Church Buildings....extended version (Part 2)

Then the speakers will say, “That’s the point! A grander and bigger church will reflect our dedication to God!” Wrong. It will rather reflect your obsession with the physical rather than the spiritual. In the New Testament, the Israelites, especially the Pharisees and Sadducees were obsessed about the rituals, the laws and the temple but in their hearts, they were corrupt and vile to the core. Jesus then foretold the destruction of the temple (Mark 13:1-2) because the temple and all the rituals and additional laws had so blinded them that they couldn’t see he was the foretold Messiah (Matthew 23:37-39). They were looking for a ‘physical’ Messiah; a conqueror to liberate them from the Romans, not a ‘spiritual’ Messiah to liberate them from their sins. Until today, the temple is nowhere to be found.

On the other hand, what does Scripture in the New Testament say about the temple? It says that the Old Testament temple was a shadow of what is to come (Hebrews 9:24). Furthermore, it also says that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. “19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). In the past, the Presence of God dwelt in the Holy of Holies, that is, the innermost part of the temple where the High Priest could only go in once a year. Today, the Holy Spirit, God’s very Presence, dwells within us! (1 Corinthians 6:19) Do you see the connection? In the past, men had limited communication with God and they had to go through the priest and high priest. Today, Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 3:1) and he brings us into such a personal communion with God that we can call Him ‘Abba, Father’(Romans 8:15). The Holy Spirit also intercedes for us, like a priest, testifying together with our own spirit that we belong to God (Romans 8:16). Wow! Truly the temple was only a shadow. When we look at a shadow, we only see an outline. But when we see the actual thing, it is so totally different! But one might say, “It says it’s a copy of the original therefore we can say exactly the same”. Wrong. Which is more valuable and nicer: a photocopied book or the original of the same book? Case closed.

From the Old Testament right up to the New Testament, the focus of God has always been the same: the condition of our hearts and our attitude towards him. He now commands men everywhere to repent of their sins and bear fruits that befit repentance (Acts 2:38, Matthew 3:8). What are those fruits? The fruit of the Spirit is one of them. Also, a continuous repenting and turning away from sin which you now hate. God’s focus was never on the physical as the speakers claim. If it were, Israel would be the size of Russia and have the economic strength of China and USA combined. The Temple would be the size of a small island and overlaid with so much gold that the ground beneath it would sink from the weight. But Israel has been, and still is, small. And the temple is still gone. Can God accomplish what I described above? Of course! But that is not His intention nor is it His focus.


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