YOU ARE GOD’s TEMPLE

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This past Sunday the message was given by Rev. Richard Buessing.

This is a special time of year because everyone gets into the spirit of giving.  They volunteer at soup kitchens, give to the Salvation Army, perform musicals, and give gifts to one another.  Thanks and giving are 2 beautiful words that we all share. So thank you for being here today to give and share God’s love together.

What is a temple? 

You may have been to temples around the world or here in the United States.  Temples are places of worship or sacred places that embody the presence of God. Sometimes they have other names, like a church, a synagogue, a shrine or a cathedral. Humankind creates these holy places that are separate from the world and not influenced by it.

Some temples require fasting and offering before entering their sanctuaries.  Some require certain dress.  Some allow entrance only by members at certain times of the year. Some are just tourist attractions.   But most are set aside as special places where we go to offer ourselves to God in a special environment.

Let’s look at some of the temples

synagogue in EthiopiaEven this small synagogue in Ethiopia, as simply as it is. represents a holy place to the ones who built it.  It goes to show that regardless of the building, we seek the presence of God.  There is benefit to gather in one area where everyone is focused on the same thing, the presence or spirit of God.  Likeness of mind creates a very powerful spirit.  It’s like gathering here every Sunday in that it does something for the human spirit.  It creates a sense of unity, friendship, and love.

Some months ago Pastor Heather spoke about a billionaire who built this huge temple or church in Africa but there were very few people in the area.  All over the world temples are built in glory to God.  You cannot take the religious or spiritual heritage out of people’s consciousness.  Rev. Moon use to say the Communists tried so hard to disprove God but they can’t because it is saying that man has no spirit, which is completely false.

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The Temple in the Old Testament

The Hebrew temple had the Holy Place and Holy of Holies.  Moses would go here once a year and sit at the mercy seat and receive messages from God. The temple plays an important place in the providence of God.

In the Old Testament there was the tabernacle first and then the temple. The tabernacle was the symbol of the temple that was to come later. After the Israelites settled in Canaan the temple was built representing the image of God.

When Jesus came he said, “I am the Temple.” He also said, destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up. He said if you see me you see the Father.  I and the Father are one. Those were bold words for that time considering the Israelites were used to worshipping God inside a building that held, and represented, everything they understood about God.

Jesus was not impressed with the level of faith he found when he went into the temple. As a matter of fact he got angry and drove out the money changers. Why do you suppose he did that?

He told the people, don’t presume to say you have Abraham as your Father.  From these stones I am able to raise up children of Abraham.

Think of this quote from the New Testament: From Corinthians: “Do you not know you are God’s temple and Gods spirit dwells in you?”  This is a profound quote for many reasons.

  1. It means you have a special relationship with the Almighty God, the Creator and the mastermind behind the entire universe
  2. Your very existence is intricately tied to our Creator, the Parent of the Universe.

It means God’s existence and purpose is tied to your existence. Father Moon once said that Gods perfection was to have come through Adam’s Family centered on love. In a sense that means that human beings complete God. However, God’s love is what perfects human beings. This is the ideal of oneness between God and human beings.

The Ideal of Love

Where else would Gods dwelling place be?  God would nestle in the most precious place of all-love.

If you reach a mystical state in prayer, enter the realm of spiritual experience, then call out to God, “Heavenly Father,” you will hear the answer from deep inside. Why are you calling me? I am right here.  Here!”  “Here” refers to the center of your heart.  It is the central point of love where you are totally united in mind and body, the perpendicular space where God can dwell.  When you’re in that state of unity you can completely understand who you are, and where you are at spiritually – SMM 

IT is easy to say we are Gods Temple but because of the “Fall of Man”, or human’s perception of being separate from God, we don’t feel that God lives within us. How many of us perceive ourselves as a temple on a day to day basis? Do we treat ourselves like a holy place of worship?

What is the Original Ideal?

We need to see what a healthy person is before we can understand how to restore someone to health.  We need a model. That is why we have holy scripture, it’s like a manual to help us understand how to live as temples of God.

The Bible can be very strict in terms of how we should live or be in our life.

For instance:   Matt 5. 48   “You must become perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Here are some other statements you might remember: If your arm causes you to sin, cut it off; if your eye causes you to sin pluck it out. It is better to go into the Kingdom of Heaven lame and blind than to go there with sin.

The Good News

The good news is this that no matter how far we fall short of the ideal, the original spark of goodness never dies within us.  This is because God is the subject partner to our Original mind. That original mind is what makes it possible for God to restore us, to rebuild us and to bring us home.

We could say that the process of restoring ourselves back to a state of oneness with God is like rebuilding a temple. How do we do this? We need to first restore unity between mind and body centered on the higher good.  Within mind and body unity is the environment where God can dwell. The relationship between spirit self and physical self is important.

Spirit Self and Physical Self

Your physical body can lift up your spirit or take it down. A healthy spiritual life will also help you to be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy. Spiritual and physical health have an interdependent relationship. That’s why we need to understand the relationship between the spirit self and physical self.

Physically we need to take care of your body.  We need nutrients from the environment and we have to make some effort to get those. We also need air and sunlight, but that comes to us freely every day.

SP & PY relate 2

Our spiritual side functions in a similar way in that we need God’s love and truth to grow and thrive. God’s love and truth are the spiritual equivalent to air and sunlight because they come to us freely and are always available even if we don’t recognise this. Our Original Mind and conscience recognises the truth and love of God and gives Spirit Elements to our physical mind and body, inspiring us to live in a good way. Our good physical actions provide Vitality Elements to our spirit, allowing the spirit to grow in love and goodness. In this way, Vitality Elements from our actions are like the food and water for our spirit.

The Simple Truth

There is a saying, “You are what you eat.” We could also say, “You are what you do.” During our physical life in this physical world we have many choices, but the most important of those might be to do good, or not to do good. To live in a loving and unselfish way, to be kind and caring of others as well as of our self, or not. It is the spirit, heart and mind we develop while in our physical temple that we take with us when we leave this world to enter the eternal.

Wake up in the morning and say to yourself, “I am a son of God.” Or, “I am a daughter of God”.  “How will I take care of my body and spirit this day?”  How will you take care of your holy temple today? Will you meet God in your temple today?

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