YOU ARE THE NEW TEMPLE!

Friday 9 May

Everyone that follows eschatology is wondering when the Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. The hot topic of the red heifers and when they will be ready to be offered which will coincide with the opening of the new temple. It stems from the thought that there is one Antichrist who will supposedly sit on the throne of David and will proclaim Himself to be God. But is this the truth? We will answer that question at a later time.

We know Antiochus Epiphanes IV who conquered Israel in the 2nd century B.C. already did this and desecrated the second Jewish temple by slaughtering a pig on the altar and which God expressly told Moses was an unclean animal not to be eaten or used for sacrifice.

If you recall back to the tabernacle that Moses built according to the pattern that God showed him on Mt. Sinai, we know that it was a physical structure to represent the body, soul and spirit of man. This was Moses’ teaching ministry to the children of Israel.

John 1:14 speaking of the incarnation of Christ says ‘and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ This is where He tabernacled with us. After the Holy Spirit came it was no longer ‘with us’ but ‘in us’.

Jesus also talked about another temple in John 2:19-21.

‘Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.’

Let’s look at Jesus for a moment. He was a man with a body, soul and spirit. Not only that, but He was the first man that the Holy Spirit was able to dwell in. The outer court was the body, the inner court was the soul and the Holy of holies represented the spirit of man.

Now look at John 2:22.

‘Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.’

Think about it. Only after Jesus’ resurrection did His own disciples start to understand what the real temple actually was. The emphasis now was on the new temple that would be built in us.

In the early church there was a paradigm shift among the Jews from the types and shadows of Judaism to the substance and reality of Christ.

The Apostle Paul’s writings and his revelation of the ‘new concealed in the old’ were instrumental in achieving this new mindset. Keeping all of this in mind let’s look at some key verses.

‘Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?’ (1 Corinthians 3:16)

‘Or 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 6:9)

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2 Corinthians 6:16)

Through further study of these verses we discover that both individually and corporately we are the temple of God.

‘you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ (1 Peter 2:5)

What is another name for a spiritual house? A temple.

We become the new temple by being born of the Spirit.

Jesus called this temple a home.

‘Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’

So rather than say when I came to Christ I knew I was home, The Spirit of the Father and the Son made us their home. So where in actuality is the house of God today? What do you think?

Revelation 21:3 gives us the answer.

‘And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.’

How is God with us? Not as Immanuel, but as Christ in us the hope of glory. No wonder the last book of the Bible’s full title is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Those who are believers, are God’s operational headquarters on earth; the heaven and earth of God and the expression of the kingdom of God in the hearts of men. The best thing you can do as a Christian is concentrate on the new temple that is YOU and begin functioning as the king-priest that you are in Him.

Rest assured, with God on your inside, you don’t have to fear any ‘end time event’ because the new temple that was built in you, can never be destroyed and will never be vacated by the owners.

APPLICATION

Study the scriptures about the Temple of the Holy Spirit in this devotion and always keep to the doctrinal books of the epistles to be the arbiter of truth for your learning.