Cleansing the Real Temple Through His Death (2)

1 Cor. 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 2 Cor. 6:16 And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, even as God said, "I will dwell among them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people."

[Part 2 of 2]

When I was young. I knew only that the Lord entered into Jerusalem and cleansed the temple. I did not know the significance of these things. Now I can declare strongly that

the Lord's real concern was to take care of the temple. When He was twelve, He was found in the temple (Luke 2:46), and when He came forth to minister at the age of thirty, He cleansed the temple (John 2:14-16). Because He was concerned with His Father's interests, He said to His parents, "Did you not know that I must be in the things of My Father?" (Luke 2:49). This indicates that He cared for the temple, God's dwelling place composed of His chosen ones according to His eternal economy. Therefore, the temple is the central point, the focal point, of God's economy. The Lord was concerned for

this when He was twelve, when He began to minister at the age of thirty, and when He reached the end of His earthly ministry. The Man-Savior entered into Jerusalem to present Himself to God as the all-inclusive offering. But before presenting Himself in this way, He once again expressed His concern for the interests of His Father, for the Father's dwelling place. In contrast to the disciples, the Lord Jesus was not concerned with gaining a kingdom for Himself. His only concern was that God's people become God's dwelling place. According to the full revelation of the New Testament, the Lord's concern in entering into Jerusalem was to produce a purified temple for God's dwelling place.