Is Jesus the Temple?

AustinC · Dec 22, 2022

In another thread, I stated:
Are you aware that Jesus is the Temple and "His House" is all His children who are built upon Christ, the foundation?

Someone responded by saying it was a personal interpretation, not from scripture. So, here's scripture.

*John 2:19-22*
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

*1 Peter 2:4-10*
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Ligonier Ministries states:

The Temple of Jesus’ Body

“The Jews said to [Jesus], ‘What sign do you show us for doing these things?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’ ” (vv. 18–19).

Moses received instructions for constructing the old covenant tabernacle from God Himself (Ex. 25–31). Later, King Solomon supervised the building of the temple in Jerusalem, and the temple was based on the basic design of the tabernacle that it replaced (2 Chron. 2–7). Given these realities, first-century Jews understood that any changes made to the temple required divine authority as mediated through the king of Israel. In other words, the ancient Jews believed that only the Messiah could do something like that which Jesus did when He cleansed the temple of animal sellers and moneychangers (John 2:13–17).

That explains why the Jews responded by asking Him for a sign (v. 18). They wanted proof that Jesus had the messianic authority to remove the merchants from the temple. Christ did not give them a sign immediately; instead, He gave an enigmatic response that they would destroy “this temple” and in three days He would raise it up (v. 19). Clearly, the Jewish opposition did not understand Jesus. (In fact, even the disciples did not get our Lord’s meaning at first because John 2:22 says that they did not understand Jesus’ saying until His resurrection.) The Jews thought Jesus was talking about the physical temple in Jerusalem, which had taken forty-six years to build (v. 20). In fact, the temple was not even really finished in Jesus’ day because work on it would continue off and on until AD 63, some thirty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. But John inserts an explanatory comment in verse 21: the temple of which Jesus spoke was His own body. Thus, we see our Lord identifying Himself as the new and true temple. The old covenant sanctuary was going to be superseded by a new temple, even Jesus Himself, in whom His people are being knit together as a true sanctuary for God (1 Peter 2:4–5). Dr. R.C. Sproul writes in his commentary John, “Christ is the temple, and all men are commanded to come to Him in order to worship and serve the one true God.”

The Temple of Jesus’ Body | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org

JD731 · Dec 23, 2022

AustinC said: ↑

In another thread, I stated:
Are you aware that Jesus is the Temple and "His House" is all His children who are built upon Christ, the foundation?

Someone responded by saying it was a personal interpretation, not from scripture. So, here's scripture.

*John 2:19-22*
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

*1 Peter 2:4-10*
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Ligonier Ministries states:

The Temple of Jesus’ Body

“The Jews said to [Jesus], ‘What sign do you show us for doing these things?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’ ” (vv. 18–19).

Moses received instructions for constructing the old covenant tabernacle from God Himself (Ex. 25–31). Later, King Solomon supervised the building of the temple in Jerusalem, and the temple was based on the basic design of the tabernacle that it replaced (2 Chron. 2–7). Given these realities, first-century Jews understood that any changes made to the temple required divine authority as mediated through the king of Israel. In other words, the ancient Jews believed that only the Messiah could do something like that which Jesus did when He cleansed the temple of animal sellers and moneychangers (John 2:13–17).

That explains why the Jews responded by asking Him for a sign (v. 18). They wanted proof that Jesus had the messianic authority to remove the merchants from the temple. Christ did not give them a sign immediately; instead, He gave an enigmatic response that they would destroy “this temple” and in three days He would raise it up (v. 19). Clearly, the Jewish opposition did not understand Jesus. (In fact, even the disciples did not get our Lord’s meaning at first because John 2:22 says that they did not understand Jesus’ saying until His resurrection.) The Jews thought Jesus was talking about the physical temple in Jerusalem, which had taken forty-six years to build (v. 20). In fact, the temple was not even really finished in Jesus’ day because work on it would continue off and on until AD 63, some thirty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. But John inserts an explanatory comment in verse 21: the temple of which Jesus spoke was His own body. Thus, we see our Lord identifying Himself as the new and true temple. The old covenant sanctuary was going to be superseded by a new temple, even Jesus Himself, in whom His people are being knit together as a true sanctuary for God (1 Peter 2:4–5). Dr. R.C. Sproul writes in his commentary John, “Christ is the temple, and all men are commanded to come to Him in order to worship and serve the one true God.”

