GOD HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

Study 3 — Where Does God Live Now?

God has left the building.

That sounds shocking until we understand what happened.

Under the Old Covenant, God chose to dwell among Israel. His presence was associated first with the tabernacle and later with the temple in Jerusalem.

But there was always a problem.

God was among His people, but His people could not freely come into His presence.

There were walls.

There were priests.

There were sacrifices.

And there was a curtain.

God was there—but sinful people had to keep their distance.

Then Jesus came.

And everything began to change.

Jesus Said He Was the Temple

Early in His ministry, Jesus said something that confused the people who heard Him:

“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
— John 2:19

They thought Jesus was talking about the great temple building in Jerusalem.

John tells us they were wrong:

“But the temple he had spoken of was his body.”
— John 2:21

Don't pass over that too quickly.

For centuries the temple had represented God dwelling among His people.

Now Jesus pointed to Himself.

God's presence was no longer centered in a building. God had come to His people in a Person.

John had already introduced Jesus this way:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
— John 1:14

God had come out from behind the curtain.

He was walking among His people.

Then They Destroyed the Temple

Jesus said:

“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

And that is exactly what happened.

They killed Him.

They placed His body in a tomb.

And on the third day, God raised Him from the dead.

The true Temple was alive again.

Then Jesus ascended to the Father.

Did that mean God's presence left the earth?

No.

Something even more remarkable happened.

God Moved Into His People

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon Christ's people.

Later Paul wrote to ordinary Christians in Corinth:

“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?”
— 1 Corinthians 3:16

Think about what Paul just said.

He didn't say:

Someday God will rebuild His temple.

He said:

You are God's temple.

The dwelling place of God was no longer a stone building in Jerusalem.

God was dwelling in His people.

That is why the title of this series matters.

God has left the building.

But He hasn't gone away.

He moved in.

Living Stones

Peter describes the same thing with a beautiful picture:

“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.”
— 1 Peter 2:5

The old temple was built from stone.

God's new house is built from living stones.

People.

And Peter doesn't stop there. He calls Christians a “holy priesthood” offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Something enormous has changed.

We don't need to travel to Jerusalem to find God's temple.

We don't need a Levitical priest to approach God for us.

We don't bring an animal to an altar.

Christ is our High Priest.
Christ is our sacrifice.
And we are God's dwelling place.

Jew and Gentile in the Same Temple

This becomes even clearer in Ephesians 2.

Paul is talking about Jews and Gentiles—people who had once been separated from one another.

Christ changed that.

Paul says:

“His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace.”
— Ephesians 2:15

Then Paul uses temple language:

“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.”
— Ephesians 2:21

And then:

“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
— Ephesians 2:22

There it is again.

Where does God live now?

In His people.

Jew and Gentile aren't being directed toward separate temples or separate covenant arrangements.

Christ brings them together and makes them one dwelling place for God.

What Happened to the Old Address?

The old temple did not immediately disappear when Jesus died.

It continued standing for about forty years.

The earliest Christians even went there. Acts tells us they met in its courts, and Paul himself entered the temple.

But something fundamental had changed.

God's people no longer needed that building to approach Him.

The sacrifice that mattered had already been offered.

The High Priest who mattered had already entered God's presence.

The curtain had already been torn.

And the Spirit of God now dwelt in His people.

Then in A.D. 70, the Roman armies destroyed the temple.

It has never been rebuilt.

But Christianity didn't stop.

Why would it?

God's temple was still standing.

Not in Jerusalem.

Throughout the world.

Living stones.

But This Isn't the End

God living in His people through the Spirit is wonderful.

But even this points toward something greater.

Remember where the Bible began.

In Eden, God and humanity were together.

Then Satan tempted.

Humanity sinned.

Fear appeared.

Adam and Eve hid.

Death entered.

The curse came.

And humanity was driven from the Garden.

Separation had begun.

The rest of the Bible tells us what God is doing about Genesis 3.

And when we reach the final chapters of Revelation, look at what has happened.

Satan is defeated.

Death is defeated.

The curse is gone.

The tree of life is back.

God's servants see His face.

And God announces:

“Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.”
— Revelation 21:3

We've come back to where the story started.

God with His people.

But this time there will never be another Genesis 3.

John Looks for a Temple

Then John notices something strange about the New Jerusalem:

“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”
— Revelation 21:22

No temple.

Why not?

Because a temple would be unnecessary.

A temple allowed a holy God to dwell among sinful people while barriers protected them from His presence.

But when God's work of redemption is complete, there is no barrier left.

No curtain.

No restricted Holy Place.

No earthly priesthood.

No animal sacrifice.

No sin.

No death.

No curse.

No Satan.

God's people don't stand outside His presence.

Revelation says:

“They will see his face.”
— Revelation 22:4

Think about the contrast.

In Genesis 3, sinful humanity hid from God's face.

In Revelation 22, redeemed humanity sees His face.

Jesus has undone what Satan did.

God Has Left the Building

So where does God live now?

In His people.

Where will He live when Christ's work reaches its final victory?

With His people—openly, completely and forever.

God is not moving backward toward another curtain.

The Bible is moving forward toward the day when there won't be a curtain at all.

The old temple was a shadow.

Christ is the reality.

We are now God's temple through His Spirit.

And ultimately even that picture gives way to something greater:

God and His people together forever, with no barrier of any kind.

The story that was broken in Genesis 3 is made whole in Revelation 22.

We are going home.

NEXT STUDY

Study 4 — Does the Bible Predict Another Temple and Animal Sacrifices?

If Christ is our Temple, our High Priest, and our once-for-all sacrifice—and God's people are now His dwelling—

why do some Christians expect another temple, another priesthood, and animal sacrifices to return?

And what about Ezekiel's temple?

That's the question we need to face next.