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God's Servant Is the Temple of God

Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? (Isaiah 66:1)

Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? (Acts 7:48,49)

Heaven is the Throne of God and the earth is the footstool of God. But neither Heaven nor the earth is the house of God.

The Tabernacle of the Congregation, David's Tabernacle, the Temple of Solomon - all were houses of God. But none of them is the house of God today, for God no longer will dwell in a temple made by human hands.

Where, then, is the house of God? What is the place of His rest?

The Lord Jesus Christ together with His Body compose the eternal house of God, the place of God's rest. The Servant of the Lord is the dwelling place, the house, the temple of the Lord God Almighty. Christ is the eternal Temple of God. Christ is filled with all the Fullness of God.

The Christian Church is Zion, the city of God.

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22)

Notice there are two Jerusalems: there is the natural Jerusalem, which "is in bondage with her children"; and then there is the "heavenly Jerusalem," which is the mother of all true saints - Galatians 4:25,26).

To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just {righteous} men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23)

Notice what the Spirit of God has to say about the destiny of Mount Zion:

Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever. (Psalms 68:16)

And again, still referring to Zion:

Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them. (Psalms 68:18)

Psalms 68:18 is quoted by Paul in Ephesians, Chapter Four. The interpretation of the passage in Psalms 68 is that Zion is the Body of Christ. It is the "hill" in which God will dwell forever. The "gifts" are the ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are given by the ascended Christ for the purpose of building the members of the Body of Christ to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

As the Church, the Body of Christ, grows toward maturity and unity, the Lord God increasingly is able to settle down to rest in the Church.

In his letter to the saints in Ephesus, Paul comments on the fact that the Body of Christ is the eternal Temple of God:

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:20-22)

Again:

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

The church in Ephesus, to which Paul was writing, consisted of the saints of God, the faithful in Christ. Paul was beseeching the Father that the believers would be "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man," the result being they would be "filled with all the fulness of God."

It is not enough just to receive Christ as Savior, and perhaps speak in tongues and prophesy, and then wait for Christ's return. We must press on and on and on in the Spirit of God in order that we may become strong enough to be a part of the living Temple of God.

God will dwell only in Christ. Christ must be formed in us so we will be a fit place in which the Father and the Son can dwell in Their Fullness. We are being created the living stones of the eternal Temple of God.

Christ, the Servant of the Lord, is the eternal Temple of God.

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (John 14:10)

We also are being formed into the eternal Temple of God.

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)

God and Christ will make Their eternal abode with us provided we continue to abide in Christ and walk in His Word.

It may be true that the most significant passage in the Scriptures concerning our being made the eternal dwelling place of God is John 17:21-23:

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

The holy city, the new Jerusalem, is the fullness of all God has purposed in Christ, in the Church, in the Servant of the Lord. The holy city is the image of God. The holy city rules the creation under God.

The holy city fills the universe with the image of Christ. The holy city is the temple, the tabernacle of God. The holy city has a wall of defense against sin. The holy city, the new Jerusalem, is the light of the world.

The holy city is the Wife of the Lamb, the Body of Christ, the fullness of Christ, the place of the Throne of God Almighty and of the Lamb. The holy city is the law of God brought to the perfection of refined glory, holiness, and beauty.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:2,3)

The holy city, the new Jerusalem, is the Wife of the Lamb, the Church of Christ. The Church is the eternal tabernacle of God. God dwells in Christ in the Church in order that God may dwell with the nations of saved peoples of the earth. God is preparing the Christian Church as a living house in which He can dwell and through which He can wipe away the tears of the saved peoples of the earth, the "sheep nations."

God's purpose in the Servant of the Lord is to bring justice and truth to the nations. The Servant is able to do this because it is the Lord God Himself dwelling in the Servant who brings justice and truth and wipes away all tears.

This dependence on the Father is true of the Lord Jesus:

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (John 14:10)

We Christians are beginning to recognize we can do nothing of ourselves. It is Christ in us who is living and working. We have not as yet arrived at the fullness of the indwelling of Christ, but through the Holy Spirit we are growing toward a greater experience of Christ in us.

The saints must proceed toward maturity and unity in order to become the Temple of God. In the day in which we live we are giving freely of the grace of God that we have so that our fellow members of the Body of Christ may be brought to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We teach them, pray for them, exhort them, and minister to them according to our gifts, as the Holy Spirit guides and enables.

But it is not until after the thousand-year period, the Kingdom Age, that the Christian Church will be completely ready to descend from Heaven as the eternal Temple of God, bringing the Presence of God to the nations of the earth.

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. (Revelation 21:22)

From the standpoint of the saved peoples living on the new earth, the holy city will be the tabernacle of God, the walled area in which the Creator dwells. They will be allowed to "walk in the light of it" and to "bring their glory and honour into it."

Sin never can enter the new Jerusalem. The city will be surrounded by an impregnable wall and at each of the twelve gates will stand an angel of God.

From the standpoint of Israel, the Wife of the Lamb, there will be no temple in the new Jerusalem. The lack of a temple is the fulfillment of the promise of the new covenant:

And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. (Hebrews 8:11)

The absence of a temple signifies that God is present in open revelation before the adoring eyes of His saints. That which is perfect has come. The saints know as they are known. They see His Face and go forth to rule the works of His hands.

It is the Lord's will that every member of the Israel of God, of God's elect, be a king, priest, a holy person, a prophet, a witness of God's Person and eternal purpose. This is Israel's role among the nations of the earth.

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:5,6)

This same commission is repeated in the New Testament:

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people {people for God's own possession}; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; (I Peter 2:9)

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)

Every member of the Seed of Abraham is destined to be a king, a priest of God, a member of the servant of the Lord. The least is greater than John the Baptist. Think of it! The feeble among them will be as David (Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28; Zechariah 12:8).

A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time. (Isaiah 60:22)

All the saints are brothers and there is no priest among us. Our priesthood extends to the nations of the saved, not to our fellow members of the Body of Christ. Each member of the Body of Christ, from the least to the greatest, will know the Lord for himself. Christ Himself, the Son of God, is the only Priest who stands between God and a member of the royal priesthood.

There is no temple, no priesthood, to serve the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem. The entire city is the Wife of the Lamb, the Body of Christ, the Tabernacle of God. The new Jerusalem is, we believe, an actual city, and its characteristics are imbued with and reflect the virtues that have been wrought in the members of the Bride of the Lamb.

The city is a visible expression of the Glory of God in Jesus Christ in the saints. This is the Kingdom of God that will rule over the nations of the earth forever (Daniel 2:44; 7:14).

Each member of the Body of Christ will behold the Face of the Father throughout eternity and have God's name written on his forehead.

God shall find perfect rest in the new Jerusalem. Every challenge to His will and way shall have been brought under the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. God will move His throne to the earth in that Day in order to demonstrate fully that all authority has passed from the heavens to the earth; that to man has been given, in accordance with the Scriptures, rulership over all the works of God's hands.

God's sons will be in His image and will be crowned with glory and honor. Their fruitfulness and dominion will be great and will fill the entire creation.

Then will Christ Himself be subject to the Father so the Father may receive back to Himself a universe that shows forth in its minutest detail the image of His beloved Son.