Becoming Like Jesus: Who Am I?Sample

Temple of the Living God

When we agree with what God says about us and embrace the grace of Jesus in our lives…this absolutely mind-blowing thing happens. God the Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, fills us. That means that God chooses to take up residence inside of you. He is committed to renovating you from the inside out to look more like Jesus. He’s there to remind you of God’s presence with you. The Spirit empowers you to live the kind of life that honors God. He positions you and equips you to be part of Christ’s body, the Church.

Sometimes the way He works in our lives requires demolition and removal of debris—we call that conviction. Sometimes that work looks like stirring up passions that have been dormant for a while. Other times He is there to remind us of what Jesus has said and done in our lives—to comfort us with the promises of God and who we are to Him as beloved sons and daughters.

Paul, one of the most significant contributors to the spreading of the Gospel after Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, draws this really powerful image in the minds of the readers of his letter to the Corinthians. In two different places, he calls us, as followers of Jesus, temples.

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT

God is forming all of us together into His temple. What’s a temple? First, a temple is a place of worship and prayer. A place where sacrifices are brought and made. When we gather together as a group of Christians, do we bring our worship and prayers to God? Or are we gossiping and complaining? Are we showing off the sweet kindness of Jesus? Or are we allowing bitterness to taint our actions? The Holy Spirit helps us become a community truly devoted to loving God and loving others.

Second, throughout the Biblical narrative, the temple represented the place where God’s presence resided. It was this holy, special connection point between heaven and earth. In the same way, now, we are walking, talking, breathing temples. Living connection points between heaven and earth because of the Spirit who lives in us.

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT

Whether you’re at church worshiping with Jesus with your friends or you’re alone in your room in the middle of the night wrestling with temptation, you are God’s temple. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, the presence of God rests on you, empowering you to deny your flesh and choose what is right. You are His temple.

The thing about the temple in the Old Testament is that it wasn’t just suddenly there, dropped down from heaven as a perfectly wrapped present to the Israelites. There was time, blood, and sweat put into the construction of the temple. It was a process. And sometime after it was completed, foreign invaders came along and tore it down, requiring God’s people to literally remove the debris and build it again.

Being God’s temple today isn’t any different. It is an invitation from God the Father to partner with His Spirit in the process of becoming like Jesus for the sake of others. It’s messy sometimes. There is work involved. There is debris that He is going to have to remove. But God is working with you, strengthening you, changing you, and reminding you that it’s worth it by constantly showing you the beauty of Jesus and the goodness of His grace. He is committed to finishing the work He started—in you and in us.

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 NLT

God, through the power of His Spirit, will make you into a holy, special connection point between heaven and earth—a temple of the living God. Will you commit to trusting Him with that process?

Who are you? You’re made in the image of God. You’re a sinner saved by grace. You’re a citizen of heaven. You’re a child of God. You are a disciple of Jesus. And you are a temple of the Living God.