During my college days, when I was telling about Jesus to my friend, he asked me back why God had to create humans. I remembered the verse in Isaiah 43:21 "This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise" and told him that He created humans so that we have to praise Him. Then, he asked me back, is it not silly? and then I went out of answer. I too had the same question coming in my mind. Much later I got the answer revealed through Holy Spirit. In one of my messages I shared in our prayer fellowship, I explained the members why God had to create the human beings. The answer is God created humans out of divine love. God is love and He wanted to show, share and experience His love with someone who could understand and reciprocate the love. So, He created man in His own image, in His own form of Body, Soul and Spirit but one difference was human was made out of clay. I threw a question to the members asking whom do you love more? your child or puppy dog. Though it is a silly question, it explains a lot about God's love towards humans. He considers us as His own children and show love and compassion towards us. Psalms 103:13
God's longing from the start was to live among humans, share His love with them. But, as Adam and Eve sinned, the had fallen short of glory and a Holy God cannot live together with His wonderful creation anymore. So, God planned a long term resolution plan and promised a Savior to the mankind. To execute the long term plan, He needed the support and coordination of humans and He has planned and raised up appropriate people throughout the history to accomplish His will. The very next person after Adam and Eve whom God walked closely was Enoch, the 7th from Adam. Enoch walked with God for 300 years and He was not, for God has taken Him. It looks like God cannot live without Enoch in heavens after walking so closely with Him and God just cancelled the natural death of Enoch and took Enoch to Him. Such is the love of God. But, after Enoch, again God wanted to share His love and plan to some human and He identified Noah. Noah was a just man and he walked with God in such a fashion that the entire wicked world was destroyed by great floods except for the family of Noah as per proverbs 14:26 that says "In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge."
Later on, He had chosen Abraham and promised to be with him. As Abraham walked with God through faith, God made covenant with Him that through His seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed and later on God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when He redeemed Israelites from the slavery of Egypt through Moses. God told Moses in Exodus 25:8, "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them". The tabernacle is a reflection and shadow of heavenly things and figurative. Heb 8:5, 9:9. It reflects the trinity with Most Holy place, Holy place and Courts. The courts is a place where the sacrifices were made. It is a shadow of those who gets washed by the blood of the Lamb of God and the water pool which is present next where the priests wash their hands and feet is a direct representation of Baptism. Once they washed their hands and feet, they enter the Holy Place where there is a show bread and lampstand. This symbolizes the word of God and the Holy Spirit guiding the one who accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. There is an altar of incense which represents the prayer life of a truthful and sincere Christian. There is Holy of Holies inside where the High priest could enter only once in a year with the blood of the offering. This is a representation that Jesus died once on cross and finished the works once forever. When the author of Hebrews wrote, He says every year the High priest has to offer the blood and stand. He stands because the work is not completed yet. But, Jesus was crucified on cross and then entered the Father's presence and sat on His right handside to show that the work of salvation has been completed perfectly. Hebrews 10:11-13.
High Priest entering Most Holy place once in year could also represent that we have to die once and enter the presence of God. The ark of covenant represents Jesus Christ Himself as through His flesh and blood created the new covenant. The ark of covenant contains the tablet stones that contains 10 commandments. They were made into two tablets representing that further they can be divident into 2 main commandments, one is to love the Lord God with full heart, soul, mind and strength and the other one is to love every other human as one love himself. For the end of the commandments is love says Paul in I Timothy 1:5. Not only that, the tabernacle also represent the body, soul and spirit of the man where the courts as outer place and visible to everyone refers to the body, the holy place refers the soul and the most holy place corresponds to the spirit. All these things were specific and Moses was given the exact model of the tabernacle because God is going to live in that place. Exodus 25:8
Later on, when Solomon build the temple of the Lord, He received the models from David and in turn David received that from Lord Himself as per I Chronicles 28:11-19 and Solomon executed the plan. One more thing to note is the temple mount at Jerusalem is built at specific place. It was built on specific place on Mount Moriah as specified in II Chronicles 3:1. It is the same mount where God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as per Gen 22:2 and in fact it should be the same place. So, God has a clear plan of the crucifixion of Jesus at Jerusalem. He was also crucified on a Mount named Golgotha, the name Gol has a connection to Gilgal where Lord told Israelites that the reproach of Egypt was rolled away at this place when they were lead by Joshua into the land of Canaan. Joshua 5:9. So, Golgotha also means some rolling away, the rolling away of the sins of those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. When Jesus was crucified and gave away His spirit, an earthquake happened, the veil in the church was torn two. Praise God, Holy to Lord, He left the heavens and started living with humans again through the Holy Spirit. He no longer confines Himself to the Most Holy place. When the Priests, Levites and Singers sang in one voice with the same sound with praise and thanksgiving saying Praise God, He is good, for His mercy endureth forever, God's presence and glory filled the Solomon's built temple. II Chronicles 5:13 and 14. Same way, when the disciples came together at the top room in Jerusalem with one mindedness on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit with a rushing mighty wind entered there. Acts 2:1-4.
