Understands That His Body Is God’s New Temple

Understands That His Body Is God’s New Temple

A HERO’S TALE

Today, the temple that King Solomon built and King Joash restored is long gone.

It was destroyed in 586 BC when King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem and took many Jews captive. Forty-seven years later, the Persian Empire conquered Babylon and allowed the Jewish exiles to return to their homeland. That’s when two Jewish leaders named Zerubbabel and Joshua started building a new, much smaller temple in Jerusalem.

Fast-forward about 500 years to 20 BC, after the Romans had conquered much of the ancient world. At that time, King Herod (the Roman-appointed ruler of Palestine who we read about in the New Testament) renovated and greatly expanded Zerubbabel’s temple. But 90 years later, when the Jews revolted against Rome in AD 70, the Romans attacked Jerusalem and destroyed Herod’s temple. In the 2,000 years since then, it has never been rebuilt.

DECODING THE MESSAGE

Why the history lesson on the old Jewish temple? Because as important as that building was to ancient Israel’s worship system, God never intended for his people to use a man-made building forever.

Now, we have become God’s temple! Yep, you heard that correctly. When you put your faith in Jesus, God’s Spirit comes to live inside you, making you God’s temple, the place where his Spirit resides (see 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and Ephesians 2:19-22). Because of this incredible truth, you can worship God anywhere because the same Spirit of God that filled Solomon’s temple now fills the heart of every true Christian!

However, the Bible does say that until Jesus returns to earth again, Christians are to gather regularly with other believers (see Hebrews 10:24-25). This is what the Bible calls “the church.” When God’s Word talks about “the church,” it’s not referring to a nice building with a steeple or stained-glass windows. It’s referring to all followers of Jesus around the world. If you are a Christian, you are part of “the church,” and God calls you to gather frequently with other believers to grow in your faith.

But you don’t have to be in a building to worship God. You can worship him anywhere, anytime, because your body is a living temple where his Holy Spirit resides. Amazing!

BATTLE PLAN

Talk to your parents about how you can worship God with your body (that is, God’s temple), just like today’s Scripture passage says.