Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Deeper Teaching by Kenton Cheek

Temples of the Living God

     Every man, woman, boy and girl who is born again becomes a temple of the Living God.[1]  The Lord dwells within their hearts by the Holy Spirit.[2]  God the Holy Spirit does many wonderful things in the life of the believer.  He baptizes us spiritually in the blood of Jesus cleansing us of our sin;[3] He seals us unto the day of redemption;[4] He brings comfort[5] and counsel;[6] endows with power and passion for ministry; guides us into all truth; bears spiritual fruit in our lives of “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control”[7]; blesses us with various spiritual gifts[8] according to the measure of our faith[9] and the grace of the Father;[10] and by His very Presence in our lives unites us with every born again brother and sister in Jesus who has ever lived.[11]

     This spiritual unity with God and with our brothers and sisters transcends time, space, denominational lines, political persuasions, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, or any other limitation our present reality might attempt to place on us.[12]  The love of God and the unity of the Spirit goes beyond even the grave.[13]  Hebrews 12:1 reveals, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”  As loved ones go on to be with the Lord, transitioning through death, it isn’t wrong for us to still feel a connection with them because if they were born again, then they are part of the eternal family of God.[14]

     As we move forward from our new beginning with Jesus and make our way through the journey that is life on Earth, God intends that we become more and more like Him.[15]  This process is called sanctification.[16]  It begins at salvation and continues until we reach perfection in the New Eden.[17]  As we surrender more and more areas of our lives over to the authority of Jesus, bit by bit we become more like Him.[18]  This is what is meant in II Corinthians 3:18 when the Apostle Paul penned, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

     This process of sanctification by nature brings gradual, greater unity with one another and with the Lord Jesus.  The original sin of Satan, what got him expelled from Heaven, was that he wanted to be god.[19]  The Great I AM would have nothing of it and he was cast to Earth in a flash of lightning along with a third of the angels who chose to rebel with him.[20]  Our goal is not to become gods and goddesses in our right and so follow the horrible example of Satan,[21] but to have perfect unity with God the Father through humility and submission to His will.[22] 

     As we surrender authority to Him, where it rightly belongs, we move closer to that brilliant day when our faith will become sight and the millions of temples which make up the Church come together as one mighty Temple, the Bride of Christ.  Ephesians 2:19-22 says, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

     Marriage is described in Scripture as two becoming one.[23]  Marriage between a man and a woman is symbolic of the relationship between Christ and His Church.[24]  His Church, His Bride, consists of every born again believer who has ever lived.[25]  Ephesians 5:25-33 expands upon this concept. 

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Sexual intimacy between husband and wife is symbolic of the spiritual intimacy between Christ and the Church.[26]  Two become one.  This poetically illustrated all throughout the Song of Solomon.  This unity will reach its perfection and be celebrated at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  Revelation 19:7-9 says, “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.  And the angel saidto me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’”

     In the New Heaven and the New Earth we find Eden restored.[27]  God wants every human being to be united with Him and be partakers of His divine nature, but that is not a life-giving relationship that He forces upon anyone.  Rather, the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is offered freely to anyone who will accept Him by faith.  We are blessed by the words of II Peter 1:2-4 which says, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”  As we know and believe His promises, we as His temples become one mighty Temple, inhabited by His glorious Presence forevermore.

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[1] I Corinthians 6:19, John 14:20

[2] Ephesians 3:17, II Timothy 1:14, Colossians 1:27

[3] Hebrews 9:14, Titus 3:5

[4] Ephesians 1:13-14, II Corinthians 5:5

[5] John 15:26

[6] John 14:26

[7] Galatians 5:22-23

[8] I Corinthians 1:7, 12:7-11

[9] Romans 12:6

[10] I Peter 4:10

[11] I Corinthians 1:10-17, Revelation 7:9

[12] Galatians 3:28, II Peter 3:8

[13] II Corinthians 5:8, I Peter 1:3-5

[14] Romans 8:14-17, Ephesians 1:5-6

[15] I John 2:6, Philippians 1:6

[16] Hebrews 10:14

[17] Hebrews 13:20-21, Colossians 1:28, Revelation 22:1-5

[18] II Corinthians 10:5

[19]  Isaiah 14:12–14, Ezekiel 28:12–18

[20] Revelation 12:7-12, Luke 10:18, Mark 8:38, 9:25

[21] Genesis 3:1-5

[22] Luke 22:42, Psalm 40:8, Matthew 6:10, 12:50, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 6:6, Hebrews 13:21

[23] Genesis 2:24, Mark 10:8, Matthew 19:6

[24] Ephesians 5:21-32, Revelation 22:17

[25] Colossians 1:18, 2:12, 3:14-16, I Corinthians 12:27, Ephesians 1:20-23, Romans 12:5

[26] Psalm 63:1, Proverbs 5:18-19, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Song of Solomon 4:9-10, John 15:4-6, 17:22-23, I Corinthians 7:3-4, Hebrews 13:4, I Corinthians 6:18-20

[27] Revelation 22:1-5