Welcome to the Come to Jesus Daily Devotional and our ‘God’s vision for the church’ series. Today, we reflect on the truth that God’s people, and no buildings, are God’s temple.
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‘“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”’ (John 4:21-24)
It’s so easy and very common to mistake the wrong things for God’s temple. Christians often mistake sacred buildings or places for holy places - places where one can meet God in a special way. Not long ago, I and my wife were in Paris and we visited Notre-Dame Cathedral. Portions of it were covered in scaffolding as they continue to restore it after a great fire in 2019. I appreciate these kinds of buildings. I really enjoy exploring church buildings and find it inspirational. However, Notre-Dame, nor any other building or place should be considered as a temple or a special place of meeting between people and God. I hear of people visiting places where revivals have taken place in the past and, no matter how truly inspiring these places are, our feelings do not define God’s vision for the church, and He has chosen to dwell in His people, whom He has redeemed by the blood of Christ. This linking of God’s presence with places reveals a misunderstanding of the gospel - that through Christ we have free access to God on the basis of Jesus’ gift of righteousness; additionally, this thinking also misunderstands God’s vision of the church as God’s New Covenant holy temple.
In the Old Covenant, God led the people to build first The Tabernacle and then The Jerusalem Temple. However, we can, if we are not careful, fail to exchange Old Covenant ‘types’ and ‘shadows’ for the reality of life in the Spirit in the New Covenant. Hebrews speaks of this:
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.’ (Hebrews 10:1)
The temple, the priesthood and sacrificial system, have all been ‘fulfilled’ in Christ who is our High Priest and offering. Added to this, the temple and holy places in which God dwelt have been superseded by the community of believers. Again, Hebrews speaks of this:
‘Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.’ (Hebrews 10:19-22)
God’s vision for the church is not that we seek to establish holy places in which to meet. Rather, God’s vision is that, ‘we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body…’ We can enter the most holy place whenever we come together with the church community.
This is not about feelings necessarily. Regardless of how we feel or however simple, drab and plain the meeting space, we are to keep our ‘confidence to enter’. We enter heaven when we come together. The Spirit is present and so whilst being on the earth we are also, simultaneously worshipping in the courts of heaven.
Response
God’s vision for the church is that His people are His holy temple. We are always in danger of going back to equating God’s presence with the beauty, the aesthetics, the excellence of the building, the music etc. Let’s be very careful of equating what we see with the reality of the unseen. God’s presence is not to be judged by the adornments - modern or traditional - that surround us. A good church is not to be equated with being technologically adept or ‘smells and bells’ or whatever our taste or tradition may be. The temple is God’s people who understand that their meeting with the Spirit is entirely dependent on the blood of Jesus. Let’s finish with this encouragement from Peter:
‘As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ (1 Peter 2:4-5)
'Together' meeting notes
Over the next two 'Together' evenings, we will briefly reflect on our 'God's vision for the church' vision series. This week, we reflect on the promise of God to build His church and the temple metaphor.
1. God has promised and the enemy is opposing
We need to have faith in God’s vision for the church because God has promised to build His church and this is under demonic assault:
‘And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.’ (Matthew 16:18)
Pray together: Pray for one another regarding our involvement in building His church. Pray for the church to be built and protected. Specifically, pray for our Community Groups.
2. The church is God’s Chosen people and His temple
The word ‘church’ (ekklēsía) in our text, means to be ‘called out from’, and ‘called to’. The church is all the people ‘called out from the world’ in order to belong to God - we are those chosen by God to be holy for Him and serve Him in this world.
One of the metaphors that’s used for the church is of her being God’s holy temple:
‘Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.(Ephesians 2:20-22)
Discuss:
What is our ‘foundation’ and ‘cornerstone’ and what does this mean?
What is meant by ‘joined together and rises’ and ‘built together’?
What does it mean to be a ‘holy temple in the Lord’?
What does it mean to be ‘a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit'?
How should God’s vision of us being His holy temple be reflected in our various meetings for worship and prayer?
How does is this metaphor to be applied in our individual lives?
Specifically, how should God’s vision for the church as a holy temple affect our vision for our Community Group meetings?
Pray together: Pray for the church and your Community Group to better reflect her identity as God’s holy temple and dwelling place.
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