The Temple of Jesus’ Body | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org
Click to expand...

Every born again believer who has the Spirit of God indwelling his body through the new birth is a temple. 1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

This is the context of the body of Jesus being a temple. He says to the Jews, "destroy THIS temple" and in three days I will raise it up.

Joh 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21 But he spake of the temple of his body. (in the which God dwelt in the person of the Spirit of God)
22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Good grief. You do not seem to have any understanding and you are commenting on things you know nothing about. One Calvinist follows another Calvinist and they both fall into the ditch. It is like you fellows cannot figure anything out on your own.

Here is some help.

God deals with the individual Christian being a three fold person, 1) soul, 2) Spirit, dwelling in the 3) body of each believer. Second he deals with his purpose in this age of forming all those who have the Spirit and are born again as being the collective body of Christ and this body itself being a temple of the Holy Ghost.

Ep 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye (gentiles in context) are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints (Jews who are saved), and of the household (family) of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye (gentiles in context) also (in addition to the Jews) are builded together (Jews and gentile believers) for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

The beginning of the church is after the cornerstone is laid in the tomb. The foundation is not in any OT book, including the 4 gospels. It is in these apostles who were eye witnesses and special men to whom God had revealed the purpose of this age and whom God had to write and tell all who follow. This building has a completion when the gentiles will no longer believe. We are close to that time now.

The trinitarian signature is given to the formation of this church body. 1) Jews, 2) gentiles, and the 3) Spirit of God. Three in one and one in three. When it is raptured it will have the trinitarian signature, 1) Jesus Christ the head, 2) the church, the body, and 3) the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The body of Jesus Christ was a temple of the Holy Ghost from his conception and birth. He is the only man born with a trinitarian nature. He is the only begotten son of God.

AustinC · Dec 23, 2022

JD731 said: ↑

Every born again believer who has the Spirit of God indwelling his body through the new birth is a temple. 1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

This is the context of the body of Jesus being a temple. He says to the Jews, "destroy THIS temple" and in three days I will raise it up.

Joh 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21 But he spake of the temple of his body. (in the which God dwelt in the person of the Spirit of God)
22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Good grief. You do not seem to have any understanding and you are commenting on things you know nothing about. One Calvinist follows another Calvinist and they both fall into the ditch. It is like you fellows cannot figure anything out on your own.

Here is some help.

God deals with the individual Christian being a three fold person, 1) soul, 2) Spirit, dwelling in the 3) body of each believer. Second he deals with his purpose in this age of forming all those who have the Spirit and are born again as being the collective body of Christ and this body itself being a temple of the Holy Ghost.

Ep 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye (gentiles in context) are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints (Jews who are saved), and of the household (family) of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye (gentiles in context) also (in addition to the Jews) are builded together (Jews and gentile believers) for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

The beginning of the church is after the cornerstone is laid in the tomb. The foundation is not in any OT book, including the 4 gospels. It is in these apostles who were eye witnesses and special men to whom God had revealed the purpose of this age and whom God had to write and tell all who follow. This building has a completion when the gentiles will no longer believe. We are close to that time now.

The trinitarian signature is given to the formation of this church body. 1) Jews, 2) gentiles, and the 3) Spirit of God. Three in one and one in three. When it is raptured it will have the trinitarian signature, 1) Jesus Christ the head, 2) the church, the body, and 3) the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The body of Jesus Christ was a temple of the Holy Ghost from his conception and birth. He is the only man born with a trinitarian nature. He is the only begotten son of God.
Click to expand...

I note you ignored 1 Peter 2 where we are the building blocks of the Temple where Jesus is the cornerstone.
Throughout the epistles we see that all believers are found "in Christ Jesus."

