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David's Deliberations . . .

The Temple of God

14 December 2008

The Temple of God Under the Law of Moses there was a specific place where God met those who worshipped Him: "You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you." (Exodus 20:24)

First, there was the tabernacle, a portable temple. God showed Moses a building plan or pattern: "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it." (Exodus 25:8-9, see v. 40)

Then came the temple: "But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come." (Deuteronomy 12:5) "Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place." (2 Chronicles 7:15)

However, under the New Covenant, God's covenant with us today, the temple is no longer the place to meet God. Jesus presaged this change when he told the woman at the well: "an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." (John 4:21-24)

Today, the church is the "place" where God dwells and meets His worshippers. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: "Do you not know that you are a 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." (1 Corinthians 3: 16-17)

The church, the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23), is made up of those who have been saved. It is a spiritual building in which the Spirit of God dwells: "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Like the tabernacle and the temple, the church (God's building; 1 Corinthians 3:9) must be built according to God's plan (see 1 Chronicles 28:10-19; Exodus 25:40; Hebrews 8: 1-5; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; Psalm 127:1). God's plan for the New Testament church is found throughout the New Testament.

Christ and His apostles are the foundation for this spiritual building (Isaiah 28: 16-17; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:20). Christians are the stones built together into the temple of God (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5,6,9-10; unbelievers and disobedient cannot be stones, 1 Peter 2:7-8).

The strength of the building depends on the stones being cemented together in peace and love (Ephesians 2:21-22; Ephesians 4:1-3) and each member doing his or her part (Ephesians 4:15-16). As we look forward to the new year, let's set as a priority the building up of the church.

—David Carl Swanson