Inviting someone into your home grants them access to experience, interact with, and utilize various facets of your living space. It’s an immersion into the atmosphere you’ve built over time. For many, the home symbolizes the pinnacle of intimacy and privacy. It not only reflects who you are but also the dynamic of your familial relationships.
Under the New Covenant, we are recognized as the spiritual dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. The Garden of Eden is gone and there is now a garden placed within the heart chamber of man. There is an active intimacy happening in the relationship dynamic between mankind and God. Just as we live in relationship with others in our physical homes here on earth, we are similarly called to cultivate a relationship with the Lord of Lords within our spiritual dwelling.
Within the framework of the Trinity—God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—we should hold in high esteem the privilege of hosting the Holy Spirit within our very beings. Think about how excited we would be to officially host a prominent Prime Minister and yet we often overlook the incomparable honour of hosting God Himself.
‘Jehovah’ is a well-known name for God, derived from Hebrew, meaning ‘I am that I am,’. Throughout the Bible, we observe how relational God is, yet, we have never seen Him instruct mankind to depict Him visually. Instead, what we see is a God who sends forth His Spirit to dwell with humanity so we can depict Him spiritually.
The notion of visually depicting an inconceivable and infinite God is simply impossible because our understanding is limited to whatever God chooses to reveal to us. Because God is eternal, His revelations are also eternal and non-exhaustive. One significant way in which God reveals, is by unveiling His character, identity, and nature through His names and so, when we examine the name ‘Jehovah’, it signifies personal engagement. It is an aspect of God where He engages with His creation in a personal way. Take the term ‘Jehovah Jireh,’ which symbolizes God as our Provider, meeting all of our needs. Here, it’s not just a generic provision akin to manna for His people, but rather, God personally attending to our individual needs and desires as a parent would care for his child.
God delights in dwelling among those who are His. Initially, He dwelled with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Later, His presence manifested among His chosen people, the Israelites, through the Ark of the Covenant. Now, through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are blessed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us.
Let’s examine the following Scriptures:
Genesis 3:8 (KJV):
‘‘And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.’’
Exodus 25:8 (KJV):
‘‘And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.’’
2 Corinthians 6:16 (KJV):
‘‘And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’’
It is critical that we remember that our bodies, which symbolize temples for God, were created and foreordained by Him. This is not a case where the servant built a home for His Master but rather where the Master built a home for the servant to serve and reveal Him.
What then, is expected of us as temples of God? As temples of God, we’re called to recognize that His presence within us isn’t passive but active. He doesn’t merely reside within us statically; rather, the Scripture specifies that He walks in us which is indicative of movement. God moves, breathes, lives, and manifests Himself in us and through us. Therefore, if we acknowledge God as our God and ourselves as His people, where did we get the deluded idea from that we have the right to express our own version of self?
Did you know that inside the Ark of the Covenant, there were the tables of law which God gave to Moses? Do you know that as Christians, we are expected to have the laws of God written on our hearts? We are walking altars; We are moving Arks of Covenant; We are spiritual images on earth of a heavenly God.
Hebrews 8:10b (KJV):
‘‘I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts: And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.’’
Idolatry is an insult to God and a spiritual assault to one’s soul. God hates the idea of man attempting to make graven images to worship. Further to this, He has instructed His believers to worship Him in spirit and in truth. We ought to bear His image and likeness, so there is no need for us to create anything that was not ordained by Him to carry His presence or manifest His glorious expressions.
When God dwells within and through us, it signifies that He has been granted full access to the home of our spirit. Being holy, He doesn’t reside in unclean dwellings, hence the transformative power of the Blood of the Lamb. While salvation permits us to invite Jesus Christ in, the Holy Spirit seeks more than mere visitation. He desires to be the homeowner – a permanent resident, with authority to rearrange and repurpose the inner and outer courts of our entire being (body, soul and spirit).
For many Christians, their greatest achievement is believed to be serving God either through ministerial roles or the utility of their gifts and talents. However, the ultimate commendation in God’s eyes lies in truly reflecting the image and likeness of Christ. The essence of a Christian believer isn’t defined by titles, giftings or positions held, but by the manifest evidence of God’s image and likeness in oneself. More than working for God, He wants us to reveal Him.
Because our Father is a self-revealing God, He must have an avenue to reveal Himself and His heavenly will on earth. What does that look like for you? He made you in a particular way with unique attributes, features, giftings and creative infusions for His glory not for yours. After all, He is the one for whom all things were made.
In my opinion, I think the most amazing part of being a child of God has to do with being a vessel that God can use in uncommon ways. He gives us the Bible as our manifesto to manifest Him. He gives us the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us, so we don’t lean on our own understanding. Because God’s revelations are eternal, multifaceted, and dynamic, the world cannot contain enough humans to fully reveal Him. As a believer then, my life ought to be a gamut of signs, miracles, manifestations and wonders day in and day out because I am carrying ‘I am that I am’ inside of me. I was chosen for this!
Are we becoming more and more like our Creator?
As children of God, does His DNA run through our spiritual veins?
Wherever we go, does His presence accompany us?
Are we as altars carrying the presence of God ablaze?
Can others access God through us?
Do we serve as a meeting point where people can encounter Him?
Do we serve the interests of Abba, our Father?
Has God done an override of His will upon your will?
These are the pivotal questions every believer should answer. Our identity must not be hinged on anything but God’s truth. It’s easy to convince yourself that you’re a Christian believer, but how often is Christ revealed through you? God is seeking vessels of honour, so we must ready ourselves to reveal the One who is self-revealed.
God is not who you say He is, He will always be ‘I am that I am’ in you. Don’t get trapped into the theatrics of religion, but rather, give God full access to rule on your heart’s throne room. You serve a changing changeless God; He needs a home where He can express the infinite wonder of Himself. When you made an agreement to represent God, you gave up all rights to represent your own interests.
The identity of a Christian believer lies deep in the crucifixion of his flesh, where he is no longer recognized as his own ruler, but a servant-replica of the Sovereign Master Himself. Let’s not forget that to serve and reveal God, there are some conditions He’s laid down for us to meet. We don’t get to tell God how we will serve Him; He lays His ground rules for us to keep.
Finally, your life is a continuum of God’s heavenly expressions, there is literally never a dull day. Beware of those who reduce your Christianity to simple ritual and tradition, for the God we serve is in the business of doing a new thing.
