03/01/08

God in Us

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body. -- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The truth of the divine indwelling is developed more fully in the epistles of Paul. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? . . . For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Cor. 3:16-17). And again (1 Cor. 6:19), "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?" Without question, the teaching of the New Testament is that the very God Himself inhabits the nature of His true children. We are made in the image of God and when we operate in that image then we become His true children. How the image of God is embedded in our body, our soul and sprit is just mind-boggling. Paul called this wonder of the indwelling God a rich mystery: "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). The spiritual riches lying buried in this truth are so vast that they are worth any care or effort we may give to their recovery. Yet we are not concerned primarily with the theology or metaphysics embodied here. We want to know the reality of it. What does the truth mean to us in practical outworking? What does it have for a serious-minded Christian compelled to live in a dark and godless world? As Paul would say, "Much every way" (Rom 3:2).


[ Prayer for the Day ]

O God, that You should dwell in a shack, a rat-hole like me! Tear me down and make me Your temple. I want to be your true child and live in that image You have made me. I ask this prayer in Jesus' Name. Amen.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)