Nougat 18

Since the pandemic started, my pastor has encouraged Temple Care – taking care of our bodies in a holistic way. Let’s reflect on the root of the concept with today’s Holy Nougat

“And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So part 2 of the nougat states that ‘’we are the temple of the living God.’ The writer is not just saying that you and I together make a congregation (although there is a sense in which we are); but he uses the Greek ναὸς (i.e. naos) which transliterates to the ‘part of the temple where God resides’. We can thus reread the nybble (of nougat) as saying “we are the space in the temple where the Living God resides.“ That,in effect, is the Holy of Holies. We are not The heavenly Holy of Holies, but we certainly house the Holy Spirit!

God’s promise was fulfilled at Pentecost for those who weren’t born into the Jewish way. (Although John 3 notes that Jews were to be born again, Nicodemus-style!) For when God’s Spirit descended upon the disciples-apostles, the Word began to dwell in the Gentiles, and a brand new dispensation began for the Temple. Yes, it had been destroyed physically but the key Temple, that space created in each of us for God’s Spirit to dwell, lives on.

As God’s people, as the living temple of our Living God, what shall we do? How shall we live? What will caring for our temple look like?

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May all we seek be found in Christ