From the time of the liberation of the children of Israel from Egyptian captivity to the time of the great and beloved King David the tabernacle of God was in a tent, a temporary movable dwelling place, not so cool. Then King David put it into his heart to build a temple, a magnificent permanent building for God. He thought, "we all live in houses and yet God dwells in a tent...". His plans were thwarted and the task fell to his son Solomon to build. And build he did. It became the most magnificent building in the world at the time, one feature was that the wall coverings were pure gold, pretty flashy. The temple became a symbol of the greatness of the God of the Israelites. Their culture was dependent upon this symbol. So bear this in mind as we see Paul in these verses, leading an offshoot of Judaism, teaching that the practice of animal sacrifice which took place in the temple was no longer necessary for fellowship with God. He constructs this premise of a living temple made up of God's holy people...
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1Peter 2:5In some way Paul is saying that as Christ is the one who holds together this new spiritual temple it is more precious than pure gold as it is made up of us, the apple of God's eye the crowning glory of God's creative efforts the human being.
APPLICATION
To be mindful that my body is His holy dwelling place and that I need to treat it in a way that is honoring to the King who inhabits it.
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