The Temple of God.
After the Exodus, during the wilderness wanderings, God instructed the Israelites to make a "tent of meeting" (tabernacle). There they were to place the "ark of the testimony" in the rearmost part of the tent and put a curtain in front of it, so that this area was separated from the front part. (Ex 26:31-34).
And in this "Holy of Holies", from the lid of the ark of the testimony, God spoke to Moses when necessary, in a cloud between the two cherubim which were placed on the left and right on the lid of this ark of the testimony, and gave him instructions.
When Solomon then built the first temple in Jerusalem, the rearmost part of the temple was equally extended there as the "dwelling place of the Almighty" and the same was the case with the second temple, which was built by Zerubbabel from 520-516 B.C. and dedicated in 515 B.C., and greatly expanded and remodeled by Herod from 21 B.C. onward.
Then, when the Israelites had condemned the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, to death on the cross and the Romans had crucified Him, on the death of his Son God left the Temple and abandoned his Old Covenant with the Israelites (Mt 27:51-52; Lk 16:16).
This was also the beginning of a New Covenant and thus the start of a new relationship between God and man. It is not just that since then no more sacrifices have to be nor can be offered for the forgiveness of sins, since in Jerusalem – and only there (Deut 12:14) – there is no more temple and no more altar of burnt offering (Jn 8:24) and our Lord Jesus Christ has already died on the cross for our sins.
Nor do we need a temple or a "house of God" to encounter God (Acts 7:48-50). For God has had mercy and now comes to human beings.
If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.
Jh 14,15 "If you love me, keep my commands. 14,16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – 14,17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 14,18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
14,19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 14,20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 14,21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."
14,22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" 14,23 Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 14,24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 14,25 All this I have spoken while still with you." Jn 14,15-25;
That God and his Son come to us and take up residence with us is at first glance astonishing and somewhat incomprehensible. But if one knows the biblical background, one can recognize the full reality of this statement.
«God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth».
Jn 4,23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 4,24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Jn 4,23-24;
As the Son of God tells us here, God, the Father, is spirit. And this now is not to be understood "symbolically", but literally! Not only is it true that God is spirit, but the mode of existence of all creatures in the heavenly dimension of God – including that of already resurrected human beings (1Cor 15:44) – is of a genderless spiritual nature. However, according to Scripture, they also possess the ability to appear in physical, human form (Lk 24:36-39; Rev 20:6) and to disappear (Lk 24:31; Jn 3:8).
(See also Discourse 85: "True and false rebirth.".)
A
s we can see from many biblical statements, communication between God and His Son always took place on a spiritual level. God is in the spirit of the Son, and what the Son speaks is God’s word.
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
Jn 14,10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 14,11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Jn 14,10-11;
It is therefore obvious that it is in the nature of spiritual beings to incorporate themselves both in the spirit of a human being and in other spiritual beings. They are non-material in their spiritual form and can merge into each other, as when, on the material plane, one empties a glass of water into another glass of water, and both waters become one (consider the Trinity and Rev 3:21, where all [billions!!] sit with the Lord on his – ONE – throne!).
And just as the Father dwelt in the Son, both will also dwell in us, in our spirit, if we love the Son and keep his word. God dwelt with the Israelites in the Holy of Holies of the temple, but in the faith of the New Covenant, God no longer dwells in temples that are made with hands.
It follows that the biblical Christian faith is not a religion, like the religions of this world. It is a relation, a connection or relationship with God and His Son. The believing person – as a child of God – is the temple, and his or her spirit is the Holy of Holies, where both the Father and the Son dwell in us.
Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1Cor 3,16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 3,17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. 1Cor 3,16-17;
Here, however, it must be pointed out that the presence of God in our spirit does not express itself with "jumping, dancing, laughing, crying, rolling on the ground" and such other well-known phenomena. This is not the presence of God, but these people are possessed by demons, the angels of Satan, who were thrown down to earth after the lost battle in heaven two thousand years ago.
(See also Youtube-video: "Astronaut John Glenn speaks of ’myriads of stars.‘")
The spirit of God in our spirit is almost imperceptible. We recognize it only afterwards, when we see that we have – almost against our will – displayed a behavior pleasing to God. When we ourselves are amazed at how seemingly difficult problems can suddenly be solved.
Let us therefore also remember that many false teachings are in circulation. Worldly Christianity does not keep the word of our Lord (in Catholicism we find priests as child abusers [Mt 7:16], in Protestantism gays are superintendents/bishops [Rom 1:27]). You will know them by their fruits. They are rotten fruits from rotten trees that cannot produce good fruits (Mt 7:18)! And the Mosaic rite has come to a provisional end two thousand years ago (Lk 16:16).
God is no longer to be found in a "house of God". It has become evident that in this context the contact of the people (supposedly laymen!) with their God has been cut off and reserved for a priest, who then mostly regards it just as a tiresome performance of duty. And so there is no need for "consecration" or "communion", with which Catholicism tries in vain to establish communion with the Lord. The Son of God does not come by the "hocus-pocus" (Hoc est [enim] corpus meum / corrupted in the Middle Ages) of a Catholic priest, who then possibly abuses children after the mass.
For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
2Cor 6,14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 6,15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 6,16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?
For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 6,17 Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord. "And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. 6,18 And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me", says the Lord Almighty.
(2Cor 6,14-18;)
Therefore, in biblical Christianity, communication between God and the child of God does not take place with prayers that are mindlessly rattled off, but directly and personally. God is our Father, we are his children, so we do in fact behave as children should behave towards a beloved father. Love for God, dear brothers and sisters, still needs to be explained to mankind. They have heard enough about loving their neighbor in the last two thousand years.
