Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honour and glorify God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
There was only one Temple in the Old Testament, and it was the one in Jerusalem where all Jews went to worship God. There were priests in the Temple, all descended from Moses’ brother Aaron, the High Priest – the priestly tribe who served at the altar.
They slaughtered animals, placed animal carcasses on the altar, roasted the animals, spattered blood on the altar’s corners, dispensed the meat, bones, blood, and so on, and performed other similar tasks inside the Temple. Only the priests were able to enter the Temple’s innermost chambers. Even full-blooded religious, pious Jews could only go so far as the Temple’s outskirts. Only priests were permitted to make sacrifices on behalf of the people.
The NewTestament Reality: We Carry God Everywhere
Then we get to the New Testament and meet this Scripture in 1 Corinthians 6. We have become the Holy Spirit’s Temple. This means that all worship, sacrifices, and priestly duties must be performed from this Temple – our bodies. Instead of having to wait for the Sabbath day to worship and bring sacrifices to God, we can do so whenever and wherever we want.
We can work-worship and experience rest in God because we carry Him with us wherever we go. We bring the Temple with us to work. The Temple is right there when we get home. We always have the Temple with us in our businesses and ministries. This means that everything we do should be an act of worship to the God who dwells in the Temple that is within us. And, because God is always with us, we should always live on the Sabbath day of rest.
We Worship at Work Because We Are Priests of God
While only the Levitical lineage produced priests in the Old Testament, in the new dispensation of grace and truth, all those that have received Jesus as Lord and Saviour are priests (and kings).
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. 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. Revelation 1:5-6KJV
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellences [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9
We have seen that Old Testament priests offered sacrifices to God in the Temple. In the above Scriptures, we see that because of Jesus’ finished works on the cross, we are now a royal priesthood – priests unto God. We are called to perform the priestly duties of worship and sacrifice.
These priests now go to work every day, carrying the Temple of God with them. This means that we can offer sacrifices wherever we go. Do you use your job, business, ministry, or home as places of worship and priestly sacrifice? Worship and priestly sacrifices are not just for Sunday; they are for everyday life as performed by the priests of God.
We Worship at Work Because We Are Kings Under God – The King of Kings
The promise of believers becoming kings is one of the favourite promises of God in the move of the saints. Everyone wants to be a king – to take up dominion in the different nations of their callings.
We are kings by virtue of our spiritual birth through Jesus Christ, who makes us co-heirs of God’s Kingdom. This means that because we are God’s sons, we manage and advance the Kingdom’s business.
Kings rule in a sphere of influence where they exercise their dominion. As we go about our Kingdom assignments – whether at formal employment, self-employment or ministry, we need to aim at always worshipping God.
This is not a difficult requirement because it simply asks us to do what our Father desires and bear fruit that abides. This will draw others to God and bring glory to His name.
The Ekklessia Today – Not a Specific Religious Day
When Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “On this rock I will build my church.” The word church used here is ecclesia or ekklesia. Research shows that the word is used 116 times in the New Testament. In the Greek era at this time, ecclesia or ekklesia (Greek: ἐκκλησία) was the assembly or gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, or an assembly in the democratic city-states of ancient Greece. At the meetings, the ekklesia made decisions about war and foreign policy, wrote and revised laws and approved or condemned the conduct of public officials.
(Ostracism, in which a citizen could be expelled from the Athenian city-state for 10 years, was among the powers of the ekklesia).
For believers, ekklessia is the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth. It is not a specific religious day but what we do to administrate the Kingdom of God every day at our places of work, doing our priestly and kingly duties wherever we go.
How are you preparing the temple of God?
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Excerpt from the book Too Busy for Worship by Muthoni Omukhango available at www.muthoniomukhango.kenyaclc.org
