Imperishable Inheritance

One of the amazing revelations in the New Covenant is that, where God's presence was external in the tabernacle/temple, God's presence now takes up location inside of His people. The Psalmist understood long before this event of the holy nature of the temple:

"How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You To dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple. By awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation, You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea." (Psa 65:4-5)

To enter the temple was a high honor reserved for God's nation of Israel. It was a mark to all the nations that God has set His loving affection and grace upon this nation (Deu 4:5-6). God's continual command to Israel was to "be holy as I am holy" (Lev 11:44-45, 19:2; Num 15:40), and to come to the temple involved a rigorous process to make yourself "holy" before the temple sacrifices, and only one man, the High Priest, was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies once a year to make atonement for the people but only after offering a sacrifice for himself (Lev 16). The emphasis on being holy is throughout the Old Testament, but it is not confined only to that.

The New Covenant Assurity of Holiness

We are told by the Apostle John that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14; cf. John 2:21). The return of God's presence to His people is embodied in the apex of His revelation--His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus says: "But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here" (Mat 12:6). Not only did God's presence return to His people, but Jesus also accomplished atonement once-for-all as the anti-type of the temple sacrifices (Heb 9:24-28). Peter uses this lesson of Jesus' holiness and obedience to encourage us:

"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.'" (1 Pet 1:14-16)

Atonement had been purchased by the Messiah in His blood. No longer will futile sacrifices be made God took "no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats" (Isa 1:11). Jesus "gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma" (Eph 5:2), and we are secure in His grace.

The New Temple and Impetus For Holiness

In Matthew 21 it is recorded that Jesus drove out those who were buying and selling in the temple. It was an abomination to Jesus that they would profane the house of God in such a way. This should give us a clue on how we should perceive the temple, and the location of the temple in the New Covenant encourages us in this.

"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are." (1 Cor 3:16-17; cf. 1 Cor 6:19)

Paul's amazing teaching is that now, with the Spirit of God that indwells every believer in the New Covenant (Eph 1:13-14), the temple and residence of God's presence is in us! To profane the temple throughout God's history is an offense of the highest magnitude; therefore, we must keep holy what God has made holy. This is a great impetus to continue to fight sin, our depraved nature, and rid ourselves of worldly desires.

It should be noted that the "you" Paul says in that passage above is plural not singular. This adds more weight to the conclusion that Christians are not made to live by themselves but in community. So, when two or more are gathered then the presence of God manifests itself as intended, and that is what Jesus taught: "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst" (Mat 18:20). Our sin not only effects us, but it also has negative consequences on our fellow believers.

Longing For the Presence of God

John writes in his revelation of the end that God's presence needs no temple, because God in all His glory will inhabit God's people. It is something to look forward to, to strive for, to pursue holiness for.

"I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev 21:22-27)