Ezekiel 40-48 gives us insight into Jesus being the Temple. Dr Riddlebarger says this:

I believe Ezekiel is giving us a picture of the new earth in the prophetic terms with which his readers were familiar (Hoekema, The Bible and Future, 205). This is a picture of the new earth as the dwelling of God. Ezekiel prophesies it in earthly terms (complete with all the temple utensils), while John describes its fulfilled version (in eschatological terms).

Based upon a number of factors, I think it is clear that the prophecy is points to a non-structural end-times temple.

First, the prophecy cannot be interpreted literally and still make any sense. When God places the prophet on a very high mountain (40:1-2) he sees something like a city (obviously Jerusalem). Yet, there is no such high mountain near Jerusalem from which the prophet could have had such a vantage point. But this literal high mountain is required by the dispensational view. Where is it? Given the nature of Ezekiel's prophecy, this language should alert us to the fact that what follows is given the symbolic geography of the prophet.

This is confirmed in Revelation 21:10, where John is carried away "in the Spirit" to a high mountain from which he sees the Holy City coming down out of heaven. Obviously, the visions are related to each other as type-antitype (earthly language, eschatological fulfillment). What Ezekiel promised, John sees as a reality, and yet the reality seen by John far exceeds anything in Ezekiel's vision. As Beale points out, there are a significant number of other instances in this prophecy which make the literal interpretation very unlikely, if not impossible (pp. 337-340).

Second, there are a number of features within the prophecy which refer to something much greater than a localized temple in Jerusalem during the millennium. In verse 40:2, it is clear that Ezekiel sees a structure "like a city" (the temple), while in the final verse of the prophecy (48:35) he says that the cities' name is "the Lord is there." Here we have the expansion of the localized temple into an area the size of the entire city of Jerusalem. This expansion of God's temple is a consistent theme throughout Ezekiel (Beale, pp. 340-345) There are allusions to Eden throughout the prophecy (47:1-12). The city is depicted as a perfect square and the reference to the river is obviously symbolic, since it is deep enough that it can only be crossed by swimming (47:5).

Finally, it is obvious that Revelation 21 presents Ezekiel's vision in its consummated fulfillment. In other words, John is given a vision of the same temple, but now from the vantage point of Christ's death and resurrection and the dawn of the new creation--something which would have made no sense whatsoever to Ezekiel or his hearers. As Beale points out (pp. 346-345), the new heavens and earth are now the holy of holies, as well as the new Jerusalem, and the new Eden. On the last day, all creation becomes the temple of God. The temple has been expanded (extended) from a building, to a city, to all of creation.

This means that Ezekiel's vision is a prophecy not of an earthly temple (although the prophet uses earthly language his readers could understand), but of an eschatological temple, depicted in its consummated form and unspeakable glory by John in Revelation 21-22.

Amillennial Interpretation of Ezekiel 40-48 | Monergism

37818 · Dec 23, 2022

JD731 said: ↑

Every born again believer who has the Spirit of God indwelling his body through the new birth is a temple.
Click to expand...

No. Believers on the whole are the temple. Not temples. "Ye" and "your" are not "thee" and "thy."

JD731 · Dec 24, 2022

37818 said: ↑

No. Believers on the whole are the temple. Not temples. "Ye" and "your" are not "thee" and "thy."
Click to expand...

You rarely make sense with your comments. But thanks for trying.

AustinC · Dec 25, 2022

*Revelation 21:22*
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

JD731 · Dec 25, 2022

AustinC said: ↑

*Revelation 21:22*
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
Click to expand...

Re 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
23 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.
24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

This is a prophesy of the eternal state and the New Jerusalem is the satellite city and is the home of the church. It is the regeneration

Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone];
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

God and the church of Jesus Christ, formed in this age, are one. This city is where God dwells and this city is the source of light for the world and the nations that are dwelling on earth.

Check this out;

Re 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Do you guys ever stop and meditate on these promises of God and when you don't quite understand, do you ever pray and ask him for light and understanding? The context is the New Jerusalem, who is the Lamb's wife, coming down out of heaven, and God is tabernacaling in it, meaning he is residing in it. The text even says that, he, God, is dwelling in men in the context. Can you at least entertain the idea that the city is associated with the church, which is physical, wherein the Godhead, who is Spirit, abides. This is something far greater than we are capable of completely understanding and imaging in our minds, but it is a great mistake to interpret these eternal things in our common and limited understanding of earthly things we are familiar with.

