1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 says...
Today's verses are 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17, which read,
v.16 - Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Paul has used an agricultural illustration and then a building illustration to explain to the Corinthian Christians how they have veered from the truth. God makes the seed grow, man just scatters it. God is the foundation, man only builds upon it. What is the building that is built on this foundation?
Paul tells them that the building built on the foundation of Jesus Christ is themselves. Their very lives are temples of God in which the Spirit of God dwells. It is not the block and mortar of Union, it is the people of Union that are the temple of God and the Spirit has taken up residence in them.
It is easy to get caught up in the building and the physical surroundings. We use them so much and they are tools given to us but they are only tools to be used to help build the real temple. The people are more than just Christians who come here but they are the very temple of God. They show and share His truth and share and show His holiness through Jesus' righteousness of the cross.
How are we doing caring for that temple? As an individual Christian, do you care for yourself in retrospect to knowing that if you are temple of God that you care for yourself spiritually? As a church, do we look at the people of the church over the physical church and evaluate ourselves on the basis of people's walk with God rather than the condition of the sidewalk out front?
v.17 - If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
A stern warning from Paul, and actually from God through the Holy Spirit is given here. Since we know now that the Christians are the temple of God, if anyone was to destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him. God will not stand for His temple to be destroyed. He will actively take out that destructive element. We are not given His timeline here for this to happen but just the certainty that it will happen and ultimately some day when Satan is completely overthrown.
We are also given the "why" it will happen. God's temple, God's people are holy and precious. God's church will never be eliminated. God will preserve it here and He provides a place for the temples there in heaven. Paul then gives the "big" truth to the Corinthian Christians when he says that they are the temple of God. Therefore, be holy as God is holy. Realize that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Don't allow anything into the temple, into your lives, that goes contrary to God. So the sin of pride can't and shouldn't live in that temple of God because it is not holy and causes divisions.
"Lord, thank You that the church is not a brick and mortar structure but actual living and breathing human beings. We sure have gotten off track when we look at the church as some address on the street. Keep our eyes on the temple of God that is around us and also ourselves. May we care for the temple of God with what is holy and see the Spirit of God direct this temple where it should go and what it should do. Forgive us Lord for abusing the temple of God with those things and activities that have no place in the temple. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.16 - Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Paul has used an agricultural illustration and then a building illustration to explain to the Corinthian Christians how they have veered from the truth. God makes the seed grow, man just scatters it. God is the foundation, man only builds upon it. What is the building that is built on this foundation?
Paul tells them that the building built on the foundation of Jesus Christ is themselves. Their very lives are temples of God in which the Spirit of God dwells. It is not the block and mortar of Union, it is the people of Union that are the temple of God and the Spirit has taken up residence in them.
It is easy to get caught up in the building and the physical surroundings. We use them so much and they are tools given to us but they are only tools to be used to help build the real temple. The people are more than just Christians who come here but they are the very temple of God. They show and share His truth and share and show His holiness through Jesus' righteousness of the cross.
How are we doing caring for that temple? As an individual Christian, do you care for yourself in retrospect to knowing that if you are temple of God that you care for yourself spiritually? As a church, do we look at the people of the church over the physical church and evaluate ourselves on the basis of people's walk with God rather than the condition of the sidewalk out front?
v.17 - If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
A stern warning from Paul, and actually from God through the Holy Spirit is given here. Since we know now that the Christians are the temple of God, if anyone was to destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him. God will not stand for His temple to be destroyed. He will actively take out that destructive element. We are not given His timeline here for this to happen but just the certainty that it will happen and ultimately some day when Satan is completely overthrown.
We are also given the "why" it will happen. God's temple, God's people are holy and precious. God's church will never be eliminated. God will preserve it here and He provides a place for the temples there in heaven. Paul then gives the "big" truth to the Corinthian Christians when he says that they are the temple of God. Therefore, be holy as God is holy. Realize that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Don't allow anything into the temple, into your lives, that goes contrary to God. So the sin of pride can't and shouldn't live in that temple of God because it is not holy and causes divisions.
"Lord, thank You that the church is not a brick and mortar structure but actual living and breathing human beings. We sure have gotten off track when we look at the church as some address on the street. Keep our eyes on the temple of God that is around us and also ourselves. May we care for the temple of God with what is holy and see the Spirit of God direct this temple where it should go and what it should do. Forgive us Lord for abusing the temple of God with those things and activities that have no place in the temple. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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