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The Temple of
The Living God

Solomon's temple was intended to be impressive. Not that it was simply his own temple, it was God's. Solomon's father, King David, had gathered together the materials, and it fell to Solomon to drive forward the work. It took seven years. In the end there was that magnificent opening ceremony recorded in 1 Kings 8. Amid sacrifices of so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted, the ark of the Lord was installed in the temple, and when the priests came out of the holy place 'a cloud filled the house of the Lord'. King Solomon declared that he had built for God 'an exalted house for him to dwell in for ever'. Not that God can be restricted to living in a house, however magnificent (vv.22,23,27). Solomon prayed that when the prayers of the people of Israel were directed toward this temple, God - in heaven his dwelling place - would listen, and forgive, and help them.

For hundreds of years Solomon's temple remained at Jerusalem, until enemies destroyed it and the people were taken away into captivity in Babylon. Then, for more hundreds of years, the second temple associated with Zerubbabel, was the focus of Israel's worship. Then Herod, desiring to outshine even King Solomon, replaced it with his own even more impressive structure, on parts of which work was still continuing when, at Passover time amid the thousands of worshippers and their animal sacrifices, amid the buying and selling and money changing, with the singing of some of a thousand priests in their courses, there came Jesus with his parents to the courts around his Father's house. It was this same place where Paul came to prove himself a true Israelite - as well as being a follower of Jesus Christ who had a mission to the other races of the world - and at the temple he was half-killed for his pains, to be rescued by the soldiers of the Roman occupation force.

But what did Paul mean, when he told Christian believers that they were 'the temple of the living God'?

There are two Greek words translated 'temple'. One is hieron, which would refer to the whole building with its precincts, including the courts of the temple where Christ taught. (The word is also used referring to the place where sacrificing was carried on (1 Cor.9.13), and also to the heathen temple of Artemis in Ephesus (Acts 19.27), which was equally a hub of organised worship.) The other word is naos, meaning a sanctuary or shrine. Paul explained to the Athenians (Acts 17.24) that God, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in man-made shrines; models of the shrine of Artemis were sold in Ephesus. But the Jewish temples had the naos at their centre, the Holy Place where in reverent awe God was worshipped, where He was specially present. We think of Samuel, in the old tabernacle days, keeping watch before the sacred ark (1 Samuel 3.3) when God spoke to him. We think of the dazzling cloud which filled Solomon's temple so that the priests could not stay to minister there (1 Kings 8.10,11). We think of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist burning incense in the naos, and failing to emerge as expected because he had had a vision of an angel and was struck dumb. We think of the curtain of the temple, separating off the Most Holy Place, torn in two when Christ died (Luke 23.45). This, the awesome, lofty, silent, holy place where men were privileged to be aware of God's presence, was what Paul had in mind when he shocked Christians by telling them that they themselves were God's naos.

Paul said this three times to the believers in Corinth, each time teaching a slightly different lesson.

In 1 Corinthians 6.19, Paul writes "Do you not know that your body is a temple (naos) of the Holy Spirit in you, which you have from God?" This is addressed to each individual believer. One's body is compared to the walls of a temple which form a shrine, a holy place, a sanctuary, inside which God's presence dwells. This verse is part of Paul's teaching about human bodily appetites, particularly food and sex. "Someone will say 'I am allowed to do anything'. Yes; but not everything is good for you. I could say that I am allowed to do anything, but I am not going to let anything make me its slave." (v12 GNB). After all, both the food we eat and our bodies themselves are perishable, whereas the Christian is hoping for an imperishable resurrection body. But the bodies we have at present, Paul says, are already shrines of the Holy Spirit, and need to be kept uncontaminated. In this connection, the act of sex is itself significant for who and what you are as a person, and is nothing casual. Use your body for the glory of God, because you belong to Him and His Spirit dwells in you.

In 1 Corinthians 3.16, Paul was concerned with the local Christian community in Corinth, but his teaching is relevant to Christian communities anywhere and at any time. The questions at issue were divisions and disputes due to personalities and personal allegiances. Paul at the first had come to Corinth bringing the good news of Jesus the Messiah. Apollos had come afterwards, bringing strength and leadership to the young church. Subsequently there were rivalries between those who thought of themselves as followers of one or other of the two. Doubtless there were other leaders too, and cliques arose. So Paul compares the Christian community to a field or garden, in which Paul and Apollos both worked, doing different jobs at different times. But the point is that the field belongs to God, not to the workers in it, and it is God who actually gives growth to the plants. So, to the church at Corinth Paul says, you are God's field. But also, using another metaphor, you are God's building.