This reminds me of one of the seven "I Am" sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John here;

John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

The words I have highlighted are in the present tense when he said them. So, if Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him, and the Father dwells in the New Jerusalem in the eternal state, then the Son will dwell in the New Jerusalem as well. There is no temple in the New Jerusalem because the New Jerusalem is the temple, it is the Lamb's wife, the church in it's glorified state in eternity.

You limit your knowledge of God and his mighty and wondrous works and wisdom by not thinking like he thinks. God has written his Bible to reveal himself, not to show anyone how glorious you men who believe yourselves to be special above most every sinner who has ever lived. You exalt yourselves with your religion of claiming you alone are the special chosen somehow. It is sure God does not.

Think differently. You are missing out on truth.

AustinC · Dec 25, 2022

JD731 said: ↑

Re 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
23 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.
24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

This is a prophesy of the eternal state and the New Jerusalem is the satellite city and is the home of the church. It is the regeneration

Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone];
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

God and the church of Jesus Christ, formed in this age, are one. This city is where God dwells and this city is the source of light for the world and the nations that are dwelling on earth.

Check this out;

Re 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Do you guys ever stop and meditate on these promises of God and when you don't quite understand, do you ever pray and ask him for light and understanding? The context is the New Jerusalem, who is the Lamb's wife, coming down out of heaven, and God is tabernacaling in it, meaning he is residing in it. The text even says that, he, God, is dwelling in men in the context. Can you at least entertain the idea that the city is associated with the church, which is physical, wherein the Godhead, who is Spirit, abides. This is something far greater than we are capable of completely understanding and imaging in our minds, but it is a great mistake to interpret these eternal things in our common and limited understanding of earthly things we are familiar with.

This reminds me of one of the seven "I Am" sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John here;

John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

The words I have highlighted are in the present tense when he said them. So, if Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him, and the Father dwells in the New Jerusalem in the eternal state, then the Son will dwell in the New Jerusalem as well. There is no temple in the New Jerusalem because the New Jerusalem is the temple, it is the Lamb's wife, the church in it's glorified state in eternity.

You limit your knowledge of God and his mighty and wondrous works and wisdom by not thinking like he thinks. God has written his Bible to reveal himself, not to show anyone how glorious you men who believe yourselves to be special above most every sinner who has ever lived. You exalt yourselves with your religion of claiming you alone are the special chosen somehow. It is sure God does not.

Think differently. You are missing out on truth.
Click to expand...

Do you not realize John is speaking of Jesus himself in these verses? He is using allegory and metaphor to tell us that Jesus is the temple who dwells with us.

Re 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

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

Jesus is the temple, JD.

JD731 · Dec 25, 2022

AustinC said: ↑

Do you not realize John is speaking of Jesus himself in these verses? He is using allegory and metaphor to tell us that Jesus is the temple who dwells with us.

Re 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

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

Jesus is the temple, JD.
Click to expand...

If you paid someone to teach you this reasoning, you need to demand your money back. Jesus is a physical man, indwelt by the Spirit of God. He is the God-man. The body he is forming in this age, the church, is his mystical body, of which he is the head. The physical body of every man is called the tabernacle of his soul. Likewise, the physical body of Jesus is the tabernacle of his soul and Spirit. He physically rose from the dead. He is the first begotten of God "FROM THE DEAD," we are plainly told in verses like Col 1:18. What made him physically dead during those 3 days his body was in the tomb? His soul was separated from his body, and was in paradise in the heart of the earth, the Bible says. How was he spiritually dead? He was spiritually dead when the Spirit of God was separated from his body and soul during those 3 hours of darkness on the cross.

If he really was dead during those three days and is now alive, he must have had a new birth. God claimed that is what happened.

