Tuesday 24 August 2021

"Behold the dwelling of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them ; and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them their God." Revelation 21.3

God's dwelling

God's desire has always been to dwell with men.

In the Garden of Eden, for a time, the innocent man remains subject to his Creator who speaks with him. There is harmony between the Creator and the creature. We know that sin has spoiled everything, and that the communion between man and God has been totally disturbed, destroyed. Will this prevent God's thought from being realized ? Impossible !

Before the Flood, God did not live with men, for they all lived in immorality. Among wicked men, only one man found favor with God : Noah.

After the flood, God still reveals himself to one or the other, as to Abraham, to the patriarchs, but he does not dwell with men.

When the people are redeemed from Egypt, they sing a song and think of God’s dwelling with men : “I will prepare an habitation for him” (Exodus 15: 2). The tabernacle is built in the wilderness, and the Lord sits between the cherubim in the most holy place. When the people dwell in Canaan, Solomon builds a temple, but he realizes that God does not dwell in mansions made with human hands. Besides, the temple will often be desecrated by idolatry.

We must wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus, Emmanuel (God with us), so that the dwelling of God is truly among men. In the human body of Jesus, God is there. Mystery, yet reality. His words of grace, of truth, reveal that he is more than a superiorly intelligent man ; they proclaim wisdom, divine intelligence. Jesus is never wrong in what he says. He reads the thoughts of his interlocutors, before they express them. He declares who he is : life, light of the world, way to approach God. His actions show his love for men. On the cross, he gives his life as a ransom for anyone who believes. He resuscitates, he ascends to heaven.

Today, the dwelling place of God is in each redeemed by the Holy Spirit, and in the Church (all of the redeemed).

God, after the human and earthly experience, will make new heavens and a new earth and will dwell with men, redeemed by the blood of Jesus. It is, by grace, our glorious hope and a reason for praise and worship.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)