Thus, Paul writes "But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." I Cor 6:17. He has the same mind and thinking like God because they are one in spirit. Note the husband and wife are mentioned as one in flesh as in Gen 2:24 but one who is united with Lord in love is one with Him on spirit. So, He cannot live in the same worldly way anymore. Later on, the authors wrote about the true meaning of tabernacle. The author of Hebrews pointed out that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in tabernacles, they didn't have any permanent building or house just to symbolize they are just strangers to this world and it is not their permanent place of residence and someday they will be united in the heavens with the Lord. God has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:9-16. Thus, this body itself is a tabernacle and when we die we leave this tabernacle and go to Lord's tabernacle. This is revealed by Paul in II Cor 5:1-10 as "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.... We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Apostle Peter too remembered the day of transfiguration where he bluffed saying that lets put tabernacles one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah realized the meaning of tabernacles and writes "Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;" II Pet 1:13.
Jesus also promised His true disciples that He is going to prepare a place and then will come and receive us unto Him. John 14:2-3. Finally, we see a picture in heaven, where God again restores everything back as in original Garden of Eden and live among His people. It is explained as "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." in Rev 21:3. Bible says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. We cannot change God and He always love people and live among them. The question is are we longing to make ourselves a tabernacle for Him. Are we living with Him in spirit? God is going to restore everything soon. He will live closely with the people in heaven whom he knows closely in earth. Are we really one among them? Let's ask the question ourselves and not keep our focus on things or materials or desires of this world. Let's not put our trust on just this earthly tabernacle. Instead, let's look forward for the heavenly tabernacle. Paul wrote that our citizenship is in heaven and from there we expect our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to return and He will give us a heavenly body in Philipians 3:20,21 and we are in the days of restoration.
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
God's longing from the start was to live among humans, share His love with them. But, as Adam and Eve sinned, the had fallen short of glory and a Holy God cannot live together with His wonderful creation anymore. So, God planned a long term resolution plan and promised a Savior to the mankind. To execute the long term plan, He needed the support and coordination of humans and He has planned and raised up appropriate people throughout the history to accomplish His will. The very next person after Adam and Eve whom God walked closely was Enoch, the 7th from Adam. Enoch walked with God for 300 years and He was not, for God has taken Him. It looks like God cannot live without Enoch in heavens after walking so closely with Him and God just cancelled the natural death of Enoch and took Enoch to Him. Such is the love of God. But, after Enoch, again God wanted to share His love and plan to some human and He identified Noah. Noah was a just man and he walked with God in such a fashion that the entire wicked world was destroyed by great floods except for the family of Noah as per proverbs 14:26 that says "In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge."
Later on, He had chosen Abraham and promised to be with him. As Abraham walked with God through faith, God made covenant with Him that through His seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed and later on God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when He redeemed Israelites from the slavery of Egypt through Moses. God told Moses in Exodus 25:8, "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them". The tabernacle is a reflection and shadow of heavenly things and figurative. Heb 8:5, 9:9. It reflects the trinity with Most Holy place, Holy place and Courts. The courts is a place where the sacrifices were made. It is a shadow of those who gets washed by the blood of the Lamb of God and the water pool which is present next where the priests wash their hands and feet is a direct representation of Baptism. Once they washed their hands and feet, they enter the Holy Place where there is a show bread and lampstand. This symbolizes the word of God and the Holy Spirit guiding the one who accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. There is an altar of incense which represents the prayer life of a truthful and sincere Christian. There is Holy of Holies inside where the High priest could enter only once in a year with the blood of the offering. This is a representation that Jesus died once on cross and finished the works once forever. When the author of Hebrews wrote, He says every year the High priest has to offer the blood and stand. He stands because the work is not completed yet. But, Jesus was crucified on cross and then entered the Father's presence and sat on His right handside to show that the work of salvation has been completed perfectly. Hebrews 10:11-13.
