If you could go back to the city of Jerusalem in Bible times, the biggest thing you’d
see, is the temple.
This beautiful building was designed by King David and built by King Solomon; and
they believed it was the home of the God of the universe.
Wait, I thought God’s home was in heaven.
Well, the whole point of this earthly temple, is that it’s the place that overlaps with
God’s heavenly home.
The temple is where God lives and rules all creation as king.
That’s cool.
But even Solomon who built the temple didn’t believe that his temple
could contain the God of the universe.
Right?
Yeah, the building was just a symbol, that pointed to the fact that all creation is God’s
temple.
And that is actually what the first page of the Bible, Genesis, is all about.
Really?
It says that creation is God’s temple?
Well, it doesn’t need to say it; the whole story shows it.
God creates an ordered world out of a dark wasteland
by speaking in series of seven days.
Then on the seventh day, God’s presence fills creation as he
takes up his rest and rule.
Similarly, the tabernacle–and later the temple–were built and dedicated in a series
of seven speeches and seven days
after which the priest or king could rest and rule in God’s presence.
Ah, so all of creation is where God intends to dwell.
It’s like his temple.
Exactly.
Now, Turn the page to Genesis 2, and we get another portrait of creation.
...This one focuses in on the land, and in the center of the land is a region called
“Eden” which in Hebrew means “delight”.
And in the middle of “Delight” God plants a garden in which God and humanity live
together.
And that's why the temple was modeled after the garden.
Filled with imagery of gold and flowers, the Menorah symbolized the tree of life.
It's the place where God dwells with his people.
Oh, Got it!
And check this out.
In the temple, the Israelite priests and Levites were to “to work
and to keep” the temple in God’s presence.
This is exactly the job description given to humanity in the garden of Eden.
So these humans were the first priests.
But instead of ruling with God, they wanted to rule on their own terms, and they’re
exiled from the garden-temple.
And, like Adam and Eve, Israel’s leaders also wanted to rule on their own terms and
they too were exiled.
The Temple was destroyed, and this left them wondering, did God give up on Israel?
Will God bring about a new creation?
Well, the biblical prophets anticipated the day when God would create a new temple, with
a new priesthood; that’s when God’s presence would fill all of creation.
And when the Israelites returned to the land, they did rebuild the temple.
But that temple didn’t turn out the way the prophets hoped.
In fact, later Israelite prophets said that this temple was hopelessly
corrupt.
So they're still waiting, for the ultimate temple.
And here we come to the story of Jesus.
He said that through him God’s presence and
rule was coming to our world in a new way.
And presented himself as a new kind of priest.
But Jesus wasn’t a priest, and he didn’t work in the Temple.
Right; Jesus said that God’s presence, his rest and rule, was filling the world through
his own life, death, and resurrection.
Jesus was claiming that he was the true temple.
And this new temple would expand out to include all of creation.
That is a really big claim!
And it got bigger!
After his resurrection, Jesus said that God’s presence would come
to dwell in and among his followers, so that they could become mini-temples.
Communities of people where God rests and rules.
Exactly.
This is the Bible’s vision of the church, which is described as a temple.
Not a building, but people.
Like when Peter says “you all are living stones built up as a temple for God’s Spirit
to dwell”.
So at the end of the biblical story, do we ever get a new physical temple?
Well, not exactly.
What we see is a renewed cosmic temple, just like in Genesis one.
And this new creation doesn’t need a building because through Jesus, all creation is
now the place where God rests and rules the world with his people.