God's temple

Friday, September 18, 2009


16 Do you not know that you (plural) are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.


Paul continues on with his "God's building" metaphor and takes it to its most important and impacting, and obvious to a Jew, end - they, the church in Corinth were God's "temple" and that the Spirit of God indwelt them.

When Jesus says he will build his church, Israel redeemed from Egypt is in the background. The word ekklesia / church was one of the words used to translate the word assembly or congregation of the people of Israel "called out" of Egypt by God to himself (cf. Exodus 19). "Build" being the same word that his accusers will use when they say he claimed he would rebuild the temple in three days.

Before getting to 2 Samuel 7 in the next few days, we will let this soak in. The temple is God's house, God's building, God's dwelling place. It is the place where he meets his people. Originally it was a movable tabernacle, by means of which God said he would dwell among his people. Now that place is a people. A called out people. A gathered people. A people in whom the Spirit dwells, among whom Jesus / Emmanuel is present, under and unto a Father who loves them with unending love.