“Move that bus!” was the shout of the contractor and show’s host.  A new home had been built.  The family’s things moved back in with new things made just for them. Tears flowed from family to those in our homes watching their reactions!  We loved watching Extreme Home Makeover as gifted artisans and designers of all kinds would come together to build a home with attention and meaning to every detail. 

Their goal was to lift up and encourage the family after being knocked down by life circumstances, replacing despair with hope. We looked on as each artisan and decorator would interview family members to understand who they were for the purpose of discovering their likes and needs. Their goal was to please the new homeowners with all they would need to live a life with greater hope for their future.  Wow!  To watch the family see it for the first time and walk their every room stirred our hearts.  All those who had a part in the work watched anxiously and excitedly as each family member looked in awe at what had been done for them.  Love immediately filled each room because of the family’s gratitude for the workers who provided what they needed most—someone to care!  (What if the church were that attentive to those knocked down by life? Just wondering, many are attentive, loving and kind, some even do something about it; but some of us are too wrapped up in our own stuff of life.)

God didn’t need a house to live in because God is everywhere.  God declared it; David knew it.  But God in His great love, bent down to listen to David, a man after the heart of God from shepherd boy to king.  King David was determined to honor God by replacing the Tent of Meeting with a glorious, grand Temple. Deep down, David knew he could not repay or out give God; but still his desire to please God drove his Temple dreams.  David dreamed of a magnificent monument of worship to God, a holy place for God’s Presence, a place pleasing to God. It was to be a place for all people to come and be in awe of God, bowing before Him, praying to God and listening for Him through the priests, and most of all, to know and receive God as the One and Only God of all. 

Because of David’s past; he would not be the builder—only the designer. The build would be the responsibility of this son, Solomon.  David accepted God’s decision and gathered resources. Upon David’s passing; King Solomon came to the throne and took his responsibility seriously, going far beyond what was needed.  Because Solomon asked God for wisdom to lead His people; God answered with more wisdom, power, and resources than any other man or woman in the world at that time. 

Now the Temple is complete, the furnishings are all moved in, it is time to celebrate!  And what does God do?  He fills the Temple with the Glory of His Holy Presence! 

God moved in!

2 Chronicles 5

When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated—the silver and gold and all the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

The Ark Brought to the Temple

² Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. ³ And all the Israelites came together to the king at the time of the festival in the seventh month.

⁴ When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark, ⁵ and they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The Levitical priests carried them up; ⁶ and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

⁷ The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. ⁹ These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

¹¹ The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. ¹² All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. ¹³ The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:

“He is good; his love endures forever.”

Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, ¹⁴ and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

It’s not about you. It’s all about God. These are the first words of Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life.” God created every human being with purpose. Yes, but all began with God!  “In the beginning God…” the first four words of God’s Word to us confirms it all! (Genesis 1:1)

Solomon fulfilled his purpose. Then he dedicated the new temple in Jerusalem. What a glorious “move in” day! He invited tribal elders and chiefs from throughout Israel. While the sacred furnishings from the tent of meeting were moved inside the temple, sacrifices began. Amid song, praise, and music, God’s glory filled the temple! 

Over the past few months of reading and studying Kings and Chronicles we see God at work giving each man and woman a purpose to fulfill. We can go back to the beginning and see what God did as He created the earth and every living thing on and above it! God created the first humans, Adam and Eve made “in the image of God.” Then He gave them purpose—take care of the Garden I have given to you to enjoy. When their eyes were distracted from their purpose to considering they were gods; their purpose was redesigned but still their purpose remained—take care of the earth, work the ground, reproduce.  They still had purpose.  As God takes us on a journey through His Word from Adam to Abraham to Moses, through all the prophets and kings, all flawed people in a corrupt world; we discover God is still God.  He has not changed.  His love had not changed for us nor His faithfulness to us. We were all born with purpose and a longing for Him. God’s love, mercy, and grace remains.

We are empty, desolate, hopeless without God. God knew. So, God sent Jesus, with one distinctive purpose and mission, to fill the Temple of our whole created being with His Holy Presence.  When we receive Jesus, repent of our sins to Jesus, God moves into our whole being—His Temple, made ready for Him to dwell!

The Lord appeared to Solomon and told him that his work on the temple pleased him. He said that if his judgment fell on the nation due to sin, they could turn to the Lord in repentance. The Lord would then respond to true repentance by forgiving their sin and healing their land.

We are flawed for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;” but we are also perfectly forgiven when we repent in Jesus Name.  When we fall, we can dismiss it. We can deny it. We can distort it. Or we can deal with it. Dealing with confessing our sins to God who already knows. Confession is simply agreeing with God that our acts were wrong. It is God’s desire to forgive your sinful deeds and thoughts through his wonderful grace. We just need to ask. 

Let God move in!

Lord,

Fill the Temple of our hearts with Your Holy Presence as we ask for the forgiveness of our sins.  Cleanse our hearts, remove all that does not belong.  Renew our minds, refresh our souls. Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen