Good morning!
Have you ever pondered how God throughout your life is working and shaping you?
Have you ever looked back and realized a certain challenge or circumstance now looks a lot like God’s hand in your life preparing you for your current season, circumstance or challenge?
Have you ever wondered about the process of sanctification, the work of God through the Holy Spirit, the work to perfect you so that on the day you stand before our King Jesus, you now reflect His perfection?
I participate in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) which runs from September through early May. Several years ago we were studying some Old Testament books which included studying Solomon’s life in the book of 1 Kings. There are lots of metaphor’s in what God shares with us about Solomon…
Studying that lesson for BSF brought a revelation in this area around the process we call sanctification…
1 Kings 5:17-18 “At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.”
1 King 6:7 “7 When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.”
1 Kings 9:3 “And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”
One of the BSF group leaders made an observation about the temple being built by Solomon – that it foreshadowed this truth – that each of us today, our body and soul, as a believer in Jesus Christ, houses the Holy Spirit. We are a temple for God here on this earth, in preparation for our eternal destination which is to live in the full presence of God in heaven.
This truth is still foreshadowing the perfect union of God’s people, fully sanctified in the presence of Jesus Christ in the new heaven and new earth.
BSF provides notes around the scripture we study each week. I found the notes supported this thinking around sanctification. Here is the paragraph from the notes that really grabbed my attention:
God’s people are living stones He is building together into a holy temple. As God dwells in and with us, our lives can display Him to the world. Because our bodies are God’s temple, how we use our bodies matters to God. How can you show God’s glory in your time alone and with others, whether at work, home or in the world? Through ordinary acts of obedience and love, God’s glory shines out to others through us.
As I read the notes, having the group leader’s comment about us being the temple, it became clear, as each of us is a part of Jesus’ Church, each a stone in the construction of the temple – in Heaven we become perfectly like Christ. BUT here in this life (offsite or on this side of heaven – away from where the temple is being built (see 1 Kings 6:7 – stones were prepared at the quarry) God through the Holy Spirit, is chiseling us (offsite – in this life) before bringing us to our place in the temple (as a perfected stone properly fit and ready).
To me this sounds like the perfect picture of the process of sanctification – is that process of chiseling, smoothing the stone out so that it fits perfectly.
I would like to wrap up by asking you this question – Have you or are you seeing, experiencing or feeling God chiseling you into that perfect stone as a part of Christ’s Church?
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that our eyes turn toward our Perfector, You, Lord Jesus Christ, recognize Your work, through the Holy Spirit, being done in our lives and that we give God all the praise and glory for that work, even when it hurts, for it brings us that much closer to being face to face with You, our Savior. Amen!
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Patrick
Have you ever pondered how God throughout your life is working and shaping you?
Have you ever looked back and realized a certain challenge or circumstance now looks a lot like God’s hand in your life preparing you for your current season, circumstance or challenge?
Have you ever wondered about the process of sanctification, the work of God through the Holy Spirit, the work to perfect you so that on the day you stand before our King Jesus, you now reflect His perfection?
I participate in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) which runs from September through early May. Several years ago we were studying some Old Testament books which included studying Solomon’s life in the book of 1 Kings. There are lots of metaphor’s in what God shares with us about Solomon…
Studying that lesson for BSF brought a revelation in this area around the process we call sanctification…
1 Kings 5:17-18 “At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.”
1 King 6:7 “7 When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.”
1 Kings 9:3 “And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”
One of the BSF group leaders made an observation about the temple being built by Solomon – that it foreshadowed this truth – that each of us today, our body and soul, as a believer in Jesus Christ, houses the Holy Spirit. We are a temple for God here on this earth, in preparation for our eternal destination which is to live in the full presence of God in heaven.
This truth is still foreshadowing the perfect union of God’s people, fully sanctified in the presence of Jesus Christ in the new heaven and new earth.
BSF provides notes around the scripture we study each week. I found the notes supported this thinking around sanctification. Here is the paragraph from the notes that really grabbed my attention:
God’s people are living stones He is building together into a holy temple. As God dwells in and with us, our lives can display Him to the world. Because our bodies are God’s temple, how we use our bodies matters to God. How can you show God’s glory in your time alone and with others, whether at work, home or in the world? Through ordinary acts of obedience and love, God’s glory shines out to others through us.
As I read the notes, having the group leader’s comment about us being the temple, it became clear, as each of us is a part of Jesus’ Church, each a stone in the construction of the temple – in Heaven we become perfectly like Christ. BUT here in this life (offsite or on this side of heaven – away from where the temple is being built (see 1 Kings 6:7 – stones were prepared at the quarry) God through the Holy Spirit, is chiseling us (offsite – in this life) before bringing us to our place in the temple (as a perfected stone properly fit and ready).
To me this sounds like the perfect picture of the process of sanctification – is that process of chiseling, smoothing the stone out so that it fits perfectly.
I would like to wrap up by asking you this question – Have you or are you seeing, experiencing or feeling God chiseling you into that perfect stone as a part of Christ’s Church?
Lord Jesus, my prayer for each of us as we go into this weekend is that our eyes turn toward our Perfector, You, Lord Jesus Christ, recognize Your work, through the Holy Spirit, being done in our lives and that we give God all the praise and glory for that work, even when it hurts, for it brings us that much closer to being face to face with You, our Savior. Amen!
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Patrick
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