The Church Is Where God Lives

Good Morning!! Paul makes three astonishing claims for the church, which we would do well to remember. First, the church is the house of God. Don't let the wonder and power of that statement, be robbed by your familiarity with it. God lives in His church! Just as He set up residence in the tabernacle and temple in the Old Testament, God now resides in His church in a special and glorious way. Nowhere else on earth,...no mountaintops, golf courses, or beaches, can claim the same. Second, this is the church of the living God. Each word is important here: "of" because it is His church,...not yours or anyone else's; "the" because there is only one true God; "living" because He is eternal and powerful and vital; "God" because that's who He is. 

if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.—1 Timothy 3:15 (NIV)

Third, the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. Paul is not implying that the church's traditions are on the same par with Scripture, as some teach. Rather, he is affirming Jesus' own promise concerning the continuation of the gospel-affirming, Christ-proclaiming, body of Christ. The gates of hell itself cannot prevail against this God-inhabited, Christ-empowered organism.

It ought to inspire us all, to know that God lives in His church,...that He is just as unique and energetic as ever, on our behalf,...and that the truth of the gospel will be perpetuated until He returns.

Holy Spirit, let our labors in, and faithfulness toward, the kingdom of Christ, reflect the greatness of these guarantees. Amen.

"By faith, we are able to accept, that which we cannot understand."