The tent, the temple and the future
As we age, being renewed day-by-day is what we’re called to. Once we understand this, we can focus less on loss and more on morphing into what comes next.
Part four of the series on resurrection, by Terry Young
When King Charles III was crowned in Westminster Abbey earlier this year, the anointing with special oil – the most sacred part of the ceremony – took place behind a set of screens that made up three sides of a square. Each screen was 2.2m wide and 2.6m high and the tapestries on them were rich with symbolism relating to Christianity and the Commonwealth.
The Tabernacle Moses built was similar, with poles and curtains instead of screens, and because people were shorter the shielding was less than 2m high. However, Moses left the Israelites with a square just over twice as wide and long as that behind which our Monarch was anointed, which was the holiest place of all. You can read more from Exodus 26 on, but it’s complicated and you might do better searching the net for pictures or a layout.
Because this square of heaven on earth was so holy, nobody was allowed in, except the high priest once a year and protected by a series of cleansing rituals. A cloud above the Tabernacle indicated the presence of God below: a pillar by day, and fire by night (Exodus 40:38).
Perhaps the greatest surprise about the Tabernacle was that it was mobile, so God could go camping with his people: three tribes to the east, three tribes to the south, three to the west, and three to the north. According to Hosea (2:14-15), it was an experience God enjoyed deeply and never forgot.
With Solomon the arrangement switched, so that people came to God instead of God moving among the people. Moreover, in the Temple the holiest place of all became a cube instead of a square and the sides were twice as long.
With Jesus, the holiest place goes mobile again, as John (John 2:21) explains: ‘but the temple he had spoken of was his body.’
With the coming of the Holy Spirit, that holy place moves inside every believer: ‘Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?’ (1 Corinthians 6:19).
The story develops further in Revelation, which is hard to visualise because John is perceiving something people can’t see from here. There is a huge city built as a cube, without a temple because God is there: the whole place has become the holiest of all. ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’ (Revelation 21:3)
Given what we know about clay jars and the tents of our bodies that wear out, let’s remember, too, that our bodies will morph into eternity, just as a drab seed grows into a glorious, swaying, plant. The mature plant looks nothing like the seed from which it sprung but the cells in each carry exactly the same DNA code.
Paul’s aim was never that we should escape our bodies: bodies are how we move from one world to the next, with a spiritual code that ensures each is suited to the world into which we rise. It’s not about stripping off; it’s about getting changed.
Curiouser and curiouser: it seems to me from all this that it’s only because of us that God has a body at all! The catastrophe of the fall and Jesus’ rescue mission revolve around bodies. As Hebrews 10:5 explains, ‘Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.'
Jesus punched through from eternity into our time using a body and he has punched back into heaven with a body so that we can follow.
If this sounds rather a cosmic take on reality, it’s hard to read the Bible without sensing something magnificently mysterious about why we’re here at all. On this view it’s all about bodies, here now and later when the Lamb meets the bride.
From the passages in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and other passages, it looks like heaven has come to earth so that one day earth can go to heaven. In conversion, God’s Holy Spirit takes up residence and starts to create that holy place in our bodies from which to change the world.
If you look at yourself and at Christians you know, it may appear an incredibly futile plan, especially since the facts seem to point in a completely different direction. Sadly, Christians often behave as those around them do. As they say, appearances can be deceptive, and the Bible teaches that God is persevering in his heroic plan.
So where does that leave us as we age and move through the changing rooms between worlds? Let’s return to Paul…
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
Our role in life is to be renewed day by day. Some days it’s harder than others and for all of us there are days we want to forget and continue to regret. But being renewed is what we’re called to.
It’s about radiating increasing joy as well as holiness.
It’s about enjoying treasure, as well as the escape from punishment.
It’s about looking around in hope as well as looking forward in faith and love.
I’m no better at this than you are, but it’s what we’re called to. We may not be doing it well, but we can only do it at all once know what the game is about. Once we understand the game, we can focus less on loss and more on morphing into what comes next.
Image | Denys Nevozhai | Unsplash
This is a five part series focusing on the resurrection:
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Terry Young is a missionary kid who read science and engineering. After a PhD in lasers, he worked in R&D before becoming a professor, when he taught project management, information systems and e-business, while leading research in healthcare. He set up Datchet Consulting to have fun with both faith and work and worshipped at Baptist churches in Slough for 19 years before moving to the New Forest.
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Baptist Times, 29/11/2023