Don’t give up on this article too quickly. To get to where we’re going, I have to lay out some intricate groundwork. But stick with me, and you’ll begin to discover just how amazing you are.

Before the fall of mankind (Genesis 3), God’s Spirit communed with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. When they sinned, they were separated from God’s presence, and the beauty and simplicity of their intimate relationship were taken away.

Though sin created separation, God continued to relate to people through complex covenants and through His presence. Under the old covenants, God’s Spirit dwelt in the cloud by day and the fire by night (Exodus 13:22), the Ark of the Covenant and the tabernacle (Exodus 35-40), the temple built by Solomon (I Kings 6), and the reconstructed temple built by the returning exiles (Ezra 1-6).

While God’s presence was still with them, the intimacy was replaced with fear. Any sinful human who came into direct contact with the perfect holiness of God would likely suffer death (Exodus 33:20, Numbers 4:15, Leviticus 10). That sounds awful, but only because we do not comprehend the height of God’s holiness nor the depth of man’s sinfulness. Sin cannot stand in the holy presence of God — a truth we would be wise to accept.

On a side note, it would also be wise for us to understand that God is still holy. Living under the New Covenant and in the age of grace, we sometimes forget God’s holiness and the fierce consequences of sin and judgment. The New Testament story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) is a powerful reminder that sin, even in the age of grace, can still carry immediate and severe consequences.

We must not confuse God’s patience (2 Peter 3:9) with a compromising of His holiness. We’re not getting away with anything just because we don’t experience immediate consequences (Romans 2:5 and 2 Peter 3:7). God is still holy, and unless our sin is forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we will face a fierce and holy judgment. Hebrews 10:31 warns us, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Now that I’ve laid the groundwork let me get to the point of this article: God is calling on you and me to be His holy temple. That’s right, through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and the infilling presence of the Holy Spirit, you and I are restored to full intimacy with God, an intimacy so complete that God chooses to live in us — making us His holy temple.

“Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” I Corinthians 3:16-17.

“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.” I Corinthians 6:19-20.

That’s a big deal — and this article could be about how you are supposed to take care of your body, but it’s not. Instead, I want to focus on another aspect of being God’s temple that is often overlooked.

Under the old covenants, the temple was a place where broken humanity sought God’s presence and hope and acceptance and mercy and grace and love and peace. Under the New Covenant, humanity is still seeking all of those things, but instead of going to the temple, God is calling on you to be the temple. In other words, we provide access to God’s presence for a broken world. That’s right, as God’s temple, we are that place.

It’s an amazing thought. We, too often, sell ourselves short. We see ourselves as nothing special. We couldn’t be more wrong. We carry within us the presence of Almighty God, and as His temple, we are the place of hope to a broken world — each and every one of us — and everywhere we go.

God’s presence does not reside in church buildings, except for when we’re there (See Acts 7:48). We really shouldn’t call the church building “God’s house” or “The Lord’s house.” When we do, we suggest that He lives there. He doesn’t. You are God’s temple. He lives in you — and you provide access to His temple to everyone you meet. Isn’t that awesome?

Yes, it is. But it’s also overwhelming and humbling. We provide access to the hope the world needs, or at least that’s what we should be doing. When we don’t, the world is left without hope. It’s a lot to think about — a lot to take in.

Friend, as a follower of Jesus Christ, you are God’s temple. A broken world is longing to experience God’s presence and grace. His presence cannot be found in any building — it is only found in you. Now go and be that place.