Nougat 18

Blessed day everyone! Please receive Today’s Holy Nougat

“Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It was already highlighted in this version but I didn’t notice the slightly nuanced difference. For me, I had oft repeated the first half to myself and others; and still missed the difference. Did you catch the difference? I’d never really registered that TOGETHER we comprise God’s temple as I read ‘you’ as singular despite the letter being penned to one congregation.

So you might be saying to yourself, ‘ So it’s plural, not singular. No Big Deal.’ It is a big deal if we realize that although God dwells within each of us through God’s Spirit breath; for us to be God’s temple, there’s need for all of us.

In those times a sovereign was both the subject and object of worship. Temples were erected all over to that effect for the sovereign. For the Jews, this had come up for scrutiny before, impacting their self-understanding and sense of national identity when the temple was destroyed, and they were exiled in Babylon. It was a challenge even for them to ‘sing the Lord’s song in a strange land.’ This was an aspect of their collective experience.

If a sovereign was identified by a ‘visible Kingdom’ and temples within to facilitate worship, the emergent Church was in serious trouble. Their king was not only crucified; but his kingdom was not clearly defined by boundaries, there were few temple structures in his honor (they met in houses and later underground when faced with persecution) and the temple leadership was itinerant.

As new converts, living amidst the more popular religious reality; it is not hard to understand the move to identify with a particular religious leader (sic) over another. Paul’s letter was reminding them to keep focus – all worship to be accorded to Christ; in God’s temple, the believers (worshippers) themselves.

The rhetorical question is thus crafted to that effect. It returns sovereignty to God; establishes the location of the temple AND eliminates the rising trend of friction and fractiousness among the worshippers. At least for the Corinthian church.

This is worth grasping; not only from a historical perspective; but for us today, living in the here and now. Because we also serve the Sovereign God. And though we celebrate his crucifixion; we worship BECAUSE of His resurrection power that proclaim His sovereignty – even over death. His Kingdom extends to Heaven, so we are not bound by place or space in our acts of worship.

But we worship One God. Together. No matter where we are. Regardless of physical temples, zoom rooms other media. Regardless of nationality, culture, language or denominational affiliation. We are the temple of the Living God Who dwells within. Both Individually AND Collectively. All because the Spirit of the Living God dwells within us.

We seek therefore to focus on the One Who unites us, not the doctrines that divide, diminish or distance us. And through the Sovereign language of Love, we gather in the temple to bear witness, to worship our God. By God’s Spirit, the Temple will never again be destroyed; for it has already been raised by non-human hands. Hallelujah amen

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May all we seek be found in Christ