Ever since the Fall when Satan made his home amongst the people on earth, God has tried to find a home for Himself in the hearts of men. He has been able to find room in a few God-fearing souls here and there, but not much, because of all the sin that lives in peoples’ nature. Paul wrote to the Corinthians asking them to widen their hearts because they were so narrow in themselves. He found it difficult to find room in their hearts. (2 Corinthians 6:11-13.)
A place for God to live
It’s the work of God’s Spirit that we are “built up” to become a place where God can live, as is written in Ephesians 2:19-22 (CEB): “So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household. As God’s household, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is joined together in Him, and it grows up into a temple that is dedicated to the Lord. Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit.”
We see that each one of us is a home where God lives through His Spirit, and that we grow up together with the others to be a temple that is dedicated to the Lord. One can clearly see that these people that are a home for God are united, whether they are together or apart.
“Do you think the Scripture means nothing that says, ‘The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for Himself alone’? But God gives us even more grace ...” James 4:5-6 (NCV).
As a result of the Fall, Satan corrupted the spirit that God blew into Adam, and sin came into the body, soul, and spirit of all men. Our human spirit also came under the law of sin and death. But God wants to possess our spirit. Therefore, He gives us a lot of grace in our fight to come free from Satan’s power and control. (Read Romans 8:2.)
Made alive in the spirit
It’s written that the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45.) The last Adam is Jesus Christ, and it is He who works in us. Our human spirit is under the law of sin and death and Jesus has been given the task of making our spirit alive.
In 1 Peter 3:18 (ESV) it is written that He was “put to death in the flesh but was made alive in the Spirit”. This means that the sin that lived in His human nature (which is also called the flesh) when He was here on earth was “put to death”, with the result that His spirit was made alive. Jesus Christ is now doing this same work in us and in this way we are formed to be a place where God can live through His Spirit.
Read also: “Has Christ come in the flesh?”
God wants to possess the spirit He gave us. And when God comes to live in our spirit, we are not only kept and protected, but our spirit is made alive. Why does God work so hard to make our spirits alive? Why should we be a place where God can live? What is God’s reason for this? It is because God is love, and He wants to change us and let us share His nature.
A great and glorious salvation
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, ‘Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.’” Revelation 21:1-3 (NLT).
Those persons in whom God has His home, will live among the people on the new earth. These persons belong to the city, the New Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven.
“And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light.” Revelation 21:24. These are the saved nations who did not prepare themselves in such a way that they became homes for God, but they have called on the name of the Lord for help, and as a result, they have been saved instead of being lost forever. They don’t know what it means to walk in God’s will and Word (which is how you can be changed into a home for God), but those persons who are homes for God know this very well. They have learned to walk in the light as He is in the light. In that way the blood of Christ could cleanse them from all sin and make them a home for God. (1 John 1:7.)
“He who overcomes shall inherit all things.” Revelation 21:7.
This salvation where we learn to walk in God’s will and Word is extremely great and glorious, so let us work very hard to get as much of it as possible while we still walk as pilgrims and strangers here on earth.