Everlasting Temple of God

Jesus answered them and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

(John 2:19–21)

The Body of Christ is a temple.

Just as in “Herod’s” Temple in Jerusalem (the temple to which the Jews refer here, the temple Jesus had just swept clean with a whip of cords), there are sacrifices—of the lips, of the heart, living sacrifices—in the Body-of-Christ temple. There are priests in it who pray and proclaim the Word of God. Praise to the heavenly Father is lifted up in this temple day and night. And the holy shekinah of God Himself resides there. Beautiful is the Body of Christ, as beautiful as ever shone the glistening gold and polished stone of the first-century temple on Mt. Zion.

There are differences as well, however. Herod’s Temple is no more, decimated to its last foundation only forty years after Jesus’ triumph and never rebuilt. The temple of the Body of Christ, on the other hand, has risen from its destruction, just as Jesus predicted, never to be destroyed again. The Body of Christ has been and will be persecuted in innumerable ways, but she will never be taken out.

Thus the worship of God continues forever, world without end. And all those who take shelter in this Temple-Risen-from-the-Dead will never die either, their voices preserved for the glory of God, their hearts rewarded for their undying praise.

“Great God in heaven above, we give You thanks for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and for our resurrection in Him. Thank You for establishing Your Church on the foundations that will stand forever, Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone. We pray, dear God, You would cleanse us and make us holy, that we as the Body of Christ might bring You glory and pure worship, and we pray You would fill us with Your Holy Spirit as You filled the temple of old with the cloud of Your Presence. For unto You alone belongs all praise and honor and glory and worship forever and ever. Amen.”

A New Jerusalem

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Luke 13:34, 35)


These words were spoken by our Lord shortly before He entered Jerusalem, just a few days before He would lay down His life on a cross in that city (“It cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem”—v. 33). He knew these things:

• Jerusalem had a history of killing the very ones God had sent to rescue them.
• He loved Jerusalem and had come to save her—but she was unwilling.
• Jerusalem would be destroyed for her lack of trust in her Messiah.
• Jerusalem would welcome Him as her Messiah—but then quickly reject Him and even call for His execution before the week was over.

 It is through this deplorable tragedy, this greatest injustice in the history of the world, that Jesus Christ established a New Jerusalem, a new City of God, a new center for the Temple of God and His worship.

In this New Jerusalem, the citizens are willing. They receive Christ as their Savior, as their Messiah, as their Lord. For the inhabitants of this New Jerusalem, the death of Jesus of Nazareth is their beginning, not their end—their source of eternal life, not their own death sentence. Their house is not left desolate but is filled to the full with those of every tongue and every tribe, overflowing with all things, with all the riches that are found in the glory of Christ Jesus.

These children are indeed gathered under His wings, delivered from their enemies, sin and death, protected from the wrath of God—they have found and receive forgiveness for their own sins. And they also cry, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” But in this New Jerusalem, Jesus is the resurrected and reigning King—there is no rejection of Him as her Lord—they are willing subjects of His glorious kingdom, serving Him gladly and gratefully, giving thanks continually for the salvation of their fair city through the blood of their Savior.

“Great God and Glorious Father, we give You thanks indeed for our Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for our salvation. Thank You for establishing the New Jerusalem, the kingdom of God, the Church of the Living God, and for including us in the number of her inhabitants. You are our King—we would have no other—and we are Your willing subjects. Teach us Your will that we might walk in it; protect us from our enemies; fill us with the rich produce of Your Holy Spirit. And may God’s peace be upon the Israel of God! Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”