Christ went up and is seated at the right hand of God the Father 40 days after His resurrection and on 10 days later on the Jewish Feast known as Pentecost (50) the Holy Spirit came down to reside in those who belong to Christ. Christ came as God to make known the Father, and the Spirit came as God to make known the Son in us. It is the Spirit who can deliver us from all the power of the flesh, who can conquer the power of the world in us. It is the Spirit through whom Christ Jesus will manifest Himself to us in nothing less than His abiding presence: “Lo, I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20)
It was always God’s desire that we experience His Presence. The Lord walked in the Garden in the cool of the day and fellowshipped with Adam and Eve. That must have been an awesome experience to be able to have personal conversations and fellowship with the God who created everything! Of course, we know that because of their disobedience that sweet fellowship and relationship was broken. God’s plan of redemption was already in place. The Old Testament is a progressive revelation of God’s Presence leading to the Cross.
Let’s briefly review this progressive revelation of God with His people. Moses would have his first encounter with God at the burning bush. Later God went before Moses and the Israelites as a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. Moses was able to experience God’s Divine Presence on Mount Sinai resulting in a face that was illuminated. Next God gave Moses the plan for the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle which represented the Presence of God to the Israelites with each piece foreshadowing the coming Christ.
It was 480 years after the exodus from Egypt that Solomon began to build the House of the Lord which was known as the Temple. It took seven years to complete and the Ark was brought in and placed in the Temple. When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the House of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the House of the Lord. (I Kings 8: 10-11)
Fast forward to Jesus’ earthly ministry as God’s Presence was revealed in the flesh—Emmanuel—God with us! Jesus foretold a major shift in God’s revealed plan of redemption. Jesus announced in John 14: 16-17 that the Father was going to give them a Comforter that would abide with them forever—the Spirit of Truth—that dwelt in Him and will be in them. Then in verse 20 He told them “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.” Then in Matthew 24: 1-2 He would make this shocking prophecy: “And Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way; and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. But he answered and said unto them, ‘You see all of these things, do you not? Truly I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” This prophecy would come to past in AD 70 when the Romans ravaged Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. Steven recounted in Acts 7: 44-48 the history of the Tabernacle and the Temple and the transition from the period of Law to Grace and the Church. “The most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet.”
God’s Temple would no longer dwell in a place but in each of those who would trust in, rely on and accept Jesus as Savior. The Holy Spirit is given by God as His pledge of the believer’s future inheritance in glory. 2 Corinthians 1: 21-22 says: “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” We have been bought with a price—the unblemished blood of Jesus Christ ordained by God before the foundation of the world (I Corinthians 6: 20, I Peter 1: 18-19). A Christian’s body is God’s Temple and we are to use it to glorify God. By choosing the word “Temple” to describe the Spirit’s dwelling, He conveys the idea that our bodies are the shrine, or the sacred place, in which the Spirit not only lives, but is worshipped, revered, and honored. Therefore, how we behave, think and speak, and what we let into the Temple through our eyes and ears becomes critically important as well, for every thought, word and deed is in His view. Even though He will never leave us, it is entirely possible to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4: 30). Instructing the Ephesians to not grieve the Spirit, Paul told them to “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God for gave you?” (Ephesians 4: 31-32). When we live by the Spirit, we will no longer gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5: 16).
Let us believe that the Spirit bears witness with our spirits and gives us the assurance of His own Presence. To the person who yields himself in childlike trust and obedience, the knowledge will not be withheld that he is indeed led by God and is transformed from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord. Andrew Murray