Do you not know that you are the temple of God? That was the question Paul put to Christians who were living an immoral life. And, whether we are living in immorality or not, it is a good question to ask ourselves from time to time. It shows that we realize that God should be living in us. We are a divine dwelling place, a thought that Jesus further developed in His high priestly prayer. He prayed then that we may be one just as He and His Father are one: “I in them and you in me.”
If you are just joining us, this is the second post on our internal environment. The environment is the fifth and last pillar in our series on Divine Health, which we started at the beginning of the year. It is a series that allows us live long enough to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. We are now considering our internal environment after we concluded our external environment in a previous post. Is God living in your life? Are you a divine dwelling place? There are only two people who can answer that question, so we are not taking a poll.
You yourself may know the answer and I hope it is a “yes.” We say “you may” because a lot of people do not truly know. They assume that because they were baptized in one church or another, they belong to Jesus. The assumption is that if your name is on a church register, you are going to heaven. There are two scriptural passages that imply that this assumption is wrong. One is the question that Paul asked the Corinthian church. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?
Church Going Is Not Equal To Being A Divine Dwelling Place
The other passage is where Jesus told some very good church workers that He did not know them. These church-goers were very active in the church. Some even went as far prophesying in Jesus’ name, casting out demons and working wonders. They safely assumed they served as the temple of God, a divine dwelling place. Other church members might have assumed they belonged to Jesus and that they would be going straight to heaven.
But watch what happened when they attempted to enter Heaven. Jesus told them to depart from Him, that He never knew them. He ended by calling them workers. However, instead of calling them workers of righteousness, he called them workers of iniquity. I wonder how many zealous workers in our various churches would be called workers of iniquity at the end. At that time, it will be too late to make amends, which is the reason for this post.
Be sure you are God’s temple, a divine dwelling place, while there is time, before time shall be no more. That is how the bible describes death. When time shall be no more and eternity will be all there is. Some will spend that eternity in heaven while others will end up in hell. There is no third option, which makes it necessary for us to choose wisely now.
We earlier said only two people know whether or not you are a divine dwelling. You, which we have discussed, and God. Your Pastor or neighbor or spouse has no way of knowing for sure. But God knows those who belong to Him and asks them to depart from evil. How does God see you? As a servant of satan or as a divine dwelling place.
Hosting God Is Both Frightening And Comforting
When God is your internal environment, when God lives inside of you, it can be frightening. This is God Almighty that we are talking about here. And yet, He is pleased to dwell with us as our Emmanuel. What sort of life should you live when you know God is living inside you? That is the scary part. You say only words that will please God. Or as Paul advised, speak to one another in psalms and spiritual songs. When you know God is inside you, you will not engage in coarse jokes, or gossip or backbiting or any work of the flesh. You will not even think such thoughts because God sees our thoughts.
But there is another aspect and that is very comforting. He who is in you is greater than He who is in the world. Let the enemy do his worst. He will never try you again once he comes across God inside you. That is the comforting part of being a divine dwelling place. As always, you get to choose. Will you become the temple of God or will you remain as the house of satan?
Do not forget that the devil is trying to prevent you from fulfilling God’s purpose and might kill you prematurely. I know my choice. Our next post will continue with the internal environment necessary for living a good useful life.
To your health!
Maranatha!
