God’s Holy Temple: Us
In today’s passage, Peter paints a picture of a temple. This was obviously something his readers knew plenty about. Whether they were Jew or Gentile, temples were a part of everyday life in ancient societies. The difference between this temple of the New Covenant church and the temples to Zeus, Apollos, or even the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was that this was a spiritual temple and not a physical one. The ancients believed that the gods they worshipped resided in the buildings they created. Indeed, even the temple of Jerusalem contained the mercy seat where God’s presence descended to communicate with the High Priest once a year. For this reason, these ancient temples were elaborately beautiful. Nothing could be too precious of a dwelling for your god. Peter takes this concept and explodes it with the reality of spiritual truth.
Once Jesus fulfilled the ultimate sacrifice for humanity, the veil that hid the mercy seat was torn in two. This symbolized the end of the necessity of a building to enable conversations with God. However, people’s brains still struggled with the concept of being indwelled with the Holy Spirit and therefore in constant communion with God. Remember, up until the Day of Pentecost, The Holy Spirit only indwelled a person for a specific purpose and a set time frame. Everything about the New Covenant was new. We take this relationship for granted because it is what we have always known, but humanity was still learning when Peter wrote his letter. So, we have the description of the spiritual reality of the church of God given to us in the very tangible representation of an earthly temple.
As much as most of us view the Church as the people and not the building, there is still some beautiful insight we can take away from Peter’s eloquent description. Notice that he first describes Jesus as the living stone and then his people. If we are separated from Jesus, we are no longer living. Our life comes through the connection we have with Christ, as an umbilical cord shares life from mother to child. Adam Clarke pointed out something quite beautiful when he taught on this passage of scripture. He said, “It is in union with him that they live, and answer the end of their regeneration; as stones of a building are of no use but as they occupy their proper places in a building, and rest on the foundation.” Our life comes through Christ but so does our purpose and ‘proper place.’ Our usefulness to God depends upon our obedience to His positioning of our lives. Someone once told me that when we squeeze ourselves into a position we desire but were not called to, we deny the one whom God created to fit there from walking in their calling. I would like to also add that we prohibit ourselves from being truly useful to our God. In order to live more abundantly, we need to first be connected to our Savior. Then we need to obediently discover where He wants us to fit into His plan.
God still resides in a temple. This temple is simply no longer made of stone and mortar. It is made from flesh and spirit. We are the building blocks of God’s church. Our sacrifice is a spiritual sacrifice, but it remains the central, core gift we can give our God. We sacrifice our time, money, praise, and plans to God. The beautiful part about sacrifice is that it never truly disappears. Back when animal sacrifices were made in the temple, the majority of the sacrifice was given by God back to His people. The meat and grain were roasted and then returned to the families who offered the sacrifice or given to the priests as payment for their service. Nothing is wasted when it is given to the Lord. When we sacrifice to God, He gives it back even better than it was before.
We are more than simply followers of Christ. We are God’s temple, and He resides within us. Our purpose comes from His plan. Our usefulness depends on our obedience, and our sacrifice can never begin to match the blessings God bestows on His people. Let God show you where the stone of your life was created to be placed and remain connected to the Cornerstone through which we live.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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