Download:
Text:
The Bible demonstrates that those who are in Christ have a rich spiritual identity. This involves being a temple of God. Yet, while it is common for people to identify as “Christians,” many may be unfamiliar with what it means for Christians to be a place where God dwells. Still, we see this concept plainly taught in the pages of Scripture (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Therefore, if you are going to fulfill your true purpose in Jesus Christ, you must embrace your identity as a temple of God and all this involves.
1) God dwells in your body. Generally, the concept of a temple is a place where a deity is believed to dwell (reside). God instructed His people to build a tabernacle (tent) and, later, a temple. From these, God would dwell and meet with His people (Exodus 25:8-9; 1 Kings 8:10-11). This would be the place where Israel would seek to worship and serve God. Yet, despite the magnificent and elaborate ways these were built, the fullness of God’s glory still could not be contained within them (1 Kings 8:27; Acts 7:47-50; Acts 17:24-25)! The Old Testament temple, then, is just a preview of the way God would come to dwell in His people today. Those who come to love Christ by believing and obeying His word would be the dwelling place of God (John 14:23-24; 2 Corinthians 6:16-18). Particularly, God can be said to dwell in His people as the word He has revealed through the Holy Spirit is believed and obeyed (i.e. compare what the Spirit does and the word does, John 3:3-6; 1 Peter 1:22-25)! In this way, our lives are made to look like Jesus’s (Romans 8:9-11; Hebrews 4:12)!
2) You are not your own. Temples were typically elaborate and quite expensive to build. Consider the cost of the tabernacle that predated the temple for Israel (Exodus 38:21-31). Then, consider the cost of the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 29:1-9; 1 Kings 6, i.e. 6:19-22). After considering this high cost of building the temple, recognize that what it cost God to build you as His temple was even greater (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Peter 1:18-19)! While you were living in sin, you refused to let God use your life as His dwelling and allowed Satan to dwell in you instead (John 8:44; Ephesians 2:1-3). Therefore, you could not make your life an acceptable dwelling place of God on your own. Thankfully, God sent Jesus to pay the price of His blood that was necessary to redeem you from your sin and become His! Because of this price that was paid, then, you must recognize that you are not your own. That is, you must not view your life in a selfish way so that you will live in just any way you desire. Instead, you must see your life as belonging to God, as one who has been devoted as holy to the Lord!
3) You must use your body to glorify God. The temple in Jerusalem was a place where God would dwell among His people and a place of worship and service to God, as people would travel to the temple on particular occasions (i.e. Luke 2:41-46). However, God now uses you and all His people as living and mobile temples for Him throughout this world! Because of this, the place of worship and service to God is not fixed, but such that God can be glorified through service and worship anytime and anyplace (John 4:19-24)! In fact, the purpose of God’s redemptive work through Jesus to make you His temple is so that you will bring Him glory through your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)! So, you must carefully consider the way in which you use your physical body – not allowing Satan to work through you, but allowing God to live and work in and through your life in every respect (1 Corinthians 6:12-20; Romans 6:12-13)! In fact, you should carefully reflect on your life and evaluate whether you are misusing God’s temple that He paid for with His Son’s blood. If so, you should correct such irreverence and abominations by cleansing your life of every evil that does not properly glorify God (like Jesus “cleansed” the physical temple, John 2:13-17; 2 Corinthians 7:1). This includes your thoughts, speech, habits, conduct, dress, relationships, religion, etc.
4) You are a living stone in a larger temple. While each Christian should view himself/herself as a temple of God in the ways we have discussed, the Scriptures also present the picture of the entire body of believers (the church) as a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:19-22). In this way, God has constructed His new temple by laying Jesus as the chief Cornerstone, the apostles and prophets as the foundation (through the word of God that was revealed to them), and every Christian as a living stone (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-8)! Through God’s people, God dwells among those on this earth, as His people represent Him and His interests, bringing glory to Him throughout the world. Then, as a living stone in this temple, you must recognize that you are one part of those who are living to bring God’s glory, not the only one trying to do so. And, you must also recognize that how you live reflects both directly on God and on others who are trying to bring glory to God. So, if you are not living in an honorable way to God, you are doing great damage to Him!
Being in Christ (a Christian) means that you are a temple of God. But, as we have seen, this is not an empty title or merely a way of describing yourself. Instead, this means that you are allowing God to work through your life through His inspired word so that you will bring Him glory. Now, you must not view your life as being your own and work diligently to glorify God in your body, along with all those who are Christians.
