Catechism: God With UsSample

In ancient cultures, a temple wasn’t just a place of worship. People believed their religious buildings were houses for the gods, a place where they would dwell upon the earth. The Bible teaches us that parts of this ancient philosophy are true but not in the way other cultures believed. Stephen, the first one to lose his life for following Jesus, proclaimed in Acts 7:48 that the Most High God doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. So where does God live? Of course, we might say his home is in heaven. But where is he found on the earth? Does he have a temple here—one not made by human hands? Absolutely. God’s dwelling place on earth is you. As believers, our bodies are the place he chooses to live—a temple not made by human hands but fashioned by God himself. You’re the one Jesus came to save, and your body is where the Holy Spirit dwells—living in us, God with us. Because we are temples of the Holy Spirit, we don’t talk, walk, act, or interact in the same ways we used to. Jesus is our model and who we follow now! So, the Spirit teaches us about him through the Bible, and, as we learn to trust him, the Spirit changes our desires, gives us wisdom, and makes us more like Jesus. (Remember yesterday — the Holy Spirit helps us to live righteous lives that display the fruit of the Spirit.) The Bible teaches us that all blessings come from God. From the day we start following Jesus until the moment we see Jesus face to face, the Holy Spirit is guiding us, leading us always to Christ! God loves you, God is with you, and God dwells in you. This is who God is; through Jesus and the Spirit we are being transformed by a relationship with God. Consider: Do you see yourself as a home for God’s Spirit? How does that truth change the way you want to act and live? Reflect: God desires a relationship with you so much that his plan is to dwell in you on earth until you can be fully reunited with him in heaven.