Why I Am Writing This Today
The Holy Spirit resided in my body before I was born.
This is so for every human soul. Everyone is a temple.
He is the Giver of each life as He was on the day of Creation.
His presence allows us to access to the presence of God.
In the Garden of Eden, the Lord walked with Adam and Eve.
The devil is jealous of us because he lost his place in heaven.
He works day and night to separate us from God.
Sin is the tool he uses as a barrier to God’s grace.
But the Father’s Son died for those sins. They are washed away.
The devil doesn’t want us to know this. He wants to occupy Christ’s place on the throne of our hearts.
Don ‘t let him do this. Pray now asking Jesus to come in and take His rightful place in you, His temple.
Hover o’er me, Holy Spirit,
Bathe my trembling heart and brow.
Fill me with Thy hallowed presence;
Come, O come and fill me now.
Refrain:
Fill me now, fill me now,
Jesus, come and fill me now;
Fill me with Thy hallowed presence;
Come, O come and fill me now.
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God makes His purpose for our bodies known throughout the Holy Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Here are some key stopping spots on our journey.
Your Body is a Temple: A Home for the Holy Spirit
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. – Genesis 1:27
The Bible makes it very clear that God Himself created a man and a woman as the crowning work of His creation on the 6th day of creation, the very last act before His rest on the Sabbath. All the other creatures were the result of His Word, but God “made” man and woman.
The first temples of God
The Lord formed man out of the dust of the ground. That implies some handiwork on His part, like a potter, sculptor, or architect. And then he “breathed” life into him and he became “a living soul.” The first temple, Adam* (4004-3074BC), was a structure like a temple, an abode for the Almighty.
*this person’s short bio is in my book SPIRITUAL LIVES.
God’s creative work was not done. He saw that it was not good for the man to be alone and so put him to sleep, did some surgery, removed his rib, and formed a woman.
They were made for one another and for Him.
His Spirit was in both, and they walked before Him and one another naked and in perfect peace, joy, and love.
They lived together in harmony with all of creation and with one another. God ordered their ways, put them in a garden, gave them food, commanded them not to eat of one tree, and walked and talked with them in the cool of the day. We don’t know how long this had gone on, but suddenly everything has changed.
Suddenly an enemy appeared and began working to destroy that temple. He had tried this kind of thing before, in heaven. There, he could not destroy God’s temple so he worked to put himself in His place as the object of worship.
He recruited a third of the other angels to help him, and there was war in heaven. God Himself did not engage but sent archangel Michael to fight on His behalf. Michael defeated this enemy and cast them down to earth. There he began his stealthy effort to destroy the temple God had created here by drawing Adam and Eve*(4004 BC-?) into sin.
He did this by coopting the body of the serpent, another of the creatures God had created as good. Here, we see the dramatic difference between those who are temples of God and those who are temples of the devil*. God gives His worshippers free will while the devil imprisons them to sin.
Why? He knows God loves us and wants only good for us, but he also knows God hates sin and cannot abide it. He knows this from firsthand experience, being kicked out of heaven, and so cunningly uses sins to drive us away from our Creator.
Satan* was out for revenge for being kicked out of heaven. He could not attack God directly, so he targeted His creation, His joy, and His masterpiece. He stealthily crept into the Garden of Eden and took possession of another of God’s creatures, the then perfectly formed and upright serpent.
The devil-possessed serpent was able to lead Adam and Eve into sin and what he knew would follow, separation from God and death. He did not know that God already had the plan to use these fallen people to create a new and everlasting temple to which everyone would belong!
The basis for His plan was love. It operated on forgiveness and promised righteousness and eternal life. We see this right away while the couple was still in the Garden of Eden.
The Lord treated them kindly, made clothes for them from animal skins, and promised to send a Deliverer to crush the enemy’s head.
The Lord is also righteous, just, and true to His Word. He cannot lie, and Adam and Eve’s sins brought death into the world. God had made them for fellowship with Himself and eternal life, but their sin demanded that death not just for them but for everyone who sins. It also demanded separation from Him, for He is a holy God. The Bible calls Him a “consuming fire,” and sin cannot exist in His presence.
The devil knew this and also knew God could not lie. When He told Adam that if he ate of that tree he would die, the devil thought that death would come at once and that the human race would be finished. Of course, God did not abandon His purpose for us.
He gave every one of us life and, thereby, the opportunity to become His temple. He also gave every one of us a measure of faith so that we would seek Him and never be content without Him. St. Augustine (354–430) famously said in Confessions:
“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”
Augustine did not write this for 4000 years after the Fall when Adam and Eve became the first of those restless hearts.
God drove them out of the Garden of Eden and placed cherubim and a fiery sword around it to keep it holy and to protect the tree of life in its midst.
In their exile, Adam and Eve still honored God, obeyed Him, and lived in His presence. God blessed them with children as they obeyed His promise “to be fruitful and multiply.” He honors His word and those who keep it, and it is just as true today as it was in the beginning because God loves people and wants as many as they will give Him.
