Dr. A.W. Tozer wrote a book entitled, “Man — the Dwelling Place of God.” His initial thesis is that God made man to be a habitation for Himself, and that is certainly true. As we noted a few weeks ago, when God created Adam, the only complete man the world has ever known except for Christ, He “breathed into his nostrils the breath (Spirit) of life; and man became a living soul [Gen. 2:7].” He was a God inhabited man, “The dwelling place of God.” What glory!
When Adam rebelled and disobeyed God, God moved out, and man has been a vacated dwelling ever since, apart from the redemption which is in Christ. How tragic! A grand house is of little significance if no one lives in it. But a simple dwelling is exalted if it is host to a great person. “George Washington slept here” will draw crowds to humble quarters if it can be established as true. History will leave a trail of “great men” who will spend eternity in hell for the absence of the Resident who was missing in their lives, and heaven will be populated by widows and orphans and millions of “nobodies” who had the good sense to open their hearts by faith to the Lord of Glory. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called…[I Cor. 1:26].” (Thankfully, He does not say “not any.”)
Now these are great and solemn thoughts, but they are the inverse of our text. Had Moses written a book at this juncture, he might have titled it, “God —The Dwelling place of Man.” The first great wonder of redemption is the restoration of the Spirit of God to the spirit of man. The soul who trusts the Savior becomes a God-inhabited individual, and that is all his glory. (See the remarkable text, I Cor. 6:16) Of course the “house” needs an awful lot of renovation to be restored to its former glory; it is a work in progress, which will not be completed until “we see Him as He is,” in the world to come.
But simultaneously, upon conversion God becomes the dwelling place of man! For evidence consider: “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus [Eh. 2:4-6].” Notice carefully, he does not say “with,” but in Christ Jesus. And that is a key concept in gospel. Christ, God the Son, is the dwelling place of the redeemed man or woman. Again, though our experience of this grand truth is not yet complete, scripture declares, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory [Col. 3:3-4].” It is not that we will be in Him, but that we are in Him; it is the “today” of our experience, hid though it may be from the eyes of “the watching world,” and even from the understanding of most believers.
“Where do you live?” is a common question one may be asked when introduced to a new acquaintance. How appropriately a believer might respond, “In God.” And if an ordinary house is dignified by a great resident, it is also true that a resident may be dignified by a great house. A prince who lives in the palace is known everywhere as a child of the king. The believer dwells in God, and should be recognized as a child of the King of glory!
However,if the prince chooses to live beneath his dignity and behaves like everyone else, few will be impressed by his royalty and his residence will be in measure disgraced by his behavior. And so it is in the spiritual realm. Thus we are called to holiness. “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit [I Thess. 4:7-8].”
Sadly, tragically, the charge the apostle made against Israel can be echoed with reference to too many in the church:
“For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written [Rom. 2:24].” The magnificent dignity of our dwelling place in God should rather motivate us, as Paul admonished the Corinthians, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God [II Cor 6:17-18, 7:1].”
For Truth in advertising,
"Pastor" Frasier
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