The Realization of Temple

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

I Corinthians 6:19 

What does the apostle mean here; if we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, then why do most Christians act as if one must attend a special meeting on a certain day or days of the week, partake of the 'elements' & ascribe to certain man-made creeds, in order to worship the Creator in Spirit & in Truth? Might it have something to do with the fact that most Christians still believe that though we already have the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, as a Guarantee, we have not yet been Married to Christ? If indeed, as I & certain others believe, we HAVE been Married to the Son ( of God ), wouldn't that make more sense & coincide better with what the apostle Paul has to say about us being the Body of Christ ( I Corinthians 12:27, Ephesians 4:12, etc. )?!

If we are simply 'the temple of the Holy Spirit' but not yet the Temple of the Son of God, or the Creator of Heaven & Earth, then doesn't that mean there is still Separation in the so-called 'God-head'? Oh, sure, we've all heard, as far back as Sunday School, that the Creator-God is omnipresent, He is everywhere at once! As crazy as this may sound, there DOES almost seem to be support for this doctrine in Scripture. Not to go too far into speculation though, the argument could conceivably be made that though the Holy Spirit dwells within our 'hearts', He is also in 'Heaven';  as well, one might say that even though Jesus is currently in 'Heaven', He is also in our 'hearts'! The same goes, then, with our Heavenly Father; He sits on His Throne in 'Heaven', ruling over ALL, but He is everywhere at the same time ( Psalm 139:8 ? )!

I have said before that 'Jesus was the ( God ) Man for the Eschaton'; the import of that statement is, of course, that since the Eschaton came & went, that He is no longer the God-Man! Now before you crucify me for even allowing myself to make such a consideration, please consider hearing me out. As believers in Fulfilled Eschatology ( AKA-Covenant Eschatology ), we do not believe that Jesus still dwells in 'Heaven' in the selfsame Body in which He rose, though many Christians do. Since, according to Scripture, we, the Church are the Body of Christ & 'the temple of the Holy Spirit ', it only makes sense to understand that, metaphorically speaking, but true nonetheless, we have taken the place of the Son at His Father's right hand!

The name 'Israel', as we have noted previously, put simply means 'prince, or ruler with God; literally, it means 'struggles with God, given as such to Jacob after his tussling match with the Angel of the Lord ( Genesis 32 ). If indeed we are rulers with the Creator-God, as this would imply, along with Jesus' words to His disciples, 'Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel' ( Matthew 19:28 ) doesn't it make sense to understand that since this Eschaton has been fulfilled, IN Jesus the Messiah & this 'regeneration' HAS occurred, that we are NOW where He is, ruling with Him & thus by metaphorical extension, One with ( Married to ) Him?

The Trinity, in most Christian circles, is one of those doctrines you just don't mess with! It's abundantly clear from Scripture & from Nature itself that the Nature of the Creator-God is three-fold, right? Yes, we can easily see in Nature itself, whether plants or stars, that the Law of Relation is based upon the very Nature of the Creator Himself, but does this, on its own necessarily imply what we have come to know & love as the doctrine of the Trinity?! Yes, the Scriptures, which are a Record of the Eschaton, show clearly, in the Greek Scriptures anyway, a separation with the 'God-head' wherein the Father sent of His Essence to become Man, in order that He might dwell among us & then left His Spirit with the Early Church to comfort them in tribulation till He should return on the clouds ( Psalm 68:4, et al ) to rain judgment on His enemies! Since the End of the Eschaton & the fulfillment of Jesus' promise to His disciples in John 13:23, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with Him', can we seriously aver that we still await His return & the Realization of Temple?!

When we understand the writings of Paul & the sayings of Jesus in the context in which they were given, then we should clearly see that we ARE the Temple, not just of what is traditionally called 'the Third Person of the Trinity', but of 'the fullness of the Godhead' ( Colossians 2:9 )! The Marriage has taken place, we celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb every day; there IS no more waiting; He came to us & made His home ( dwelling ) with us & NOW we sit at His Right Hand, ruling with Him in His Kingdom: what MORE could we ask?!

Charles Haddon Shank