Ro 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Now, if he was the firstborn, that means there were no ones before him with this kind of birth. If there are many brethren with this kind of birth, then all these many must be born AFTER his birth. If your teachers are telling you something else, fire your teachers. If there are no men in the image of God before the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and he is the first to be born this way, then what on earth makes a born again man different from the time he was not born again? Have you ever thought about this?

A man after he is born again can look in the mirror and his hair color will be the same as before. All scars and identifying body marks will remain in place. So it is not a change in his appearance that takes place. But a change does take place. He becomes a child of God because he receives the divine nature. He has a new "IMAGE." What does he mean by image and what makes this image?

Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

He, Jesus, is the physical image of the invisible God. Remember my quote from John 14.

Heb 1:3 Who (Jesus) being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

He was the express image of the Father, the Majesty on high.

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Here is how a man receives the image of God. It is by receiving the image of Jesus Christ through the new birth.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

In 2 Co 3, the context is Paul's own countrymen, the Jews. They are changed from the glory of the OT to the greater glory of the NT, by receiving the Spirit of Christ and of God.

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, (the new creation) which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

The difference between Jesus Christ and all other men who were born of a woman is that Jesus Christ was born in the image of God at Bethlehem. John 3:16 says he is the ONLY begotten son of God. No one else was ever born in the image of God from the womb and never will there be another. I have quoted verses that says that Jesus was the express image of God before his cross. Logic 101 will tell anyone that if God is interested in us who have been born of a woman becoming his son and receiving his image, it has to be because we do not have his image when we are born into this world.

The difference between Jesus Christ, the man, and all other men who has ever lived, and is living today, is that Jesus Christ was born with the divine nature. The Spirit of God indwelt his body and in his fleshly body he possessed eternal life., which the person of the Spirit of God is said by the scriptures to be. The raising of Jesus Christ from the dead is said to be a birth, not by me but by scriptures I have already quoted and some I have not quoted. It is said that the lifeless body of Jesus Christ in the tomb was "quickened" made alive, by the Sprit of God, who raised it from the dead. I am going to quote that one for you.

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Ro 8:11 But if the Spirit of him (God the Father) that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

There you go. It is no mystery. One must have the same Spirit who raised up the body of Jesus Christ dwelling in him to be in his image. God is a trinity. Jesus Christ before the cross in his weak body was a trinity. Jesus Christ in his glorified resurrected body is a trinity and he has poured out his Spirit on the cross like water to and his blood in the physical so we might be made the sons of God by receiving his Spirit into our mortal bodies and be born again as sons of God, awaiting our own glorification, to which all who are born again are predestined.

I could continue to prove the scriptures with the scriptures but this is enough for now. I am giving you this information because there is no use trying to speak about New Jerusalems, or anything else really, if one does not know these things about the new birth.This is basic.

Ro 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Ro 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ [be] in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in [this] tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing [is] God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6 Therefore [we are] always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Please check context on verses I quoted and God bless your reading.

AustinC · Dec 25, 2022

JD731 said: ↑

If you paid someone to teach you this reasoning, you need to demand your money back. Jesus is a physical man, indwelt by the Spirit of God. He is the God-man. The body he is forming in this age, the church, is his mystical body, of which he is the head. The physical body of every man is called the tabernacle of his soul. Likewise, the physical body of Jesus is the tabernacle of his soul and Spirit. He physically rose from the dead. He is the first begotten of God "FROM THE DEAD," we are plainly told in verses like Col 1:18. What made him physically dead during those 3 days his body was in the tomb? His soul was separated from his body, and was in paradise in the heart of the earth, the Bible says. How was he spiritually dead? He was spiritually dead when the Spirit of God was separated from his body and soul during those 3 hours of darkness on the cross.

If he really was dead during those three days and is now alive, he must have had a new birth. God claimed that is what happened.

Ro 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Now, if he was the firstborn, that means there were no ones before him with this kind of birth. If there are many brethren with this kind of birth, then all these many must be born AFTER his birth. If your teachers are telling you something else, fire your teachers. If there are no men in the image of God before the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and he is the first to be born this way, then what on earth makes a born again man different from the time he was not born again? Have you ever thought about this?

