The Heavenly Sanctuary

"Why exactly did God ask that a physical building be constructed? Read in 1Kings chapter six and you will see just how involved this work was. Back in Exodus God gave blueprints to Moses on how to build a portable temple so He "may dwell among them." Did and does God need a building to dwell among His people?

King Solomon built a temple (1Kings 6:1,14), Lucifer polluted his temple (Ezekiel 28:18) and God is in His temple. (Psalm 11:4) - So how does this all work?

I would like to suggest that the physical and literal building that God asked man to construct was a massive object lesson in 3D to help man to understand what exactly is at stake. There is one thing that the Adversary (Satan) would like to take captive and that is us.  And he isn't interested in our knees or elbows or even our noses; Satan wants and strives to divide and conquer our minds.

He wishes to set up his "throne" in our minds, however, so does God. Our gracious Father and Best Friend gave man instructions on how to build a temple to demonstrate the plan of salvation and how He would, if we want Him to, set up His throne in our minds or heavenly sanctuaries.

We know that God doesn't need a building to dwell among His people does He? When we leave church does that mean God is not with us? If we don't go to church at all does it mean God has abandoned us? No! What is it that the Enemy wants more than anything? To deceive us into thinking that God is arbitrary, unfair, exacting, tyrannical, and unforgiving and where do we do our thinking? Yes! Our brains! And so doesn't it make sense that Satan would wish to change our minds about God? To believe the lies?

Anywhere you find God, you will find holiness. What does God wish for us? To be holy like He is holy. How does that work?  Well, if we behold God and come to know Him as the friend (John 15:15) He longs for us to be, then we will become more and more like Him as time goes on. It is a natural law that we will become like that which we behold.

"So you are no longer strangers and outsiders. You are citizens together with God's people. You are members of God's family. You are a building that is built on the apostles and prophets. They are the foundation. Christ Jesus is the most important stonein the building. The whole building is held together by Him. It rises to become a holy temple because it belongs to the Lord. And because you belong to him, you too are being built together. You are being made into a housewhere God lives through his Spirit." Ephesians 2:19-22

In 2Thessalonians, Paul warns us against the Enemy:

"He will oppose everything that is called God. He will oppose everything that is worshiped. He will give himself power over everything. He will set himself up in God's temple.He will announce that he himself is God."

Any human, demon or Satan himself that tries to coerce you into believing anything other than the truth about what God is like is attempting to set up his throne up in your temple or mind.

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple? God's spirit lives in you.  If anyone destroys God's temple God will destroy him. God's temple is holy. And you are that temple."  1Corinthians 3:16

"Don't you know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit is within you."  1Corinthians 6:19

Is this awesomely mind blowing or what?!?! You my dear friend ARE that temple that God had Moses and Solomon build yet you are FAR MORE PRECIOUS because you are not made from perishable and corruptible things! You are made of flesh and blood, precious even so to The Lord. Christ has paid a tremendous price in that He gave up His life to reveal to the universe that He is worthy of sitting in His temple. Now that has got to make you think a little and maybe even make you smile? :)

I'm not finished... 1Peter 2:5 says, "Christ is the living Stone...You also are like living stones. As you come to Him you are being built into a house for worship.There you will be holy priests." Does this not get you revved? It does me!

God wants us to see that it is our minds that are at stake here in The Great Controversy! How else could we make life or death decisions without a brain to study the evidence that our God has revealed? And how He is merciful and loving and just and true? And that He can be trusted?

I have so much more to share but I will end here. Look up as many verses as you can on the temple, sanctuary, dwelling places, etc. and you will see for yourself that the literal building is important but God and the universe aren't concerned with it.  He is concerned about securing the universe forever and the only way He can do that is to lay out all the evidence of who He is and what He is like and then allow us to freely choose Him or reject Him.

The universe will not be secured by forgiveness of sins, for God forgives everyone because that is just the way He is! He forgives even those that murder Him - people that never even requested to be forgiven! No, it will be secured by knowing our God and that He can be counted on and that what He has said is righteous and true - and most importantly, that He worthy of our loyalty and deserves to sit in our temple - wait - HIS TEMPLE - occupying our thoughts because we admire Him more then anything else

Love You All,

Stacie