The Dwelling Place of God

It is amazing how God has graced mere men with His presence.  God has made a way for us to enter into His presence, and for His presence to dwell in us through the Holy Spirit.  Paul wrote of what Jesus accomplished in Ephesians 2:18-22:  "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."  Along with all followers of Christ, we are individually and collectively a dwelling place of God.

How remarkable, that God would dwell with and in men!  For all who have tasted and have seen God is good forever changes the way we relate to God and others.  A.W. Tozer wrote of the importance of recognising and cultivating the presence of God in his book The Pursuit of God: "Ransomed men need no longer pause in fear to enter the Holy of Holies.  God wills that we should push on into His presence and live our whole life there.  This is to be known to us in conscious experience.  It is more than a doctrine to be held; it is a life to be enjoyed every moment of every day...The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His Presence.  The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the Presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and that God is in us."  (Tozer, A. W., The Pursuit of God. WingSpread Publishers, 2006. pages 34; 36.)

So how do we "push on into His presence?"  We like clear checklists for these questions, but God does not provide them for our convenience.  It is not done with the blood of bulls or rams but by the blood of Jesus Christ by faith in Him.  Often seeking God begins with choosing to leave or lay aside something else.  God promised the children of Israel who returned from captivity in Jeremiah 29:12-13:  "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."  This principle is true throughout all scripture.  Paul said to the inquisitive men of Athens in Acts 17:27, "that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us..."  God is not only interested to be sought and found, but for people to know Him.  Pursuit is a relatively short phase in earthly relationships, but the Christian's pursuit of God is to be a continual action which marks all lives of God's faithful followers.  The more we pursue Him the more we find and know Him, and the more we know Him the more we want to pursue Him.

Let us not assume this pursuit of God ends when the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts.  It is then when we can commune with God in earnest.  The Holy of Holies was unapproachable by all but the High Priest on the appointed day, but Jesus has made a way for us to enter God's presence to find grace and help in time of any need.  Is there ever a time when we are not needy?  God avails Himself to those who beg for help; He will feed the hungry and quench the thirsty.  He will grant wisdom to those who sense they lack it and humbly seek Him.  When speaking of abiding in the presence of God it is not so much "How To" that is needed but "Will I?"  God has chosen to make His habitation in people who fear Him.  Having invited Him in by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, let us also seek Him with our whole hearts.