High Priest entering Most Holy place once in year could also represent that we have to die once and enter the presence of God. The ark of covenant represents Jesus Christ Himself as through His flesh and blood created the new covenant. The ark of covenant contains the tablet stones that contains 10 commandments. They were made into two tablets representing that further they can be divident into 2 main commandments, one is to love the Lord God with full heart, soul, mind and strength and the other one is to love every other human as one love himself. For the end of the commandments is love says Paul in I Timothy 1:5. Not only that, the tabernacle also represent the body, soul and spirit of the man where the courts as outer place and visible to everyone refers to the body, the holy place refers the soul and the most holy place corresponds to the spirit. All these things were specific and Moses was given the exact model of the tabernacle because God is going to live in that place. Exodus 25:8
Later on, when Solomon build the temple of the Lord, He received the models from David and in turn David received that from Lord Himself as per I Chronicles 28:11-19 and Solomon executed the plan. One more thing to note is the temple mount at Jerusalem is built at specific place. It was built on specific place on Mount Moriah as specified in II Chronicles 3:1. It is the same mount where God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as per Gen 22:2 and in fact it should be the same place. So, God has a clear plan of the crucifixion of Jesus at Jerusalem. He was also crucified on a Mount named Golgotha, the name Gol has a connection to Gilgal where Lord told Israelites that the reproach of Egypt was rolled away at this place when they were lead by Joshua into the land of Canaan. Joshua 5:9. So, Golgotha also means some rolling away, the rolling away of the sins of those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. When Jesus was crucified and gave away His spirit, an earthquake happened, the veil in the church was torn two. Praise God, Holy to Lord, He left the heavens and started living with humans again through the Holy Spirit. He no longer confines Himself to the Most Holy place. When the Priests, Levites and Singers sang in one voice with the same sound with praise and thanksgiving saying Praise God, He is good, for His mercy endureth forever, God's presence and glory filled the Solomon's built temple. II Chronicles 5:13 and 14. Same way, when the disciples came together at the top room in Jerusalem with one mindedness on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit with a rushing mighty wind entered there. Acts 2:1-4.
Thus, Paul writes "But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." I Cor 6:17. He has the same mind and thinking like God because they are one in spirit. Note the husband and wife are mentioned as one in flesh as in Gen 2:24 but one who is united with Lord in love is one with Him on spirit. So, He cannot live in the same worldly way anymore. Later on, the authors wrote about the true meaning of tabernacle. The author of Hebrews pointed out that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in tabernacles, they didn't have any permanent building or house just to symbolize they are just strangers to this world and it is not their permanent place of residence and someday they will be united in the heavens with the Lord. God has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:9-16. Thus, this body itself is a tabernacle and when we die we leave this tabernacle and go to Lord's tabernacle. This is revealed by Paul in II Cor 5:1-10 as "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.... We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Apostle Peter too remembered the day of transfiguration where he bluffed saying that lets put tabernacles one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah realized the meaning of tabernacles and writes "Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;" II Pet 1:13.
Jesus also promised His true disciples that He is going to prepare a place and then will come and receive us unto Him. John 14:2-3. Finally, we see a picture in heaven, where God again restores everything back as in original Garden of Eden and live among His people. It is explained as "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." in Rev 21:3. Bible says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. We cannot change God and He always love people and live among them. The question is are we longing to make ourselves a tabernacle for Him. Are we living with Him in spirit? God is going to restore everything soon. He will live closely with the people in heaven whom he knows closely in earth. Are we really one among them? Let's ask the question ourselves and not keep our focus on things or materials or desires of this world. Let's not put our trust on just this earthly tabernacle. Instead, let's look forward for the heavenly tabernacle. Paul wrote that our citizenship is in heaven and from there we expect our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to return and He will give us a heavenly body in Philipians 3:20,21 and we are in the days of restoration.
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
