A Living Temple

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8)

Many theologians would argue that the Garden of Eden was the first temple. A supporting factor in this argument is that the same Hebrew verbal form “Hithpael” was used in both the above passage and in Leviticus 26:11-12, in which God stated that He would put His dwelling place among the people and walk among them.

Later, in Ezekiel, the Garden of Eden is referenced as the Holy Mount of God.

From the duties God gave Adam in the Garden to the cherubim used to guard the Tree of Life, there is numerous other supporting evidence that points to Eden being the first temple.

In Exodus, we read of Moses constructing the Tabernacle—a portable sanctuary serving as the dwelling place for the Lord’s presence for centuries prior to the construction of the Jerusalem Temple, which is told of in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

The next temple in our chronological breakdown of God’s dwelling places is Jesus Himself. “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9) He was the ultimate fulfillment of the temple.

Jesus actually enters the temple Solomon built in John 2:14. It’s in the subsequent verses we see Him flipping tables. When the Jews questioned His authority to act in such a manner, He answered them saying “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” (John 2:19) As John 2:21 tells us, He wasn't referring to the Jewish temple the doubtful Jews believed Him to be speaking of, but His own body.

On the cross, as Jesus breathed His last breath, the veil in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, an act of God’s own hand. (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45) This veil, when whole, served to separate the Holy place from the people, and its tearing is symbolic in that through Christ’s death, the barrier of sin between God and humanity has been removed, allowing believers direct access to God’s presence.

Which brings us to our final temple: God’s Church. Because of Christ’s work, God no longer dwells in structures made of stone.

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst.” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

From a garden to a tent to a structure to the Savior . . . to us.

1 Peter 2:5-6 calls us living stones, tells us that we are being built upon the cornerstone (Jesus) as a spiritual house.

We, brothers and sisters, are the temple. The question is . . . what are we doing with that? Who/what does our temple worship?

Because a temple is a type of noun, called a place, and a place is somewhere where people go. Now there’s this saying about people; it goes “they may never run into a church, but they will run into you.” As a living temple, we are the place where people go to meet God, often whether they realize it or not. So the question remains: Are you a temple that’s filled with what God can use to minister to others, or are you a temple that Jesus is flipping some tables in?

There’s a bunch of cool words to be applied when it comes to the Christian lifestyle, and they all have one common denominator. You see, we have the body of Christ, that is us and other people. We have fellowship, which is literally being with other believers. Then there’s testimony, which is our account—to be shared—of what Jesus has done in our lives.

So what do these words have in common? The togetherness of them. The selflessness of them. They suggest our salvation is not solely ours to hold, but rather, we are to testify, bear witness, and lead others to Christ with it. (Psalm 107:2, Acts 2:8, 2 Timothy 1:6-10)

We are temples because God dwells within us, and when we fan that flame, honor Him, and let Him rule front and center in our lives, miracles happen. In Acts 5, sick people were healed simply by Peter’s shadow falling over them. Peter, though a sinful human like you and me—even one who previously denied Christ—aligned his life with the Lord’s will and built up his temple to honor God. In such, when people flocked to Peter, who they were really coming to was Jesus. And He healed them.

Our temples—that is ourselves—must reflect Christ. We must allow God to rule in our lives. Romans 8:6-9 warns us the consequences of rejecting His rule. "The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. This is because the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law. But we are not in the realm of the flesh if the Spirit of God lives in us." We are set apart for His Holy purpose. Sanctified.

And His Holy purpose is to make His name known.