The foundation of the building is Jesus. Christian workers are building on that foundation. In the work of building things can go wrong, and this is the responsibility of the Christian leaders. Do they build in wrong directions? Do they motivate others in ways that are less than Christian? or what are their own motives in their work? Then God's judgment will show up the failures. Yet even if the builders are humiliated, they themselves will be saved.

The building constructed in this way is of course God's temple. You are God's temple. God's Spirit dwells in you. You spoil God's temple at your peril. His temple is holy. You are holy. So there is no point in trying to be clever, for our confidence is not based on what movement we belong to or what person we follow: everything belongs to us! The world. Life. Death. The present or the future. Everything. And we, in turn, belong to Jesus Christ. And He belongs to God. (ch.3).

There is a passage in 2 Corinthians 6.14‑7.1. It has no great connection with what goes before or after and is complete in itself, containing the statement "We are the temple of the living God" (6.16). It makes the contrast between the temple of God who is living, and the shrines of dead idols - such as they would see around them in Corinth. The two cannot be mixed together. "Do not try to work together as equals with unbelievers, for it cannot be done" (v14 GNB) This is the picture of a large and a tiny animal sharing one yoke. In what areas of life does this warning apply? Marrying an unbeliever is inadvisable (1 Cor.7.39), though differences in belief are not grounds for a divorce (7.12). To eat meals with unbelievers requires caution but is not forbidden (10.27). But whatever the area of potential contact, Paul points the contrast very firmly: right or wrong, light or darkness. Christ or Belial (the devil, or, possibly, 'a system of impure worship connected with the cult of Aphrodite'). Believer in Christ, or disbeliever. God's shrine or pagan idols. So, says Paul, do not get entangled, and remember that we, the believers, are the place in which the living God dwells! This is a powerful relationship - He is our God, we his people: welcomed by our Father as his sons and daughters. "So then, let us purify ourselves from everything that makes body or soul unclean, and let us be completely holy by living in awe of God" (7.1 GNB).

Paul uses the picture of the naos again in Ephesians 2.21. Whereas in Corinthians he had been teaching about conduct worthy of God's Spirit within us, in Ephesians he is deliberately leading up to the 'temple' picture as part of a sustained argument. At this point he is concerned to show that believing Jews and non-Jews are on an equal footing in Christ. He has said that the church are Christ's body (1.23), having been called as part of His wonderful purpose. Then, speaking to the non-Jews, he reminds them they have been saved and restored by means of the cross. "For through him [Christ] we both [Jews and the rest] have access in one Spirit to the Father." (2.18) "So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer, you are now fellow-citizens with God's people and members of the family of God. You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the corner stone being Christ Jesus himself. He is the one who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple [naos] dedicated to the Lord. In union with him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit" (19‑22 GNB).

Paul is speaking of much more than the local church in Ephesus, or Asia Minor. He is taking the wide sweep of God's calling of a special people - holy and faithful, in Christ - as he puts it at the beginning of his letter. The old rift in Jewish thought between Jews and non-Jews is at the front of his mind, but the thought of all believers being united as part of one 'temple' can be applied wherever there are divisions of race or differences of interpretation or immaturity of outlook. The Lord alone knows exactly who his people are. He has called them. They are one. We are one. Yet we need to remember that the 'building of the temple' is work in progress, as it affects each group or congregation or race or denomination: His work in progress which is being carried on in you and me.

We find that Peter too (1 Peter 2.5) has the thought of a temple that grows. He speaks of 'yourselves as living stones being built a spiritual house' (Nestle, interlinear) - the word is oikos, often used referring to the temple). Those Peter is speaking to are described as chosen (according to the foreknowledge of God the Father), in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling with his blood (1.2). Then, in chapter 2 they are urged to

(1) put away all malice, guile, insincerity, envy and slander

(2) long for pure spiritual milk, to grow by, into salvation (Compare with a mother's milk, 'you have already tasted the Lord's kindness')

(3) come to him, that living stone (which has been rejected by men, but is chosen and precious in God's sight)

(4) be built into a spiritual house (like stones, which are living) in order to (a) be a holy priesthood, and (b) offer spiritual sacrifices (which are acceptable to God, not according to the ritual, but through Jesus Christ).

The metaphor keeps changing, from growing by a mother's milk, to being living stones to make a house, to being priests in that house. But the clear theme is growth and service. Grow, by repentance and coming to Christ; grow, by assimilating the simple heart-truths of the Word; and then grow to form a living body, serving God. "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (v9 RSV).

This prospect of mission and service, now, and in ages to come, is set before even the least of those who trust in Jesus. Each half-brick fills its appointed crack or cranny, while the whole building towers up to join into Christ, the corner stone. He is also the foundation of the building, which should not surprise us since He is Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. It is in Him, sustained by Him, inspired by Him that we live. And it is with great awe that we, simple people yet part of a universal and historic company, remember the words "We are the temple of the living God."

GC

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