Continuing the theme of houses, we looked at the amazing fact that we are God’s house. Hebrews 3:6 says “But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.” (Heb 3:6) It’s an absolutely amazing truth in the Bible that God chooses not to dwell in buildings but in people. In the Old Testament we read how the glory of God dwelt in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple built by Solomon, but Stephen tells us in Acts 7 that “the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands” (Acts 7:48). We can’t limit God to a building, however ornate or magnificent the building may be… and I’ve visited some pretty magnificent cathedrals lately!
Paul asks the Corinthian church: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.” (1 Cor 6:19-20)When we become Christians, Paul tells us, we become new creations (2 Cor 5:17). There is a work of regeneration, or new birth, that goes on in us when we accept Christ as our Saviour and from then on, we are becoming a dwelling in which God lives. God’s Spirit is known as the Holy Spirit and therefore we need to be holy too, for “just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Pet 1:15-16). There has to be a spring-cleaning in our lives when God comes to dwell in us. Light and darkness can’t co-exist in the same building. Dirt and cleanliness don’t mix together. God comes in and the cleaning-up process begins.
Fortunately for us, the restoration and renovation work is God’s work in us. He’s the architect and master builder. He is the Builder, as Isaiah 62:5 tells us. All He wants from us is the willingness to let Him in – to open the door of our hearts (Rev 3:20) to allow Him access to every part of our lives so that He can make His dwelling with us.