11/13/15: Sanctuary Maintenance
We read in the Old Testament about the priests who were in charge of everything pertaining to the sanctuary and the temple. All the priests were Levites, descendants of Levi, one of Jacob’s 12 sons. Their livelihood came from the offerings of the people and their job was to take care of the sanctuary – God’s dwelling place. Every priest had a specific job to do. Everything from killing the animals for the sacrifices to burning incense to baking the bread was handled by a Levitical priest. The High Priest was a most important position because he was the one who actually offered the sacrifices to God for the people in order for them to receive forgiveness.
As we move into the New Testament, the book of Hebrews explains to us how Jesus is our High Priest and lists many attributes of Jesus in that role, one of which is that He is “a Minister of the sanctuary.” (See Hebrews 8:2 KJV, NKJV, NASB.)
So what does this mean for us Christians today? First, let’s locate the sanctuary or temple about which we are referring. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (NKJ). Also look at 2 Corinthians 6:16b, “… you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people’” (NKJ).
Now that we realize we are the temple, the sanctuary, the place God dwells, we can understand Jesus’ role as “Minister of the sanctuary.” Jesus’ job as our High Priest is to maintain everything about our temple (8:2) and continually make intercession for us (see 7:21-24).
Do we allow Jesus to dust, mop, and vacuum our lives? Are there rooms He’s not allowed to enter? Are we saying things like, “Jesus, you can have my Sunday-when-I-go-to-church room and my how-I-dress room, but keep your hands off my love-life room and my habit-I-should-quit room”? Either He’s Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all. Who is really in charge of your sanctuary maintenance?
#HeartForTheWord
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