God is Where?

Have you ever heard a sermon where the Bible sounds like it has just been opened to you for the first time? Well, I did mention in my previous post that Jeff Purswell was speaking. For some, you know what I mean, and for the rest, let me just say that if you get a chance to hear Purswell speak, do whatever you have to do to make it happen. He is not only wise, but humble in the way he communicates so as to allow God to work through him. In saying this, I'm not exalting him in any way, but pointing to the fact that God was speaking specifically to me through him. And when God speaks, I want to be listening.

So here I was, taking notes feverishly (four and one quarter pages by the end), and Purswell masterfully laid out from Scripture the truth that God's eternal purpose is to dwell among a people He has made for His own. From the outset I was riveted. Why would God want to dwell with His people? Wow, this has been God's eternal purpose! From there he outlined five images from Scripture that highlight this truth:

1. A Garden - East was a place of life and hope Genesis 2:8-17; we had perfection in the original Eden with God’s presence and unhindered access to God
2. A Dwelling – I will dwell in their midst through a tent Exodus 25:1-9; God was immanent, yet transcendent
3. A Person – John 1:1-18; God set up his tent again in the form of Jesus; The Gospel of Matthew has bookends describing God’s presence Matthew 1:20-25, Matthew 28:20
4. A People – 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16-17; the church is now the divine sanctuary and God dwells within believers 2 Corinthians 6:16; we are now the temple of God!

3 Implications of this:

1. Christ must be central in the church
2. Christ’s presence in the church demands our pursuit of holiness; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
3. God is uniquely present when His people are gathered; this corporate reality is amazing and unique; the church is nearest and dearest in God’s heart; this is not a random gathering of people, but the very dwelling place of God on the earth; leading corporate worship is an awesome and sober task: the worship is in the presence of God Himself!

5. A City – Revelation 21; There is a suprise: no temple! The Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb is the temple; the dimensions of the new Jerusalem is a cube; the only other cube mentioned is the Holy of Holies; i.e. just like the Holy of Holies provided full and complete access to God, we now have the same access; there are no divisions! The whole city is open to God’s people and we see Him face to face…no sacrifice needed because of the sacrifice of the Lamb! Just as in the Garden there was Adam with Eve, in the new city God will represent Adam and we (the bride of Christ) represent Eve; mankind returns to paradise – a new fellowship not since Eden; Only the people of the King to worship the King alone! This is also the reality now, and God desires to dwell with and meet with His people.

And as I read my notes again, which have been considerably condensed, I say Amen! If you heard this message, what did God speak to you?

Isaiah 40:21-22
"Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in."