a priest. Yet, God answered by fire as He had only done a couple of times previously when sacrifices had been offered to Him – a clear sign of His presence and favor.
In other words, God was making the point that He was not confined to the Tabernacle or the official priesthood; He could show up anywhere, anytime and interact with anyone He wanted to.
So, David prepared for, and commissioned his son Solomon to build an“exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious” Temple(1 Ch. 22:5).
One researcher came to the conclusion that the cost of building this incredible structure was $174 Billion.[1] Certainly, the cost of the gold and silver alone at current prices would be approx. $14 Billion.[2] (What kind of national shrine could we build with “only” $14 Billion?)
Add to that the brass and iron, wood and stone, jewels and fabrics, plus the labor to carve, quarry, engrave, transport and erect the building.
As mind-blowing as it was, Solomon asked a very simple rhetorical question that put the whole Temple building exercise into its true perspective. He asked:
2 Ch. 6:18 (NASB) “… will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built”.
The 1st Temple was completed in 957BC, then destroyed by the Babylonians in 586BC. The 2nd Temple was built in 515BC, renovated and expanded by Herod starting in 20BC, then totally destroyed again in 70AD.
(As you are probably aware, the Jews would love to rebuild the Temple for the 3rd time, but the al Aqsa mosque is presently on the Temple Mount and any attempt by Israel to remove it, would precipitate a massive global conflict.)
So what has been happening in the meantime – since 70AD?
Has God abandoned His people because there is no temple to attend for worship? Has He stopped forgiving sins since no animal sacrifices are being made? Have the people lost all hope of salvation because the priests are unable to perform their duties? Is His Spirit no longer residing with His people?
Fortunately for us, the answer to all these questions is NO!
The Lord has done something truly incredible to overcome all of these negative realities.
Even before the 2nd temple was destroyed, beginning around 3BC, He unveiled a new and different plan. He brought into full force what had been foreshadowed on Ornan’s threshing floor and brought into being a whole new type of Temple that makes Solomon’s look like a burnt out ghetto shack.
First, God ‘tabernacled’ in a tent and in a box – the Ark of the Covenant. Then He tabernacled in a body of flesh – Jesus Christ. Now, He tabernacles in us – it is His Holy Spiritthat dwells in us! In the New Jerusalem, He Himself will become the Tabernacle!
Because of this new reality – God tabernacling IN us, Paul said to the Corintians:
1 Cor. 3:16-17 NASB “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are”.
He drove the point home again in his second letter:
2 Corinthians 6:16b-18 – 7:1 (NASB) For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. "Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord. "And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.
(Now here’s the punch-line!)
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Why do we live holy lives? Because we are the temples of God. Why do we separate ourselves from the filth of this world? Because we are the temples of God. Why do we eliminate all the works of the flesh? Because we are the temples of God. The Spirit of the holy God dwells within us. We must be holy because He is holy and His temple must be clean.
It is His blood that cleanses us because we cannot cleanse ourselves.
It is His Spirit that makes us holy, because we have no holiness within ourselves.
Our part is to pray without ceasing that the Lord will continue to do His work in us, and that we refrain from frustrating Him through willful acts of disobedience, sin and doubt. We continue to receive everything we need to be His temple by His grace, through faith.
Galatians 2:20-21 (NASB) "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."
If we do not present our bodies as living sacrifices and allow Him to do His work, we will be destroyed, just as new wine will destroy an old vessel, or new cloth stitched onto old cloth will rip it.
In the old covenant, there was a strictly designated place for people to meet with God. Under the new covenant, anyone, anytime, anywhere can meet with God, and everyone should readily be able to see His glory in us – God’s temples on earth.
Revelation 21:1-2, 22, 3 (NASB) 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them”.
Prayer time: “Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary”
1
[1] accessed April 13,2011
[2] 1 Ch. 22:14; 1 Ch. 29:4, 7: 300 tons of gold @ $1403/oz.; 375 tons of silver @ $40/oz.