The Holy Spirit has drawn us to God, quickened us unto salvation, and empowered us with the gifts and fruits of the Spirit and the Divine Nature of God. He now dwells in us as the seal of God’s promises and our contract of the New Covenant. Have you been thinking about what your temple looks like from the Sspirit’s aspect?
A covenant is a contract. The Christian’s contract is signed in innocent blood. This goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. When God sacrificed (an) innocent animal(s) to atone for their sin. Now we have an eternal covenant with God purchased by our Saviour Jesus Christ whose temple you are. (See Hebrews chapters 9 and 10).
“Yet our bodies are fragile vessels, which contain treasures so immense that they cannot be expended. Just as great earthly temples are temporary, even though some have been around for hundreds of years, so are we temporary. These temples or churches are decorated with paintings; structures built with stained glass windows which depict a moment of the gospel and life of Christ and His apostles; statues, images, crosses, baptismal and hopefully the Spirit of God.
Our bodies are such temples in which the Holy Spirit places such decorations in, to reflect the knowledge of God and to glorify God.
If we see ourselves decked out such as these massive churches, we can reflect on the paintings of Michael Angelo, i.e. the two fingers, which point to each other. It is like God touching mankind from heaven to reconcile His creation back to Himself. He has called us like the apostles, which are crafted into every stained glass window in our temple. Each window holds a specific truth of the gospel. Can you hear their testimonies in the gospel books, which are inspired by the Holy Ghost speaking to you? I have seen the Christ! He is risen!
Look at the cross and baptismal in the church. These represent the death, burial, resurrection unto eternal life and the ascension, which allows us to receive the Holy Spirit.(John 16:7) The Holy Spirit has super imposed these images on our heart, in His temple, as the permanent indweller and the One, Who resides in our hearts to influence our lives.
Therefore, we must learn to give honor and respect to the Holy Spirit, which is the presence of God in our lives. We can do this by obeying God’s commandments, “Be ye holy, for I am Holy,” (I Peter 1:16). Be ye separate from the world. Live knowing where ever you go He is there with you. James 4:4 say, “That the friendship with the world is enmity with God?” Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit by two timing Him. Serving God and then going out into the world to serve it. You will become a Sunday saint and a Monday ain’t.
Thus the Holy Spirit’s lust (or strong desire) to keep you, His temple, Holy and sanctified. When we live like the world, it is like throwing rocks through the stained glass windows of our temple. It is like tearing down the decoration of the Holy Spirit’s work. It is like painting graffiti over all the paintings and walls of our temples. It is like pouring black dye into the baptismal. It is like throwing mud in the face of God. O! What grief! To see the temple of God in such disarray…this is why the Holy Spirit lusts to envy over His dwelling place!
Lust is the Greek word, epipothei, an intense, abnormal, excessive yearning. A supernatural desire to keep His temple holy, sanctified, and ready for inspection for the glory of God.
The Holy Spirit’s desire is: to help us be Christ-like; to grow us into the image of Christ, and into mature Christians; to help us witness; and to understand God’s word and presence in our lives. He has worked a work in us and does not desire to see His work destroyed by the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes or the pride of life (1 John 2:16).
So how do we grieve the Holy Spirit of grace, who has so much love for us? That is, when we put or choose the worldly desires over God’s will, we are committing adultery. Just like a husband and a wife would feel jealousy or envy if one of them cheated on the other one, so does the Holy Spirit feel, jealousy and envy. Let this settle into your heart. Think about how you would feel if you found out that your spouse had cheated on you; or you walked into your bedroom on your spouse and someone else. This is how the Holy Spirit feels. He is indwelling in you and every time you serve the world and its desires the Holy Spirit is right there feeling the betrayal of sin, adultery.” Or idolatry. We need to be responsible for our actions, for the Holy Spirit desires to keep us to envy.
Let us therefore take a stand for God and not give way to our worldly desires, which will make the Holy Spirit jealous and grievous. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:30) Don’t make Him sad. Excerpt from “The Journey to the Renewing of the Mind”
In Christ,
Greg