Back when the Old Testament was still being lived out, God designed sacred spaces for His people to meet with Him. First, God planted a garden in Eden; a beautiful paradise in which everything was perfect and whole. Next, He commanded the Israelites to build a portable tabernacle where his Spirit would meet with the priests. Last but not least, God instructed David to build a more permanent structure: the temple in Jerusalem. All three sanctuaries were chosen and designed by God to be places that would reflect heaven as His dwelling.
As described above, the first sanctuary was perfect. Nothing evil, wrong or unstable. It was a place where God formed and walked with the first humans Adam and Even as a Good Father. There was no distance between them. Only adoration, tenderness and care. Eden was designed to be a garden where His people would flourish in wonder, worship and intimacy with God. God loved Adam and Eve so much that even when they betrayed Him, God ordained other sanctuaries for the purpose of meeting with their descendants. Both the tabernacle and the temple were built to remind God's people of the original garden, of their inherent sinfulness and of God's faithfulness to be with them through sacrificial atonement. God gave the craftsman clear instructions on how to decorate the tabernacle and temple so that they reflected the nature of Eden. Each refuge was laid with palm trees and pomegranates, water lilies and almond blossoms, lions and oxen, vibrant colours and precious metals. These designs were meant to remind the worshippers of a time before things went wrong.
Priests were appointed as mediators between God and His people, and worked devotedly in the tabernacle and in temple according to God's Law. They offered sacrifices as prayers for atonement and worship unto God. The arrival of God's son Jesus in the New Testament transformed temple purpose and ideology. No longer was there a need for God's people to offer purification sacrifices in the specific building because God's son Jesus came as the ultimate High Priest and offered Himself as the ultimate purification sacrifice. By sacrificing his own purity on the cross, Jesus bore and conquered all sin of the world and purified the bodies, hearts, minds and souls of those who believe in Him. His sacrifice made it possible for God to dwell within the human body and meet with His people where they are, not in a particular building.
Maybe you feel as though you are still living "the tabernacle faith?" You believe that you must meet the Law before you can meet with God.
Or maybe you believe that your faith is as temporal as the tabernacle? You move from wilderness to wilderness, carrying the semblance of God's dwelling with you in physical objects instead of in your heart.
You are like the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, adhering to strict Laws, building and rebuilding their portable tabernacle. Like the Israelites, you dream of a more permanent sanctuary, even more permanent than the temple in Jerusalem.
In 1 Corinthians we learn that those who believe in God have received entry into His permanent dwelling place. Wondrously, we learn that God's holy and eternal Spirit abides in those who open their hearts to Him. "Surely you know that you are God's temple," writes the apostle. Here, Paul uses the word "temple" to reflect God's dwelling in its permanent nature. The allusion to permanency is profound because it reveals the everlasting nature of God; an everlasting nature He gifts to us through His Spirit and son. As Christians we are invited to enter into God's permanence by inviting him to enter into our mortal life. We are called to enter into God's eternality by living as a sanctuary for the eternal God on earth. At the end of days, it is in being mortal that we die to our mortality and are invited to live in the heavenly sanctuary of our eternal God forever.
God graciously gifted us entry into His permanent dwelling place, Heaven, by sending His son Jesus as atonement for human sin. On the cross Jesus defeated sin by becoming sin; defeated death by dying; and in death, rose to life victorious. His resurrection is profound because it reflects the gift of resurrection given to all who believe in His sacrifice. We are given entry into Heaven when we believe that Jesus made us holy through His sacrifice on the cross. Heaven is a place we go after we die, but we are invited to experience a glimmer of Heaven's glory on earth when believe God's promise "to make His home in our heart." To re-quote the apostle: "Surely you know that you are God's temple."
What does this heart-temple have to do with the art of making one's home into a place of peace? The answer is found in Matthew 12:34-40. Here, God Himself reminds us that "everything we are, and everything we believe, overflows from the heart."
In order to impact the physical spaces in which we dwell, we must look to the place where God dwells. We do not have far to look. As Christians we know that God is omnipresent, which means that He is everywhere, always, at all times. More intimate yet, God dwells with us by dwelling in us. We learn how build a home like His when we invite Him to make His home in us. When God lives within, our lives overflow with His character. We reflect His peaceable nature, comfort, fruitfulness, truth, harmony, healing and love. This is how we build a home that embodies God's goodness when we do not experience it in the world. Worded another way, we glimpse the perfection of heaven when we behold God's grace as it is revealed by the heart through the home.
It is with great delight that I begin to write this new series of essays reflecting on what it means to build physical home that reflect our spiritual home. I consider homemaking, or "heartmaking," an artistic venture because – like good art – the creation and curation of good things requires thoughtfulness, commitment, devotion, engagement and faith. Even Jesus, who walked the earth with "nowhere to lay his head" (Matt 8:20), made his dwelling place the company of God. He was commitment, devoted and faithful in His engagement with others and with God. I pray that this series inspires you to reconsider what it means to make your home a place of worship and peace. Please consider subscribing to follow the series clicking this link. Thank you.