God always wanted to have a relationship with mankind as He created us in His image. The Godhead consists of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—a Trinty. Likewise, mankind was created with a body, a soul (mind, will and emotions) and a spirit. The human spirit was the dwelling place of God within mankind. Back in the Garden of Eden, God and Adam walked together in the cool of the day. The close fellowship God once had with humanity is something His heart desires. Adam and Eve enjoyed that relationship as their hearts were attuned with God’s heart. We know that God created everything and it was good. Likewise, Lucifer was created by God with beauty, talents, wisdom and power in his anointed position over the Throne of God until he chose to rebel through selfish pride and ambition to be like God. God’s beautiful, anointed cherub became the adversary of God and set himself into opposition to all of God’s creation which continues today. Satan’s attack was mounted against God’s human creation and through his deception and lies sin—disobedience against God, entered into the human race. Mankind lost the image of God as His Spirit was taken from man leaving a void and was instead born in the image of Adam. (Genesis 5: 3) Mankind seeks to fill and satisfy that emptiness in his human spirit by feeding his body and soul with the things of the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life. None of these will satisfy because the emptiness and longing can only be satisfied by God the Creator of mankind and His Spirit. The Bible is the account of God’s love for mankind and His desire to be with—to dwell with us and His plan of redemption whereby sin can be dealt with and fellowship restored. God desires to dwell among us and be present in our lives!
This concept is deeply rooted in the Old Testament, where God instructed the Israelites to build a Tabernacle, a portable place of worship, so He could dwell among them. The Hebrew word for tabernacle means “dwelling” or “settling.” The Tabernacle refers to the portable sanctuary constructed by Moses as a place of worship for the Israelites during their wilderness wanderings. The Tabernacle was a physical representation of God’s presence among His people. It was a place where God would meet with Moses and the Israelites, and where they could offer sacrifices and worship Him. The Tabernacle was designed to be a symbol of God’s presence and His desire to be among His people. God said in Leviticus 26: 11-12: “I will set My Tabernacle among you, and My soul will not abhor you. I will walk among you and will be your God, and you will be My people.” We see God literally pitching up His tent right in the middle of the camps of Israel, with a fully functioning sin-disposal sacrifice system in order that He can be among them. He walks with them, accompanying them with a pillar of cloud and fire, and makes His desire for closeness and connection abundantly clear.
Later, in Scripture we see the description of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was considered the ultimate dwelling place of God on earth. We know that it was King David that desired to build the Temple—a permanent dwelling place for God in Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 7: 1-3) However, God would not allow him to build it and sent Nathan with this message in 1 Chronicles 17: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in.’” (verse 4). God then points out that, in all the long history of the Tabernacle, He never once rebuked Israel’s leaders for not building a permanent Temple (verses 5–6). Rather than David building a Temple, God decided to allow David’s son to oversee this work (verses 11–12). David was a man of war and had much blood on his hands. His son Solomon was a man of peace and would be tasked to build the Temple. (I Chron. 22:9) The Temple would not be the result of the strength and power of men but by God’s Spirit. (Zech. 4:6) In 1 Kings 5-8 we have the account of Solomon’s preparation and building of the Temple. In Chapter 8 we read that when the Ark of the LORD was brought into the Temple and placed by the priests in the Holy Place that a cloud filled the House of the LORD and the glory of the LORD filled the House of the LORD. (vv. 10-11) In verse 21 Solomon said: “I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” Then he verified the covenant God made with his father David and said: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded.” (v. 26-27) Solomon acknowledged the greatness of God over heaven and earth and prayed: “That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there (Jerusalem); that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which they servant shall make toward this place.” (v. 29) It was in the Temple that the priests offered sacrifices and offerings for forgiveness of sins all pointing to the once and for all sacrifice of the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. (Rev. 13:8)
God had a greater plan. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will live among you’—it is a declaration of the LORD. In that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD and they will be My people and I will dwell among you.’ Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you.” (Zechariah 2: 10-11) This plan that God would send God in the flesh to live among us has been in place since the dawn of time. The Eternal One who was there since the beginning has been sent by the LORD, and His Spirit! This time, it was personal. No longer mere meaningful symbols in a purpose-built temple—God Himself was coming! In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is referred to as the ultimate Tabernacle. In John 1: 14, it is written, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus, as the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us, tabernacling with us in a way that the Old Testament Tabernacle could not. God’s great plan to visit was in order to pave the way for unending togetherness. He dealt with sin once and for all, so that anyone who wanted could be cleansed of the sin that separates and restored in relationship with Him.
What does this mean for us? It goes without saying that this is all made possible because of Jesus! He said in John 14: 16-17: “They will have the Spirit sent to them.” Then in Acts 1, He promises that they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Finally, in Acts 2, we see not only the Hebrew Scriptures concerning the presence of God coming to their fulfillment, we also see Jesus’ words finding their fulfillment as well. The presence of God dwelling in His people means that we are now part of the New Temple, with Jesus being the center of it all, or as Paul puts it, the cornerstone: “…You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2: 19-22) Paul brings it all together for us. This truth of the people being the dwelling place of God, the very temple that His Spirit would inhabit, just as Moses had longed for is why Paul takes the manner in which believers live so seriously! “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3: 16) “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor. 6: 19-20) Wow! We have come full circle from when the Spirit of God was taken from Adam and now the Spirit of God is restored to us by the second Adam—Christ! The Hebrew Scriptures anticipated the day when the Spirit of God would be present among all of His people. Jesus in the flesh was God with Us—Jesus set up a tabernacle among us—Jesus is the Temple; He was the divine glorious presence of God in his physical person.
The result is simply this: God’s holy space—His dwelling place is now within the people of God who have found their identity in Jesus and His finished work. The Lord wanted to dwell with His people, and He made a way for that to become a reality! Adam and Eve ignored God’s command and they were expelled from the Garden and His Presence. The children of Israel failed their tests in the wilderness because they consistently forgot who their God was and were not allowed to enter the Promised Land. Later when God’s Presence filled the Temple, they forsook Him for other gods, His Presence left the Temple and they were taken into bondage for 70 years. Judgment again fell upon them when they rejected the Messiah, the Temple was destroyed, and they were dispersed into all the world. Now, since God actually dwells within us, let’s not repeat their mistake as John confirms to us: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 Jn. 4:4) Jesus limited Himself to being in one physical location at a time, just as the Tabernacle and the Temple of the Hebrew Scriptures could only be in one place at one time. In John 16: 7 Jesus says that when the Spirit comes, the presence of God will be available to all people and give them power. We have been given this power of God’s Spirit dwelling in us according to 2 Cor 1: 21 “It is God who establishes us with you in Messiah. He anointed us, set His seal on us, and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” Paul encourages us in Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” The good work He began in us was at the time of salvation. However, because we live in a fallen world under the curse of sin, there is a battle between the flesh and the Spirit within each of us. The Holy Spirit is at work in each believer teaching us, empowering us, convicting us of sin and unrighteousness, helping us to surrender more and more to His control—dying to self and being conformed to the image of God as He originally intended. As long as we are alive, God is continuing this work in us. God’s great plan paves the way for unending togetherness with Him—eternally dwelling with Him forever! Read Revelation 21: 3-4 and know that God is looking forward to it with great joy! The best is yet to come!