Yesterday, I was talking about God’s Spirit and the Temple.
The main point was that it is the Lord’s presence that determines whether something is holy or not.
Not the building itself.
Up to this point in Scripture, the Lord’s presence has appeared in a number of different forms.
He manifested as a cloud, the Angel of the Lord, the Shekinah, and His Ruach (Spirit).
Then Yeshua came, and Yehovah’s substance was present on this planet in human form.
And no, I ain’t promoting the blasphemy that Yeshua is God here.
So Trinitarians don’t get too excited.
Finally, after Yeshua’s death and resurrection, the Lord’s substance is now present on this earth through believers.
We refer to this dynamic as the indwelling human spirit.
Later, in a future I believe is soon to come, the Lord’s presence will again return to this earth in the form of the Messiah returning as conquering king.
The point is, while the outer form has changed…
The underlying substance has not!
It’s common in the modern Church to say that our physical bodies are temples of God.
I think that analogy is fine.
But there’s an important point we shouldn’t forget.
God does not change or decay.
But we do.
Our physical bodies are temporary, imperfect, and will eventually return to dust.
It is God’s presence that holifies our bodies, so to speak.
Again, think about Solomon’s Temple.
The building itself was just a building.
It was God’s presence that made it holy and set it apart.
The same principle applies to us.
It is not our flesh that makes us holy.
It is the presence of God dwelling within us.
So here’s your takeaway for today.
We can dress ourselves in the finest clothes.
Surround ourselves with beautiful religious symbols.
Say all the right things, and look like the perfect believer.
But none of that makes us holy.
If God does not actually dwell within you…
Then all you’ve got is an empty shell.
And it doesn’t matter what that shell looks like.
It can be beaten up, worn out, and barely holding together.
Or it can look magnificent, polished, and impressive.
The principle remains.
It ain’t the outward appearance of the Temple that makes it holy.
It is the presence of God within it.
Done.
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