Ephesians 2 (KJ2000)
19 Now therefore you are no more strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom you also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.
God lives in you.
Read that again.
Paul does not say God occasionally visits you. He does not say God comes around when the worship is good enough, the prayer meeting becomes intense enough, or the preacher finally gets everyone shouting.
He says believers are being built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.
A habitation is somewhere you live.
You are God’s dwelling place.
God Has Moved In
The Old Testament trained Israel to think about God's presence in connection with physical places.
First there was the tabernacle. Later there was the temple.
There was a Holy Place. There was a Most Holy Place. There were priests, sacrifices, curtains and restrictions.
God certainly dealt with individuals, but the great visible centre of His presence among Israel was the sanctuary.
Then Jesus came.
And something changed.
God’s great New Testament building project is no longer primarily made of stone.
It is made of people.
Peter calls believers “living stones”. Paul calls the Church a temple. And here in Ephesians, Paul says we are being built together into a habitation of God.
The building is alive.
And God lives in it.
You Are Not Trying to Get God to Come Near
This matters because Christians sometimes pray and talk as though God lives several million miles away.
We ask Him to come.
We beg Him to draw near.
We speak as though His presence has to travel to wherever we happen to be.
But listen to Paul.
Romans 8 (KJ2000)
9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also bring to life your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.
Paul keeps saying it.
The Spirit of God dwells in you.
Christ is in you.
The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.
You do not need to persuade Him to move into the neighbourhood.
He already lives there.
Your Body Is His Temple
This truth is also personal.
1 Corinthians 6 (KJ2000)
19 What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own?
20 For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Paul uses indwelling to teach holiness.
Notice his argument.
He does not say, “Behave yourself so that perhaps one day the Holy Spirit will come and live in you.”
He says the Holy Spirit already lives in you; therefore glorify God in your body.
Identity comes before conduct.
You do not live holy so that your body can become God’s temple.
You live holy because it already is.
There are things you would not comfortably do in a church auditorium because you consider the place sacred.
Paul pushes the argument much further.
Your body is the temple.
You carry the sacred space around with you.
The Church Is Also His Temple
There is another side to this metaphor.
God lives in you individually, but God also dwells among us corporately.
1 Corinthians 3 (KJ2000)
16 Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Here Paul is speaking to the congregation.
Together, they were God’s temple.
That should affect the way you treat other believers.
You cannot claim to honour God while casually damaging the people among whom He dwells.
Strife matters.
Division matters.
Slander matters.
The Church is more than an organisation you attend. It is a habitation of God.
God takes His house seriously.
Jesus Said the Father Would Make His Home With Us
Jesus prepared His disciples for this.
John 14 (KJ2000)
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
“Abode” means dwelling place.
Home.
Jesus was describing a relationship far closer than many believers imagine.
God is not merely above you.
God is not merely around you.
By His Spirit, God is in you.
This should change the way you pray.
Prayer is not trying to get the attention of a distant God.
It is fellowship with the God who has made His home in you.
Learn to Live With This Consciousness
Imagine somebody gave you a house and you later discovered that the King had taken up residence in one of the rooms.
You would probably become very conscious of how you behaved in that house.
Something greater has happened.
The Spirit of God lives in you.
That truth should produce reverence, confidence and holiness.
When you feel alone, remember who lives in you.
When you feel weak, remember who lives in you.
When temptation comes, remember whose temple you are.
When you pray, remember that you are not shouting across an enormous distance.
You are God’s habitation.
Christianity is much more than God helping you from heaven.
God came to live in you.
Continue in grace!