But you, when you pray, go into your inner room and pray to your Father who is in secret.
Mt 6,5 When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners (or in front of the Catholic idol altars ["Mary" and the cult of the dead "saints"] and the Jewish "Wailing Wall"! / FH), so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. Mt 6,5;
Deut 4,15 You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, ,4,16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman.
(e.g. a "statue of Mary") Deut 4,15;
Mt 6,6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door (Mt 10:21-22; Mk 13:12-13;) and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 6,7 And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 6,8 So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Mt 6,6-8;
So we are not supposed to "use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do" but then what are we supposed to do? – We are to talk to God. In our spirit, where his spirit is, if we are children of God. There is no need for any external "signs". These are used only by the hypocrites to impress the ungodly. Our conversation with God takes place in a spiritual way. And even if perhaps billions of people speak to God at the same time, the omnipotence of God and His grace make it possible for Him to be present and listening for each one of His children in their spirit. And so we have what many of us never had on earth: a beloved and loving, absolutely righteous Father. He will never separate from us, and if we do not separate from Him of our own free will, He will be our beloved and loving Father for all eternity. Amen.
(See also Discourse 85: "True and false Rebirth.".)
(See also Discourse 1042: "The battle in heaven.".)
From child of man to child of God
The development of a child of God is in every way comparable to that of a human child. Just as the egg in the female body is the beginning of existence for a human child, so the spirit in the human brain is the starting point for the child of God (Jn 6:63).
Just as the female body – for a few days each month – is constantly ready for fertilization, the human mind is also usually ready to be fertilized. And then, if the woman allows it, the egg in the womb is fertilized by male seed. And if the human being allows it, his or her spirit is fertilized (Lk 8:11; 1Pet 1:23) by divine seed (1Pet 1:3)1) – the word of God (Jam 1:18).
If physical fertilization does not take place in the human being, the woman’s eggs are excreted every month until a certain age. The spirit of the human being, however, remains receptive throughout his or her life. If it has not been spiritually fertilized, it will be disposed of at the Last Judgment (Mt 25:41).
If after conception in the case of the human child the period of pregnancy is nine months, then the human being, as God’s child, goes "pregnant", so to speak, throughout his or her entire life.
The further development of the human child in the womb, during pregnancy, therefore corresponds to the spiritual development of the child of God in his or her entire earthly life. Both in the human child and in the child of God, all conceivable complications are still possible during this time of growth (Eph 4:14), up to stillbirth (Hbr 6:4-6)!
On being born from water (amniotic fluid), the human child then enters into a new world, unknown to it until then, with completely different living conditions (breathing, food intake, movement) (Jn 3:5-6).
And likewise the child of God will find at his or her rebirth – the resurrection out of the Spirit (Jn 3:6-7) – another, eternal dimension, with completely new conditions of existence.
And likewise the child of God will find at his or her rebirth (Mt 19:28, 25:31: both biblical passages refer to the resurrection/Last Judgment!!) in the resurrection out of the Spirit (Jn 3:6-7), another, eternal dimension, with completely new conditions of existence (Jn 3:8).
But while the human child usually grows up with its parents and later leads its own life, the child of God – as a human being – has been its own "mother", the brain the "womb" of the spirit, and now, after its rebirth, as a spiritual being, has an eternal life (Lk 20:36) and a spiritual, heavenly Father (Jn 4:24).
God will give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Rom 8,11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.. Rom 8,11;
And then – only then – the children of God, having been born again of the Spirit in the resurrection, will have reached that state of being which the Lord prophesies to us in Jn 3,8, which is the state of being enjoyed by God, the angels and the Lord himself after his resurrection and in which He was able to walk through closed doors and through walls (Jn 20:26):
"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going;
so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
(Jn 3,8)
What is born of flesh is flesh, what is born of spirit is spirit. And that, now, is also the form of existence – namely as spiritual beings – of which the Lord promises us in Jh 3:3 that this is the way we can enter the kingdom of God (heaven).
Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
(Jn 3,3)
The human being is in its life as an
intelligent mammal on earth in a prenatal phase. The rebirth takes place after its physical death and the resurrection of the spirit in the timeless heavenly dimension, as an immortal, sexless spiritual being.
(God our Saviour, who
wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
(1Tim 2:3-4;)
(Dan 2:20-22)
If one of my readers should be able to refute this interpretation based ontheeBible – and only the Bible – please, he or she is cordially requested to contact me by e-mail. Thanks a lot.Bible – and only the Bible – please, he or she is cordially requested to contact me by e-mail. Thanks a lot. (office@immanuel.at)
(Answers: "Where does it say in the Bible that man is a spirit being? / Comment MK, 00, 2023-06-06)
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
Jn1,6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 1,7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 1,8 was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 1,9
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ,10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 1,11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 1,12
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
1,13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. Jn 1,6-13;
Before his death our Lord Jesus Christ addressed the following prayer to the Father for all those who would come to believe in him:
The prayer of Jesus for all human beings who believe in him.
Jn 17,1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 17,2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 17,3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.17,4 I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 17,5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
17,6 I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 17,7 Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; 17,8 for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 17,9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 17,10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 17,11 I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. Jn 17,1-11
MAKE HEAVEN MATTER
1) The Greek word is anagegennēmenoi = rebegotten, as also in 1Ptr 1,23 (not "reborn"!!) – after fertilization, spiritually begotten again through the word of God.(See also Discourse 85: True and false rebirth.)
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
However, as it is written:
«What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived – the things God has prepared for those who love him».
these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no-one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ. (1Cor 2;)
