The Dwelling of His Presence in us

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This is a series of reflections that I sent to my fiancee from my own Bible readings. I have posted them in this blog so that it is easier to keep track for future reflections. 

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. Exodus 40:34-38

The book of Exodus ends with the completion of the Tabernacle and how the presence of God fell among God's people in the Tabernacle. Note that the Scripture actually gave the exact specifications of the Tabernacle twice in Exodus and this is a sign of how precise the specification of the Tabernacle, where God's presence is going to dwell in, is. Extrapolate a bit, this is telling of the precision and the perfection required for God's presence to dwell, and for God's presence to dwell in us, that is the level of perfection required.

Unfortunately, we, as sinners, are totally disqualified from this as by sinning, we rendered ourselves imperfect. Therefore, this is one aspect where Christ comes in, that by cleansing us of our sin, He made us suitable for the indwelling of the presence of God and hence we become the temple(s) of God, where God's Holy Spirit is able to dwell in us. The above may sound technical, but think about how it reflects God's grace in our lives. We totally did nothing to deserve this but God chose to send Jesus so that He can dwell in each and every single one of us.

Because the Holy Spirit dwells in us, I can be assured of God's presence all the more. I can be assured that God's presence is carried in me everywhere I go. I can be sure that when I congregate in a church service, I am bringing His presence into the church, not so much on coming to church to enjoy His presence.

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