The Place Where God Dwells

Lessons from King David, Part 3 of 3

• The Citadel: My heart, God's throne
• Coming to Worship
• The Place Where God Dwells

July 20, 1997

2 Samuel 7; Ephesians 2:22

INTRODUCTION

David had a bright idea. Nathan the prophet thought it was a great idea as well. David wanted to build a beautiful house in which the glory of God, the Ark of the Covenant, could rest. It would be the heart of the heart of worship for the nation. The Holy of Holies in the center of Jerusalem.

David had conquered Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant was back at the center of things. Now, David thought, it is time to build the House of Worship. What could be wrong with that? Nathan agreed.

But that night God spoke to the prophet Nathan. God had some questions he wanted David to think about. Through the prophet God said something like this to David:

Would you like to build me a house? (After all, I've been living in a tent all these years!) Have I ever said, 'Please build me a house?' It is nice of you to want to help me. But maybe you have things a little backwards about who helps whom. Do you remember where and what you were when I began leading you? I took you from following the sheep and brought you to the throne, and to this palace made of cedar wood. I appreciate your gratitude. But when it comes to dwelling places, maybe you have things backwards. I will build your house, not the other way 'round. Just where is it that you think I want to dwell?

Actually, David had the right idea. I'm not sure when he wrote the Shepherd's Psalm, but you remember how it closes with great confidence: "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!" David wanted to be where God was. He wanted God near to him. But just where is that 'house of the Lord?'

GOD DOES NOT LIVE IN BUILDINGS

At the dedication of Solomon's temple about 40 years later David's son the king put the thought into words:

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!"

In that prayer Solomon made it clear that he understood that our houses of worship are to be focal points in spiritual worship. We call them houses of God, but God makes it clear that he does not live in buildings made of marble or granite or oak or steel and glass. In the last paragraph of Ephesians 2 the place where God dwells is revealed to be the Church.

"Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."

GOD LIVES IN THE CHURCH!

...but what does that mean? "Church" is an ambiguous English word, easily mis-used. God does NOT live in a building, or in a human organization as such.

The Church where God lives is not a building, per se. That is a tool, a sacred meeting place for the church. How many times people have remarked on coming into our sanctuary, "What a beautiful church you have!" I almost always smile and say, "Yes, we do. And the building is beautiful, too, isn't it!" If God is in this building it is because THE CHURCH meets here.

The Church where God lives is not a denomination. No truly Christian group would ever claim to be the exclusive dwelling place of God on earth. Denominations at their best are networks of cooperation, enabling cooperating churches to do what no single church or two or three churches could ever do. In that they fill an apostolic function. But God does not emanate from offices or organizations. At worst, denominations become human organizations that exist to perpetuate themselves. If God is in ANY GROUP it is because THE CHURCH is represented there.

TOGETHER WE ARE THE CHURCH, GOD'S HABITATION

The Church where God lives includes every true believer; every person who says by the Spirit, "Jesus is Lord!" The Church that is God's temple is made up of all those whom God is calling. There is a mysterious aspect to that which Christ is building. But it is the Church which is Christ's Body. He is the Head. And if Jesus Christ is Lord, and shall rule over all Creation, the Church is at the very center of God's plans for the Universe.

The "worshiping fellowship" is the basic unit of the church. The individual Christian is NOT the basic unit of the church. We are saved one by one. But we are NOT intended to exist in isolation. God dwells in the building as it is fit together.

DISCLAIMER: THERE IS NEED FOR 'MEMBERSHIP' AND 'BELONGING' THERE IS VALIDITY IN GOD INDWELLING US AS INDIVIDUALS BUT TOGETHER, IMPERFECT AS WE ARE, WE ARE GOD'S TEMPLE, OR BETTER, ARE BECOMING GOD'S TEMPLE AS HE BUILDS US TOGETHER EPHESIANS 2:22

CONCLUSION

David had a great idea. He wanted to build a place for God's glory to dwell. And then the lesson he learned was that God is the builder. God wants to build us into a holy temple where he can live day in day out. God wants to make our homes sanctuaries of holy love. God wants to make our family his family. God wants to make all people of good will into one great dwelling place of peace for ever and ever.

WE DON'T HAVE TO DIE TO LIVE IN GOD'S HOUSE!

In the closing paragraphs of the Bible this theme comes forward again. It tells us that we can be a part of the place where God lives:

Revelation 21: 1 - 5 Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

That is heaven, yes. But the God-relationship begins when we let God start building us into His house.

David had a great idea. He wanted to build a house for God's glory. It came from a heart of love for God. David wanted to be near God all the time.

God reminded David- and He tells us— that, yes, He does love us and wants to be with us where life is really lived. But it is God that is building. If we let Him he will build our homes. If we cooperate with Him God will build our lives and shape them. And best of all, God is taking your story and mine, along with all who seek Him, and God is building a magnificent Temple. In the words from Ephesians 2, as found in Peterson's translation, The Message:

God is building a house. He's using us all— irrespective of how we got here— in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day— a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

Prayer

Lord God, Heavenly Father,

By the promise of your Son, make us one, one with You, by the grace of your Son, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and make us one with each other in the bond of your love, that we might together be a place where you are quite at home. Amen.

Hymn #669 We Are God's Temple

(Last verse:)

We are a temple, the Spirit's dwelling place
Formed in great weakness, a cup to hold God's grace
We die alone, for on its own each ember loses fire;
Yet joined in one the flame burns on
To give warmth and light and to inspire.
- Bryan Jeffery Leech