You Are God’s Temple
1 Peter 2:5 You also are like living stones, and God is using you to build a spiritual house. You are to serve God in this house as holy priests, offering him spiritual sacrifices that he will accept because of Jesus Christ.
Churches, these days, are a lot different from the churches that we read about in the New Testament. For one thing, those churches back then, well they didn’t have great big grand buildings in which to meet.
I was recently in India, asked to officiate at the ground-breaking ceremony for a ten thousand seat church building – about 350 kilometres out of Hyderabad, in Andhra Pradesh.
It was quite an event with lots and lots of people. Huge crowds in fact! It was a very formal service and great celebrations. When I stood up to speak, I shared something that was on my heart. Something that perhaps people hadn’t expected to hear.
I told them all, as exciting as this new venture would be, as magnificent and functional as no doubt the new building would be when it was finally built, they shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that they were building God’s house.
1 Peter 2:5 You also are like living stones, and God is using you to build a spiritual house. You are to serve God in this house as holy priests, offering him spiritual sacrifices that he will accept because of Jesus Christ.
Before Jesus came, God’s Presence dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem. It really was God’s house. But Jesus … when He came, poured the Holy Spirit out on every man, woman and child who believes in Him.
And together, we are the house of God. We are His temple – a temple characterised by sacrifice. The building – as big and magnificent as it may be – is just a building.
The house of God is you and me, like living stones, that God is using to build His spiritual house. The building, well, it’s just a building. Focus on the living stones and God’s house, not on the building.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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