First you find out your are a billboard, then an ambassador, and now a temple. While some people may feel important due to the money they have, the things they own, or the authority they command, I am guessing that most of us feel rather ordinary or may even feel invisible. Being a billboard or ambassador may be a bit much to absorb. A temple may be over the top thinking for most of us. After all, a temple is an important place, a large building where people go to worship their deity. All religions and societies have them. Each city-state in Greece had its own. The Jewish Temple was in Jerusalem. For the Christian, the human soul is the Temple of God. Hold on, you say, “Possibly a church building could be considered a temple, but an individual or group of individuals? How can that be?”
The Temple is the place where God dwells. For the Jew it was considered to be holy since God is holy. In particular, the innermost room, the Holies of Holies, was reserved for God’s presence alone. Only the High Priest could enter one day of the year to make an atoning sacrifice for the sins of Israel. What does all of this have to do with us?
God prophesied through Joel that He would put his Spirit in all of his people, men and women, young and old, and rich and poor regardless of wealth, position, or power. When his disciples did not want him to die on the cross, Jesus replied that he had to go away so the Holy Spirit could come and not only be with them as he was, but would be in them.+ This first took place resurrection Sunday and was made publicly evident on Pentecost fifty days later.
Paul affirms in several places* that those who have believed in Jesus have been given the Holy Spirit to reside in them as a deposit or down payment of the good things to come. The Holy Spirit put in each believer is the cause of the creation of a new person. He works in each one to teach them about Jesus, the truth of the Bible, right and wrong (according to God), and the way to live. Worship becomes a thing of beauty and pleasure and no longer a duty to be endure.
Because everyone who has given his or her life to Jesus ha the Holy Spirit dwelling within, by definition, he or she is the temple of God. When you give your life to Jesus you become the temple of God because He is dwelling in you making you new each day. Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV), “We…who reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with every-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” This is wonderful news! Yea God!
Donna
+John 16:5-11; This first took place on the day of Resurrection, John 20:19-23 specifically verse 22 “And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The public display of this truth became evident fifty days later, Acts 2 specifically verses 1-4, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
*Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV): “And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory.”
Tell the Next Generation 