1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

Luke 2:52

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

In the Old Testament, the Temple was of tremendous importance to the Jews. Beginning very soon after Moses led them out of Egypt, God instructed His people to construct a dwelling place for Him. Early on this was a portable Tabernacle, built to exact specifications. Later, Solomon was able to complete a “permanent” place of worship – a beautiful Temple, the likes of which Israel has never been able to duplicate. Like the Tabernacle, the Jewish Temple was built to exact, careful specifications – they hyperventilated over each brick!

So here’s the question – why? Why was the Temple of such incredible importance? Why was each detail so crucial? And the answer is, the Temple was the residence of the Holy Spirit. It was literally the place where people went to meet God. Sure God is/was omnipresent – but from the moment Solomon’s Temple was dedicated to Him, His Spirit filled it. It was His “home on earth,” so to speak.

When Jesus came, so many things changed – because of His death and resurrection, God was able to have relationship with people in new ways. In fact, soon after His resurrection, the Temple in Israel was destroyed, and the early Church had no building (they met in homes). So where does the Holy Spirit reside now? In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul stated that we are now the Temple. We are the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit. When a person accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in that person’s heart. Therefore, our bodies are Temples.

There are so many implications of that sentence – your body is a Temple. After all, God gave very exact instructions to the building of the Old Testament Temple… and He has some things to say about our bodies too. Since it is His home, He cares very much how we treat it. This week, we are going to think through what that means.

Paul wrote that your body is “not your own; you were bought at a price.” What do you think he meant?

What are some ways we can honor God with our bodies?