Jesus is the Temple

Jesus is the Greater and Final Temple prefigured in the ancient Tabernacle and the later Temple building in Jerusalem.

Jesus is the true Sanctuary of God foreshadowed by the ancient religious structures and worship rituals of the nation of Israel. He is the dwelling place of God’s presence, the living “tent” where the Divine Glory is seen, and the only Mediator between Heaven and Earth. The man from Nazareth is the Temple “made-without-hands” that was destroyed by evil men but restored when his Father raised him from the dead.

With his Death and Resurrection, questions about the proper location of the Temple building are no longer relevant. With his arrival, “the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” Holy ground is found wherever Jesus is present - (John 4:20-24).

[Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash]

The fullness of God dwells forevermore in Christ, and through him, Jewish and Gentile believers are “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands.” Once restricted to the outer courts of the Temple complex in Jerusalem, Gentile followers of Jesus now have full access to the presence of Yahweh because of the Death and Resurrection of His Son.

The “middle wall” of separation between Jews and Gentiles has been dismantled by Jesus, and attempting to erect it again by rebuilding the old structures is a fool’s errand - (Colossians 2:9-17, Ephesians 2:11-19).

Christ’s disciples are quickened or “made alive” by him. No longer are they subject to the calendrical cycles, dietary restrictions, and designated holy spaces of the old Levitical order. Such practices were no more than “shadows of the coming things.” What was foreshadowed by them has come to fruition and fullness in Jesus.

God never intended to achieve perfection through the Levitical system; otherwise, He would not have promised and provided a greater priest, a “New Covenant,” and a “better sacrifice.” The change of priesthood meant also a “change of law.” The Levitical system was powerless to perfect anyone, therefore, Jesus became the “guarantor of a better covenant,” appointed to a better and an “un-transmissible priesthood” - (Hebrews 7:11-28).

Christ inaugurated the “new and better covenant” that was “legislated on better promises.” The old covenant was “not faultless.” It was incapable of achieving the “purification of sins” so desperately needed by men and women. Thankfully, the arrival of the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus, the “Author and Finisher of our faith,” has rendered the former covenant “obsolete” - (Hebrews 1:1-3, 8:1-13, 12:2, Jeremiah 31:31-33).

THE SUPERIOR HIGH PRIEST

The Son is the supremely superior High Priest, the final mediator who entered the “greater and more perfect Tabernacle, one not made-with-hands,” where he appears in the presence of God to intercede for his people. He is the “True Light of the World,” and not Ancient Israel or any stone building erected by men in the old city of Jerusalem - (John 1:4-9, Luke 1:78-79, 2:32, Acts 26:23, Hebrews 9:11-24).

The mission given to Israel at Sinai to be a light to the nations has now fallen to Jesus and his disciples, to the “Body of Christ,” his “royal priesthood and holy nation.” Christ fulfills that role because he is the true Israel of God and the “light” that enlightens all men who embrace him. Likewise, his disciples become lights in this world but only as they reflect his light and testimony - (Matthew 5:14, Philippians 2:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:5, 1 Peter 2:5-10, Revelation 1:20).

Jesus of Nazareth came to the “circumcision to confirm the promises made to the fathers.” This included the promise that the “Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.” As Isaiah prophesied, Jesus was the “root of Jesse risen to reign over the Gentiles,” and he now reigns over the nations in this present age, the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth” and the one who is “shepherding the nations” to New Jerusalem - (Romans 15:8-9, Revelation 1:4-6, 12:5).

The Gospel is proclaimed to all nations “for the obedience of faith,” as promised by the prophets. The Scriptures foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles just as Yahweh promised Abraham - “In you will all nations be blessed.” This is occurring now in Abraham’s true “seed,” Jesus Christ, whenever his Gospel is proclaimed - (Romans 16:25-26, Galatians 3:16).

When he testified before the Sanhedrin, Stephen reminded the priestly authorities that “the Most High does not dwell in places made by hand.” The Temple building and the Tabernacle were man-made structures – Shadows and types of the true habitation of God’s Spirit, namely, Jesus Christ and his “Body, the Assembly of the Saints.”

With his victory over sin, Satan, and death, the time of shadows has come to an end. He is the ‘telos,’ the “goal” and “end” of the Mosaic legislation. The structures of the old regime have reached their intended conclusion, and now Jesus is the True and Final Temple of God forevermore - (Romans 10:4).

The New Testament does not abandon the promises of an ideal temple described in the Hebrew Bible, but it reinterprets them in consideration of the teachings, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The promises are not forsaken or replaced but fulfilled in, by, and through him.

To return now to the old shadows would mean denying all that God has done in His Messiah. As the Apostle Paul wrote, if righteousness is through the Law of Moses, then “Christ died for nothing.”

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SEE ALSO:

• The Sanctuary of God - (The New Testament applies Temple language and imagery from the Hebrew Bible to the Body of Christ, the Habitation of the Living God)

• True Worship - (In Samaria, Jesus revealed that the presence of God no longer is limited to specific locations or man-made structures – John 4:20-24)

• The House of God - (Jesus is the true and only way of access to the Father, the Greater Bethel, and the House of God – John 1:47-50)

• Jesus é o verdadeiro templo - (Jesus é o Templo Final prefigurado no antigo Tabernáculo e o posterior edifício do templo em Jerusalém)