The Temple of God, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
The Temple was the place where God chose His glory to dwell here on earth that His people might come and worship before His presence. However, because of sin man could not directly enter the presence of the Lord, nor could man behold God's glory. The glory of God dwelt in a place called the Holy of Holies, a place that only one man, the high priest, could enter once a year, and only after a very thourough process of sanctification and cerimonial cleansing.
But because of the sacrifice of Jesus, that vail that separated the people from the Holy of Holies, that place where the glory of God dwelt, was torn in two-- from top to bottom. It was Jesus' atoning death that finally paid the price for all our sins; man was cleansed once and for all. Because sin had been purged, because God's righteous wrath was satisfied, there was no longer a need for man to remain separated from God, and so God Himself tore the vail in two, signifying that man could now enter His presence and experience the glory of God.
Not only can man behold God's beauty and majesty, but God has chosen for His glory not to dwell in a temple made by the hands of men, but to dwell in the temple made by His own hands-- man. Think about it: the God who spoke the universe into existence is living inside you. He has chosen for this marvelous treasure of incomparable worth to dwell in us-- worthless clay pots!
Knowing that God Himself dwells inside us, that His Spirit has taken up residence in our hearts should change the way we live. Knowing this are we prone to go out and defile our bodies and polute our minds? Would you go to the temple of God and throw trash on the ground? Would you bring smutty magazines into the temple of God? No. So why do we allow our minds and our bodies to be filled with the garbage of the world?
When we gave our lives to Christ and accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, we gave up the right of ownership of ourselves. Our bodies, our minds, our lives are no longer ours, but Christs, for He purchased them with His blood on the cross of Calvary. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says,
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
Your body, your mind, your spirit, your soul were all redeemed by God, and therefore they now belong to God. This may not sound like such a good thing at first, but realize what you were when you had control over your own life. If things were so great, if you were doing so well, if you had no problems and weren't in need of anything or anyone, why would you have come to God? We come to God because things aren't great; we have a void in our hearts that only God can fill. He created us to worship Him and bring glory to Him, and until we discover that we cannot be truly at peace.
Recognizing that your body is the temple of God, that God is infinitely powerful, infinitely holy and infinitely good and that this is the God to whom you belong and by whom you were redeemed out of the fires of hell ought to bring peace and comfort to your soul. What need have we to worry about the turns that our lives will take knowing that God is working in us and through us to bring about a good end? What have we to complain about knowing that God is in control of it all, and not from a distance but right inside our very selves?
Knowing that God dwells in you should bring joy to your heart. It is our seal of approval, our assurance of heaven that God has placed His Spirit inside us. No matter what happens or where you are in life, God loves you and has chosen to dwell in you-- an honor that no priest before Christ had ever known, but longed for with all their hearts.