WE ARE GOD’S TEMPLE TODAY

Pastor Lynda MacDonald, Nova Scotia

 

The Body of Christ today is in need of cleansing and re-dedication. We have just come through the season of celebrating Chanukah – the festival of Lights also known as The Feast of Dedication. It commemorates the cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem after pagan worship was practiced there.

 

New testament scripture teaches us that we are Temples of The Most High God. Now, when Yeshua (Jesus) called the Jewish people of his time “temples”, they understood the awesome comparison that He was making. The Temple was a sacred, sanctified (set apart) place. It was the “heart of worship” and the place where man and God met. It was “God’s House”.

 

What actually does scripture tell us about us as temples?

John 2:19 - 22   Yeshua’s body is a temple.

1Cor 3:16           we are God’s temples.

1Cor 3:17           God’s temple is to be holy.

1Cor 6:19           our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit.

2Cor 6:16           we are the temple of the Living God.

Eph 2: 21-22      we are the temples of the Living God.

 

Some information about the temple in Jerusalem-

 

The Temple (Tabernacle)

 

One Door (Way)- There was only one way into the very presence of God in the Temple.

John 14:6, John 10:1 The Word of God is very clear. There is no other way to God except through His Son.  If there was another way, then God sacrificed his son in vain. John 3:16

 

The Altar- One could not move into the deeper place of the Temple without encountering the altar. Blood sacrifices had to be performed for payment for sin by a Holy God.

1John 1:7 there is no other way to God except through the blood of Yeshua. No matter what we may wish to think, God set the price and the way.

 

The Laver -A cleansing needed to be done every time people came into the Temple. Sin had to be washed away.

Acts 2:38, Titus 3:5, Hebrews 10:22 We need to daily be washed so that sin does not take root in our lives. 

 

The Menorah- The only light in the temple

 Matthew 5:14 -16, John 8:12 we need to be lights that shine forth out to a dark world. We can only be that light if “the Light of the world” lives and shines in us.

 

The Table of Showbread -(Presence)

 John 6:48, Romans 8:10 The Unleavened loaves which represented the people to God were replaced every Sabbath. We, too, need to make sure that we are fresh and new on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Bread always signifies ‘that which sustains life in us”.

 

The Table of Incense

 2Cor 2:15 –16 Ephesians 5:2 –7 In a world where sin is so rampant, we need to let people “smell” God off of us. How can we do that? We need to be in God’s presence so that His presence permeates our lives. In Revelation, we read that our prayers are like incense rising to God. The smoke from the temple was

 

The Holy Place

There was a structure in the Temple area that was divided into two parts –the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. Only in the Holy of Holies did God reside. His very presence (Shikinah) was there.

 Hebrews 10:19-22 we now can enter boldly into God’s presence “the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Yeshua, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”

 

And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. … And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by way of the gate, which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. …

"This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple." (Ezekiel 43: 2, 4-5, 7, 10, 11, 12)

 

So- how do we care for this wonderful human temple? Paul gives us the answer in Ephesians 5.

 

5:2

And live a life of love, just as also the Messiah loved us, indeed, on our behalf gave himself up as an offering, as a slaughtered sacrifice to God with a pleasing fragrance.

 

5:3

Among you there should not even be mentioned sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity, or greed; these are utterly inappropriate for God's holy people.

 

5:4

Also out of place are obscenity and stupid talk or coarse language; instead, you should be giving thanks.

 

5:5

For of this you can be sure: every sexually immoral, impure or greedy person - that is, every idol-worshipper - has no share in the Kingdom of the Messiah and of God.

 

5:6

Let no one deceive you with empty talk; for it is because of these things that God's judgment is coming on those who disobey him.

 

5:7

So don't become partners with them!

 

The Complete Jewish Bible

 

Let’s keep our temple fit for the King!

 

 

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