END OF TIME PROPHECIES 256

The holiness of the city    Revelation 21v22-23.

  
" And I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.   And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."     

What sets the city apart is the presence of God.   Note the repetition of "the Lamb"; God can only dwell with men, have fellowship with men, on the basis of the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb, and on no other basis.

There is no temple in the city, because God is there.   The city itself IS a temple, the dwelling place of God.   "God dwelleth not in temples made with hands".   So says holy writ in Acts 7v48, which is a summary of  Isaiah 66v1-2.   We cannot confine God to the limitations of human ideas; 1Kings 8v27 says"behold the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him."   He cannot be limited by time or space: yet He dwells with His people by means of "the redemption that is in Christ Jesus".   He dwelt in righteousness amongst His people in the cubic space of the inner shrines of the tabernacle and the temple; He will dwell for all eternity in the hallowed cubic space of the golden city.   The city is holy, not because of the merit of it's residents, nor because of the awesome beauty of it's garnishings, but because of the holiness of God.

On the basis of the efficacy of the blood of the Lamb, God can dwell with man and the concept is expounded in full in the new testament.   The key to the understanding of it is found in the phrase "Inner temple", which is a translation of the Greek word "Naos". This word is used to describe the temple some 46 times in the new testament.   It refers  to the tabernacle, in which there were three sections: the outer court, for the lay worshippers; the holy place for the officiating priests; and  the holy of holies the dwelling place of God where He resided betweenthe cherubims on the blood-sprinkled mercy seat.   This inner sanctuary is used to proclaim where God dwells today:

• In the body of a believer.   1 Corinthians 6 19 '...know ye not that your body is the temple(naos) of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God."
• In the local church; 1 Corinthians 3v16-17 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?   If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
• In the universal church, the church the body of Christ.   Ephesians 2v20-21 "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone:in whom all the building, fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple(naos) in the Lord."

The individual body of a blood-cleansed believer; the local church gathering of believers; the glorious, completed, gathering of the great universal church;  that is where God dwells and will dwell forever.   Associated with the glory, is the light.   "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all."   We should always remember, while here below "HOLINESS becometh thy house, O, Lord forever."

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