God looks on the Heart
It does not matter what the temple looks like. It only matters Who dwells there. (M. Puccini)
One of the greatest mysteries is this; our God dwells within His people. If Christ is our Savior, the Holy Spirit lives in each of us.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV)
My temple isn’t very impressive. I’m short, carry a few extra pounds and am slowly edging into old age. Still, the Lord’s Spirit manages to shine through this broken-down old temple of mine.
See, when God said He doesn’t look at the outward appearance but at the heart, the Lord means it. (1 Samuel 16:1-13 NIV)
Old Testament Divine Appearances
In the Old Testament no one could stand in the presence of God’s divine holiness. Fearful, sin-convicted and ashamed, people even cowered before an angel’s glory.
The Prophet Isaiah’s experience is the most eye-popping example:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
(Isaiah 6:1-5 NIV)
When Isaiah had his vision of the Lord, God’s divine holiness revealed the ugliness of his own sin. But the rest of the story is worth reading. Because God turned this cringing sinful man into a bold prophet, who spoke His truth to a rebellious nation.
Cloaked Divinity
Jesus came with His divine nature cloaked, so the Father’s true nature and love for people could be revealed.
In fact, only the demons recognized Him.
But is Christ’s divinity also cloaked within us? We too have a dual nature. Each Christ-follower carries the Holy Spirit with him wherever he travels. We are uniquely different from any other human beings on the planet.
Perhaps that’s why our Savior challenges us to be salt and light.
My Spiritual Point
Back before automobiles, when everyone traveled on foot or by horse, some Bible teacher came up with this analogy.to explain how the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
Imagine a piece of iron in a blacksmith’s forge. As the iron heats up, it becomes red hot. So the iron is in the fire, but the fire is also in the iron. Yet the fire and the iron remain distinctly themselves.
Christ-followers are the iron and the Holy Spirit is the fire. It’s a good analogy. y
Yet the Spirit dwelling in us still remains a mystery.
These images came from Pixabay.com.