The devil hates people and wants to destroy everyone and prevent any from being born. He knew that sin kills, and that is why he fosters it.
He had been outthought already when the Lord thwarted his plan to kill Adam and Eve. We see the devil’s work in the first family when the first person born in sin, Cain*, murders his brother, Abel,* the first person to sacrifice a lamb to God. God confronts Cain with this, but rather than repent and accept God’s just punishment, he rebels, and God drives him from His presence. Sin will always drive us from His presence.
More temples of God in Genesis
Adam and Eve were now alone and grieving the death of their righteous son. It looked like the devil had accomplished his goal of destroying the temples God wanted, and that the human race would die out. But God gave them another son, Seth*(3874-2961BC), who would walk with God and be the first of what the Bible calls “the sons of God.” These faithful people continued to honor God and seek His presence and worship Him according to His will.
There were many in Seth’s line who were righteous as long as they called upon the name of the Lord and stayed separate from Cain’s line, “the sons of men.”
But the sons of God” began to marry the daughters of Cain’s line and soon were corrupted by sin.
They, too, were created to be temples of God, but the devil and his demons worked to corrupt them. When the corruption was complete, God destroyed the world in the Flood.
Three of these sons of God stand out in the 1500 years before the Flood: Enoch, Noah, and Shem. Enoch* (3382-3017 translated) is the best example of being a temple of God. He walked with Him closely for 365 and knew His total plan for the salvation and restoration of all things in Jesus 3,000 years before He was born! The Bible says that he walked with God and that He translated him so that he did not die but went directly to be with Him.
Noah* (3078-2146BC) was the only righteous man left on earth when God used him to build an ark to save the world, an Old Testament picture of Jesus, the Ark of our safety, life, and salvation.
Shem* (2446-1846BC) Noah’s son, continued his father’s righteousness in a corrupt and sinful world and lived 600 years to the time of God’s next great temple, Abraham* (1996-1821BC), the father of faith.
God called Abram out of Ur, where the children of Shem had settled, and out of his father’s house to a land that He would show him, promising to make him a great nation and that through him every nation would be blessed. Abram believed Him and His word and obeyed. This is the first step in becoming a Temple of God — Faith.
That promise of a great nation was fulfilled through his grandson Jacob* (1836-1689BC), whose name God changed to Israel, a nation known as “the children of Israel.” One of Jacob’s 12 children was a remarkable Temple of God. God gave Joseph* (1745-1635BC) dreams, and he was faithful to them and honored God with obedience and refusal to sin.
A second step in becoming a temple of God is separation. Joseph was literally separated from his scheming brothers and later separated unto God.
Separated from his family and isolated in the world, he lived a holy life and was filled with God’s Spirit.
Temples of God in Exodus, Judges, and Samuel
The Spirit of God was also upon Moses* (1571-1451BC), Joshua* (1553-1443BC), and Caleb* (1530-1457?BC), who were warriors for Jehovah and brought the children of Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan where Abraham traveled 500 years before.
In that land were others whom the Spirit enabled to deliver God’s people from sin, oppression, and idolatry. Idolatry became Israel’s besetting sin. The devil raised it up to put himself in a place of worship under the names of Baal, Moloch, Chemosh, and Ashtaroth. Instead of becoming temples of God, the Israelites went to the temples of these idols, who were nothing but demons in disguise.
God sent His Spirit to Gideon* (fl 1249BC), Jephthah* (circa 1188BC), and Samson,* (circa 1136BC) each of whom won decisive victories over God’s enemies, but the Spirit “came upon them” temporarily, enabling them to act for God, but not dwelling in them permanently. We are His temples notwithstanding, but there is danger ahead when God’s presence leaves us.
God sent His Spirit to King Saul* (1115-1055BC) after he was anointed and he prophesied and “became another man.” 1 Samuel 10:6)
The Spirit enabled him to defeat Israel’s enemies and build a strong kingdom.
But when he grew proud and disobeyed, that Spirit left him, and an evil spirit took its place.
This is another important truth about being a temple of God.
God’s presence leaves when disobedience enters.
God’s Spirit then came into David* (1085-1015 BC) at this time and enabled him not only to be a good king but to write the Psalms. They were the greatest of David’s works, but another was his desire to build a house for the Lord, the Temple of Jerusalem.
Temples of God in Kings
Solomon* (1034-975BC) built it, and God entered it, filled it with His presence, and rested on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. The temple endured for some 400 years, and worship, repentance, sacrifice, praise, and prayer were practiced just as they are in the temples of our bodies.
During the time the Lord occupied the Temple in Jerusalem, He also occupied the bodily temples of two prophets in Israel, Elijah* (938?-896BC translated), and Elisha* (925?-839BC). Israel had rejected the Lord and worshipped other gods.
But His light and power flowed through these two men. They lived in the spiritual realm.
Elijah was actually carried into heaven alive, and Elisha saw with his natural eyes the angelic armies of the Lord and the events of spiritual warfare.
