What If Christianity Isn't What You Think?Sample

The Temple Isn’t What You Think

Usually during Christmas time I hear this verse a lot. It’s the kind of verse you hear while sipping on hot cocoa and listening to Kenny G. We’ve relegated the verse to those two weeks towards the end of December. But what if this is actually one of the most explosive verses in all of the Bible?

See in the beginning of God’s story He promised to dwell with His people (Israel). He promised to come down and be with them. He wanted to be among his people, on the ground, not high and loft and distant. So he had them build first a tabernacle, then a temple, where He could permanently be with them.

This temple though was a special place. It was seen by the jewish people as the very place where God’s presence resided. Another way they thought of the temple was the only place on earth where God’s space and our space fully collided. It was where heaven and earth touched. No other place on earth could make that claim.

Now fast forward to the time of Jesus. The same greek word John uses for “dwelled” in this verse is actually the same word for “temple” or “tabernacle.” So what John is truly saying here is the Word became flesh and temple’d or tabernacle’d among us. The very place where heaven and earth collide is not a building in Jerusalem but a jewish peasant rabbi named Jesus.

Now that is some explosive stuff! And Paul then goes one step further and says that if you are a follower of Jesus and His indwelling Spirit is in you, then you are now that walking temple. You are the place where heaven and earth meet and you are now that very representative of God’s presence.

How different would your life be if you believed this? When people interact with you would they say they feel like they just had a collision with heaven here on earth?