Encounter: Find a quiet place to meditate on these scriptures. Underline any words or phrases that shimmer for you. Ask God to give you the grace to understand and awaken to the truth displayed in these scriptures.
1 Kings 8:6-11, 1 Kings 8:41-43, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 1 Cor. 6:19-20, Rev. 21:22
I just returned from Chicago this evening from the Executive Board meeting of the Central Conference of the ECC. It was a full day of reports and reviewing budgets and also a time of prayer, fellowship and listening to the stories of how God is blessing his church throughout the region.
One particular Covenant church is getting ready to dedicate a new sanctuary and although I’m sure it doesn’t look anything like Solomon’s temple with tons of gold, the heart of this congregation is to have a place where the name of the Lord is glorified. Their desire and focus is to live out the Great Commandments and the Great Commission. There is no doubt that on the day they lift up their prayer of dedication to the Lord, with hands high and instruments ringing out songs of praise, that God’s presence will be tangible.
Another story was shared about a church that was in chaos. Full of petty fights for control, gossip with a focus to get what they wanted for themselves. The contrast was evident and it reminded me of God’s words to Solomon after he built the temple, to make sure he followed him with integrity and godliness obeying all his commandments or else his presence would not dwell there.
Ultimately, it seems it's not about the buildings at all. It was about their hearts. The temple was to remind them of their relationship with God, what had been lost and what God was doing to reunite them and bring them back into his presence. What had been in the expanse of the whole earth being full of the glory of God was now confined to experiencing this precious presence in a 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high building. Why? Because the people abandoned the Lord their God.
But God’s grace is bigger. God is going to show them his love is stronger than their sin. We were created to live in God’s presence. Just as the angels blocked the entrance after Adam and Eve were expelled out to the east of Eden, the symbols of the angels on the curtains and hovering over the mercy seat were there to welcome them back into His presence as the priest walked westward into the Holy of Holies. He will make all things new!
The New Testament tells us that God’s Spirit now dwells in “temples made without hands.” Namely us! Several times the New Testament declares that we, as believers, are a temple of God and that the Lord wants to glorify Himself through us, just as He did through Solomon’s Temple.
Solomon’s temple was furnished with amazing riches that were symbolic of the beauty of God’s creation. It made me think, how do we furnish our temples so that our lives give glory to the name of Jesus? And it came to me. We furnish our lives with what is important to God. As God’s dwelling place, what matters to God should matter to us and it should show.
This Sunday, along with our 730 Challenge scriptures for the week, I’ll be sharing the six affirmations of the Covenant Church in preparation for Pastor Danny Martinez' visit next Sunday. These affirmations reflect what is important to God. When we live out these affirmations we truly will reflect what matters to Jesus.
See you in worship!
Pastor T
Reflect: Go to https://covchurch.org/resource/covenant-affirmations/
For more information about the Covenant Affirmations. How would it look for a church to express these in their community? Would this bring glory to God's name?
Spiritual Practice: As Solomon prayed to God in 1 Kings 8 he expected that God would hear their prayers made in and towards the temple. When the priests carried the Ark into the Most Holy Place, what happened? Imagine yourself there in the midst of the cloud, the glorious presence of the Lord. What would you ask the Lord as you lay there in his presence?
Gather: Discuss in your small group what it means to now be the temple where God’s presence remains forever. What impact does this truth have on your life? What do you struggle to understand?
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