TUESDAY May 18, 2021
God’s Dwelling Place
...in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:21-22
Churches are not the temple of God. Believers in Christ have become the temple of God:
...do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
The word temple used in 1 Corinthians 6, is the same word used for the Holy of Holies in the Jewish temple. The High Priest was the only one who would enter the Holy of Holies. He did this once a year, on the Day of Atonement, to make a sacrifice for his sins and the people’s sins. This was a holy place where God’s presence dwelt––the Mercy Seat, between two Cherubim.
God does not live in a building made with hands. He does not live in Calvary Chapel Golden Springs; He lives within our bodies! A believer’s body becomes the Holy of Holies. In Christ, we are growing into God’s Holy Temple. God dwells in us. God lives in our hearts. Anytime, we are able to come before His presence.
The Bible teaches that when you grow older, the inward man is renewed: For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV). I like that. As you age, you do not have to get depressed when you look into the mirror! Look at yourself with spiritual eyes––you are actually getting renewed inwardly. When we die, the spirit leaves the body, and our mortal body goes back into the ground.
God saved us and dwells in us; He has taken up residence. Pray for other people that they too would come to a personal knowledge of Christ and know how spiritually rich they can become in Him.
Heaven and earth, all ...the kings and princes of the world could not raise a fit dwelling place for God; yet, in the weak human soul, that keeps His Word, He willingly resides.
~Martin Luther~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!