Ever since God created this little orb called Earth amid a vast universe, He has maintained a sanctuary for Himself – something that would exhibit His spiritual glory in a three-dimensional, material world.
It started with a garden, where He put the human image-bearers He had just created and where He could walk and talk with them: And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:8-9).
We all know how that went. The Tempter came, invaded that lovely garden, and seduced man to commit the same rebellion he had carried out in the heavenly sanctuary. As a result, God banished man from His earthly sanctuary just like He had banned their tempter from the heavenly one.
The Bible stays silent on what happened to God’s garden retreat. Instead, it focuses on 2 more major rebellions: one by angelic beings falling in lust with the hot chicks of early humanity (see Genesis 6), which ultimately drove Him to flood the earth, destroy mankind, and start over with one family on a boat, and one by the descendants of that family. After they multiplied, they decided to prove to themselves that they could be like God by building a tower that would reach into heaven (See Genesis 11). As a result, God scattered them into language groups, disinherited them, and consigned them to the rule of demonic princes (see Deuteronomy 32:8 and Daniel 10:13 and 20).
Immediately, God began the process of relocating His sanctuary a second time. He called Abraham and covenanted with him to become a blessing to all nations through a son and grandsons. Nearly a thousand years later – which is merely a day in God’s timeline! – his descendants were rescued from slavery in Egypt and brought into the desert to become God’s new sanctuary – a holy nation, a people of His own possession (see Leviticus 20:26) that would stand out from other nations by how they lived. What is more – the very presence of God would be with them in a temple to be built in their capital, Jerusalem. God’s sanctuary was now amid a nation devoted to Him.
We all know how that went.
Before another millennium passes, the Chosen are sent into exile, having proved utterly incapable of being God’s precepts in their own strength. Fifty years later, a remnant is allowed to return to rebuild the city and the temple, and for a season, God comes to live among His people again, albeit a remnant of two tribes.
Fast forward another 400 years or so, during which the story of God and His people goes silent, and we see the precepts that guided their relationship reduced to an unmanageable and dead system of rules and rites. The glory of God appears to have abandoned the temple long before.
But Yahweh comes to dwell among His people once more—in the form of a sinless human named Jesus (God with us). He preaches God’s kingdom as it was supposed to be understood, then goes to the cross as the sacrifice that atones for the sins of all mankind, paving the way for yet another shift in the location of God’s sanctuary.
After He completes His mission on the cross, is raised from the dead, and ascends into heaven, God creates a new sanctuary on the Day of Pentecost. He pours out His Holy Spirit on the disciples, fulfilling His promise in Ezekiel 36:26-27. I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
His sanctuary is no longer a garden or a temple amidst a people devoted to Him.
It now resides in the souls of people born again, sealed, and filled with His Spirit. That is why Paul writes: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God (1 Corinthians 6:19)?
He adds in Ephesians 2:19-22: You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
You read that right. You, me, and thousands of others from every tongue, tribe, and nation are God’s sanctuary on earth.
Your soul is His sanctuary. Let that sink in for a moment. He made it holy in a way that no human could so He could live there. And He continuously transforms it so He can feel at home in your soul.
I can’t think of any greater mercy, honor, and privilege than the God of the Universe wanting to make His home in my soul. It is enough to consecrate my whole life to ensure He feels comfortable there and that my mind, mouth, and body reflect that He lives inside me. I can do very little in that regard, of course. He has to transform me in the image of His Son (See Romans 8:29). But I can make sure that every day, I devote myself to prayer, the Word, intentional dependence on Him for everything, and “work out my salvation with fear and trembling as it is God Who works in me to will and act for His good pleasure” (see Philippians 2:13).
Take a moment to stand in awe that your soul is God’s sanctuary on earth. Then ask Him to make everything in your life about Him living and feeling at home there.