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Scripture reading: John 2:18-22
Jesus Christ is the beginning of the construction of the THIRD TEMPLE. In Christ, we are that third temple and the final fulfillment of all that has been written about temples in the Bible. Jesus Christ told the Jews, in effect, that Herod’s temple was not the true temple, but that His body was the true temple.
John 2:18-21, “Then answered the Jews and said unto Him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt Thou rear it up in three days? 21 But He spake of the temple of His body.”
Paul speaks of this temple in I Corinthians 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?”
It is very interesting to note that this teaching is believed even in modern Israel. There is, however, one exception in Israel’s belief – it being that they think they are that third temple. In a natural sense they are, but in the spiritual sense we, the Israel of God, which includes both Jew and Gentile, are that temple.
The story is told of the reference to the third temple being made by a high-ranking Israeli when things seemed very dark for Israel during the 1973 October war. His words to Premier Golda Meir were, “This is the end of the Third Temple.” In that dark hour for Israel, he would not be playing with words had the meaning not been fully known to the Premier. He was referring to Israel in no uncertain terms.
For a long time, our colleges and seminaries have been teaching that the symbolic meaning of the word Canaan is a glory land beyond death, and thus fostering a doctrine of a faraway heaven on some faraway planet. Now, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit and the Christ within us, we know for sure that the experiences of heaven are ordained of God for us to have here and now while we are in this life. Jesus, through His life, demonstrated that He dwelt in heavenly places while on earth. For example:
“No man hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” John 3:13.
This passage and many others clearly say that Jesus, though He was on earth, also was in heaven. Not just heaven in us, but us in heaven.
TRUE ENOUGH, most Christians have to die before God can get them still enough to bring them into the reality of the Spirit, but now we are understanding the ways and purposes of God, and we know that God will bring heaven down to earth (terra firma) as soon as the saints allow the Kingdom of God to come within them.
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10.
We can be like Jesus. This will happen not because we are trying hard to be; as a matter of fact, we will never be by trying, but because we are learning to step out of the way and LET HIM MAKE US LIKE HIMSELF.
JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD is God’s final pattern of that which He is creating with His word in the earth. “He spoke and it was done.” By the anointed word of God, we are being recreated in His image and likeness. There is a teaching which would disarm you, which says that you can do nothing about it. You have been given of God a free will, and you can prevent God to the point of going to hell if you desire. On the other hand, you can give God the right of way in your life to bring you into conformity with His image. Romans 6:16 states that whatsoever spirit YOU obey, his servant you will become. Thus God expects you to exercise your franchise in submitting yourself to Him that He might put you in alignment with Christ.
(Excerpt from The Pattern, pg. 5-6)
Thought for today: Let us yield today to God and ask Him for his grace to overcome our very selves. Let Him make us like Himself so we will be in alignment with Christ.
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