A man after he is born again can look in the mirror and his hair color will be the same as before. All scars and identifying body marks will remain in place. So it is not a change in his appearance that takes place. But a change does take place. He becomes a child of God because he receives the divine nature. He has a new "IMAGE." What does he mean by image and what makes this image?

Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

He, Jesus, is the physical image of the invisible God. Remember my quote from John 14.

Heb 1:3 Who (Jesus) being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

He was the express image of the Father, the Majesty on high.

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Here is how a man receives the image of God. It is by receiving the image of Jesus Christ through the new birth.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

In 2 Co 3, the context is Paul's own countrymen, the Jews. They are changed from the glory of the OT to the greater glory of the NT, by receiving the Spirit of Christ and of God.

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, (the new creation) which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

The difference between Jesus Christ and all other men who were born of a woman is that Jesus Christ was born in the image of God at Bethlehem. John 3:16 says he is the ONLY begotten son of God. No one else was ever born in the image of God from the womb and never will there be another. I have quoted verses that says that Jesus was the express image of God before his cross. Logic 101 will tell anyone that if God is interested in us who have been born of a woman becoming his son and receiving his image, it has to be because we do not have his image when we are born into this world.

The difference between Jesus Christ, the man, and all other men who has ever lived, and is living today, is that Jesus Christ was born with the divine nature. The Spirit of God indwelt his body and in his fleshly body he possessed eternal life., which the person of the Spirit of God is said by the scriptures to be. The raising of Jesus Christ from the dead is said to be a birth, not by me but by scriptures I have already quoted and some I have not quoted. It is said that the lifeless body of Jesus Christ in the tomb was "quickened" made alive, by the Sprit of God, who raised it from the dead. I am going to quote that one for you.

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Ro 8:11 But if the Spirit of him (God the Father) that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

There you go. It is no mystery. One must have the same Spirit who raised up the body of Jesus Christ dwelling in him to be in his image. God is a trinity. Jesus Christ before the cross in his weak body was a trinity. Jesus Christ in his glorified resurrected body is a trinity and he has poured out his Spirit on the cross like water to and his blood in the physical so we might be made the sons of God by receiving his Spirit into our mortal bodies and be born again as sons of God, awaiting our own glorification, to which all who are born again are predestined.

I could continue to prove the scriptures with the scriptures but this is enough for now. I am giving you this information because there is no use trying to speak about New Jerusalems, or anything else really, if one does not know these things about the new birth.This is basic.

Ro 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Ro 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ [be] in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in [this] tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing [is] God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6 Therefore [we are] always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Please check context on verses I quoted and God bless your reading.
Click to expand...

Jesus is the temple who dwells with us.

Re 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

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

Jesus is the temple, JD.

AustinC · Dec 25, 2022

The True Temple

Both in his gospel and in the book of Revelation, John shows great interest in the temple, the building in Jerusalem, which, more than anything else, symbolized the covenant presence of God among His people. The tabernacle had been built by Moses (Ex. 25ff.) as a tent that would accompany Israel through the wilderness and in which the glory of God would dwell among them; but, once settled in their own land, the temple would be the permanent representation of God’s dwelling-place among His covenant people. There the minds of the people of God were directed to the glories of God’s covenant relationship to them, and they could say, “We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple” (Ps. 48:9).

It is worth noting that the temple provision was one of God’s covenant promises to David. David had desired to build a house for God, but God forbade him to do so. Instead, God promised to build up David’s house, or dynasty (2 Sam. 7:11); in turn, David’s son would build the temple for God (v. 13).

The promise, however, that the temple would be built by David’s son is not exhausted once Solomon constructs a house filled with the glory of God (1 Kings 8:10–11). That promise anticipated a greater son of David — the Lord Jesus Christ — who would appear as the legitimate heir and successor of David and so build a temple for God.

These themes of God’s glory dwelling among His people, of David’s son constructing a worship arena for God’s people, and a place for God’s presence to be made manifest, find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. John’s vision of heaven is of the New Jerusalem without a temple, for Jesus Himself is its temple (Rev. 21:22). The symbolism of God dwelling among His people on earth will come to pass (John 14:2; Rev. 21:3). Just as the original Paradise was a place where man and God communed together, so the ultimate paradise is a place of eternal communion between man and God through Jesus Christ.

