church
home > faith > church > temple
church - temple
in the old testament of the bible, the centre of israel's worship was the tabernacle, and later the temple. this was the place where people went to meet with God, the place where God's presence was in the times that He made it known on earth. with Jesus' death on the cross, God's presence was no longer confined to this temple and instead, God's presence was in every Christian as the holy Spirit. thus every Christian becomes a temple and hence are...joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit. (ephesians 2:22)God's presence is important. throughout the old testament we can see that whenever God's presence was lost, disaster was waiting just around the corner - the exile from the garden of eden, the 40 years of exile in the desert. however, from the time of pentecost, when God's Spirit came to the earth, God's presence has been living in it's new temple, the church.
this new temple was brough about by Jesus' death - the means by which the gulf between us and God is bridged. we remember this sacrifice in the church with the act of holy communion, sometimes called the Lord's supper or the eucharist. this sharing of bread and wine encourages us to look in four directions:
- back with thanks: the bread and wine remind us of Jesus' sacrifice so that our sin could be forgiven and our guilt removed:
as they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God's blessing on it. then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples saying, "take it and eat it, for this is my body." and He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, "each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which seals the covenant [agreement] between God and His people. it is poured out to forgive the sins of many. (matthew 26:26-28)
- forward with anticipation: Jesus could have left any way to remember His death, but He left a meal, looking forward to the day when we will celebrate the "wedding supper" of Jesus Christ in heaven:
and the angel said, "write this: blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb [Jesus]." anb he added, "these are true words that come from God." (revelation 19:9)
- around at the Christian family: drinking together from one cup and eating one loaf symbolises the unity of the Christian family. this is why communion is a communal act - we take bread and wine together.
and we all eat from one loaf, showing that we are one body. (1 corinthians 10:17)
- up in expectation: Jesus, whose body and blood are represented by the bread and wine, promised to be with is through His Spirit after He had died, especially where Christians meet togehter. as we receive communion we look to Jesus for powerful encounters with Him.
"for where two or three gather together because they are mine, i am there among them." (matthew 18:20)