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A Dwelling Place for God

Sunday, October 16, 2022
Pastor Jojo Ma

 

I.          Phase One: The Wilderness Tabernacle
II.        Phase Two: The Jesus Tabernacle
III.       Phase Three: The Church Tabernacle

I.         Phase One: The Wilderness Tabernacle
This entire framework was covered with gold to symbolically remind the people the worth of God and His valuable presence among them.

35-36 He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it. And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver.

This principle carries to us today as well. As we live according to God’s plan, God’s will, God’s Word, we too enjoy His Fatherly care and blessings.

II.        Phase Two: The Jesus Tabernacle
Heb 8:5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

Heb 9:24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

Jn 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

To know Jesus is to know God. To see Jesus (by faith) is to see God. To be with Jesus is to be with God.

Jn 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

III.      Phase Three: The Church Tabernacle
Eph 3:16-17 according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

Eph 2:19-22 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

This isn’t some static or stone building. This is a tabernacle of flesh and blood and movement such that wherever the church is, God is. This is a living tabernacle. The church isn’t a building, it’s a people who breathe and move and live for the glory of Christ.

When you look around, when you see your brothers and sisters here at CrossLife, don’t focus on their faults --- focus on the future. Focus on what we are becoming. Focus on what God is doing and how He is building us up together into a beautiful home for Himself.

What do you think about? How do you use your tongue? Do your lips build others up? How are you using your body since it is the temple of the Holy Spirit? If Christ is dwelling in you, how does this truth shape your life now --- this week, the next few months, and on into 2023?