In them, we see another characteristic of those who are the living temples of the Holy Spirit of God: spiritual power, wonderworking power. Through them, there was a preview of what Jesus would do: heal the sick, feed many with little, and raise the dead.
Temples of God in the prophets
Isaiah* (700s BC), Jeremiah* (659?-588+BC), and Ezekiel* (622-570BC) were all God’s temples who gave their lives completely to the Lord. The characteristic of God’s living temples we see here is surrender, sacrifice, and devoting one’s entire life to Jesus.
This devotion begins with cleansing from sin and visions of God.
Finally, there is a holy mission, a people to whom God sends us or a place of service, and our duty to obey and live 100% for Him no matter what the consequences may be.
Then there is God-given power to see, understand, and minister to others.
Such power filled the prophet Daniel* (623-538BC), who, like Joseph, Elijah, and Elisha, lived in a heathen culture. In Daniel, we see the same traits we saw in Joseph: obedience, faithfulness, wisdom, and kindness. Like him, he also saw the future, but Daniel talked with angels, reproved kings, and prophesied the coming of Jesus.
Throughout his career, Daniel practiced holiness and separation from the world, regular, devotional prayer, and absolute trust in the word of the Lord. All these are character traits of living Temples of God.
Temples of God in the Gospels
We meet the first two living temples of God in the Temple in Jerusalem. They are Simeon and Anna, both near the end of their lives. The Holy Ghost had revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah and led him to the Temple at the very moment Joseph* (50BC?-20AD?) and Mary* (18BC?- 41AD) brought the infant Jesus there. He took the child in his arms, blessed the parents, and asked the Lord to let him “depart in peace” since he had seen the Savior.
Anna was a prophetess, 86 years old, who never left the Temple, but was constantly and faithfully praying and fasting waiting for the promised Savior. She came upon them at the very instant they were with Simeon. Here we see that living temples of God pray, wait and allow Him to direct their lives, moment by moment!
From aged temples to preborn temples, we see John the Baptist* (5BC-26AD) and Jesus * (4BC-30AD) full of the Holy Ghost in their mothers’ wombs.
In these New Testament Temples, the Holy Spirit constantly remained through their entire lives, up to and including death.
Moreover, the Holy Ghost empowered them to lead others into repentance, salvation, and becoming Temples of God themselves. Luke (1-16AD - 84-100) tells us (7:29-30) that John had baptized everyone that Jesus saved.
Jesus breathed on His disciples and said Receive the Holy Ghost. (John 20:22). This is a divinely appointed reenactment of the Lord’s breathing life into the man He had formed of the dust so that he “became a living soul.” (Genesis 3:7)
Wonderful as this was, it was just the beginning. Jesus was giving them the gifts of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the mission He had given them to teach all nations. Shortly after, He sent the baptism of the Holy Spirit to 120 giving them His power to be His witnesses to the world through their words and through their lives.
These 120 Temples of God multiplied into 3000 that very day, thousands shortly after, and billion up to today. Praise God!
Temples of God in the Epistles
St. Paul* (5-67) was himself a Spirit-filled temple of God and gave his life to helping others realize that this was God’s purpose for us. Because he himself was an active enemy of Jesus, he experienced first-hand that anyone can be saved from emptiness with just one meeting with Jesus. Paul called himself the “chiefest of sinners,” but humbly allowed God to make him a “vessel unto honor.”
The Corinthians were known for their loose living and Paul chided them twice for not knowing that their bodies were the temple of God and then a third time reminded them that God gave them their bodies.
He asked them
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 1 Corinthians 6:19
He followed up in 2 Corinthians and commanded them to separate from idols and unbelievers. Wisdom then, and wisdom now.
Jesus wants to be number 1 in our lives. The devil doesn’t care what’s number 1 as long as it isn’t Jesus!
Temples of God in Revelation
Jesus has the last words on this subject in Revelation 3. He speaks them from heaven, where He lives with the Father in His glorified body. He gives us a promise and an invitation.
He promises His temples in the church a place in God’s temple in heaven and a new name that He will give them. His invitation is to come into our hearts and eat with us. It is a picture of the love and care Jesus has for us. The menu for this will be from the Tree of Life!
God made us to be His temples. He sent Jesus to save us from our sins. He loves us unconditionally and chose us to be holy, without blame, and abiding in His love. He sent the Holy Spirit to fill us and give us His character and to overcome the power of the world the temptations of our bodies and the snares of the devil.
He has kept me as His temple for 78 years despite my countless sins and weaknesses. He has healed me from asthma, eczema, throat cancer, and many other maladies. He has blessed me with a wonderful family and church. He has given me comfortable homes, clothed me, and given me work. Best of all, He has come into my heart and eats with me, filling me with His living bread.
All of this is part of being a temple of the living God. I trust every one of you has a similar testimony. If not, you can begin one today. Just listen for Jesus to knock at your heart’s door, open your door, and let Him in.
At the heart's door, the Saviour's waiting,
At the heart's door fast closed by sin.
Can't you hear Him gently knocking?
Drae the bolt, and let Him in
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