This over-arching theme of the biblical story enables us the better to understand the twin emphases of John’s opening chapters on incarnate temple and resurrection temple. There is a level at which the physical body of Jesus fulfills the temple image. In the incarnation, the enfleshment of the eternal Word and glory of God dwells among men (John 1:14). John’s starting-point in telling the story of Jesus is the pre-existence of the eternal Son of God. The point at which he is aiming is that we will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and have life through knowing Him (John 20:31). Jesus, as the eternal Son, had an existence before He had an existence in the world; He entered the world from the outside. The Creator became a creature. The Word became flesh.

For John, the greatness of the story of Jesus is bound up in the greatness of the person of Jesus. Who is He? He is the eternal God who pitched His tent among men, according to John 1:14, and thus “we have seen his glory.” That’s what made the tent that Moses built altogether different from any other tent in which the people of God lived: God’s glory was in it. The fact that the book of Exodus can close with the assertion that “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34) is an indication that the tragedy of the fall at the beginning of the book of Genesis is being addressed. Sin may have been the reason for man’s expulsion from the dwelling place of God (Gen. 3:24), but grace provides a means by which that communion may be restored.

And grace in all its fullness is part of the glory that is manifested in the incarnation-temple, as the glory resides now among men, not in a tent or in a temple but in a person. What the people of God under the old covenant saw dimly, we perceive clearly: the glory of the Lord is among men. The God-man has appeared.

Yet it is not merely in the incarnation that the temple imagery is manifest. In an action at the beginning of His ministry that may be emblematic of the mission of the Son of God, Jesus blazes through the temple precincts in Jerusalem, whip in hand, fueled by a holy jealousy, consumed with zeal for God’s house (Ps. 69:9). As the messenger of the covenant, He comes to refine and purify, to pave the way for offerings that will be pleasing to the Lord (Mal. 3:1–4). In the course of His action, in which He drives money-changers and merchants out of the courts of God’s house, He is demolishing the abuses of God’s house and bringing into clear relief where God’s house is truly to be found. The true temple is not in the stones and beauty of Jerusalem’s worship center but in the resurrected body of Jesus. He will build the temple in the three days in which He will enter into death and emerge as its conqueror. Even the glory of the incarnation, when the disciples saw the glory of God in the flesh of Jesus, will be eclipsed by the glory of the resurrection. Here is the essence of the temple imagery: the majesty, awesomeness, weightiness, purity, brilliance of God will be seen in the body of Jesus which will have triumphed over the curse, brought to the dust of death but seeing no corruption. At last, Jesus is the true temple.

The joy of the psalmist was the anticipation of going to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to worship God and give thanks to the name of the Lord (Ps. 122). But the joy of the Savior is the anticipation of gathering His people into the New Jerusalem where they will behold His glory (John 17:24). They will see His face, and will bask in the sunshine of His glory, no longer hidden under badgers’ skins, like the glory in the tabernacle, or behind a veil, like the glory in the temple, or coated with flesh, like the glory in the incarnate body of Jesus, but ablaze with light in the resurrected splendor of the exalted Savior. At last, Jesus is the true temple.

The True Temple | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org

JD731 · Dec 28, 2022

AustinC said: ↑

Jesus is the temple who dwells with us.

Re 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

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

Jesus is the temple, JD.
Click to expand...

These verses sure do not confirm your theology. Read them again. You have obviously missed something.

AustinC · Dec 28, 2022

JD731 said: ↑

These verses sure do not confirm your theology. Read them again. You have obviously missed something.
Click to expand...

I have not missed something. Jesus is the temple. Jesus is the Word. Jesus is the Way. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is the Life. Jesus is the High Priest. Jesus is I Am.
You seem to desire taking figurative language of the prophets and making them literal. But the language is not meant to be literal. It's meant to be seen as imagery. This is the case in Ezekiel 40-48 as well as in Revelation 21-22. In both cases God is the Temple. Moreso, Jesus tells us directly that he is the temple, yet you won't accept this.

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