A New Testament Exposition
1. Jesus as the True Temple
John 2:19–21 “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Jesus identifies Himself as the true Temple.
His death and resurrection replaces the old system: He is the meeting place between God and man.
Matthew 12:6 “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.”
Jesus is greater than the Temple — fulfilling its purpose.
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2. Believers as the Temple
1 Corinthians 3:16–17 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”
“If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”
2 Corinthians 6:16 “For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’”
Ephesians 2:19–22 “You are… members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
“In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
Key points:
We, the believers, are corporately God’s Temple.
We are joined to Christ the cornerstone.
The Spirit dwells in us—just as it once dwelt in the physical Temple.
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We, the believers, are corporately God’s Temple.
We are joined to Christ the cornerstone.
The Spirit dwells in us—just as it once dwelt in the physical Temple.
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3. The Temple Vision in Peter
1 Peter 2:4–5 “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 1:6 “He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.”
Key points:
We are living stones building a spiritual house.
We are priests offering spiritual sacrifices (not animal sacrifices).
No rebuilding of a physical temple is needed—we are the spiritual temple.
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We are living stones building a spiritual house.
We are priests offering spiritual sacrifices (not animal sacrifices).
No rebuilding of a physical temple is needed—we are the spiritual temple.
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4. The Final Vision: No Temple in the New Jerusalem
Revelation 21:22 “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”
Key points:
The end goal of the Bible is not a rebuilt temple of stone.
The presence of God and the Lamb is the Temple.
Full union and presence with God is the final reality.
The end goal of the Bible is not a rebuilt temple of stone.
The presence of God and the Lamb is the Temple.
Full union and presence with God is the final reality.
Problem with Futuristic Temple Rebuilding
The New Testament teaches fulfillment, not regression back to types and shadows (Hebrews 8–10).
Rebuilding a physical temple reverses the work of Christ.
Hebrews 9:11 says Christ entered the “greater and more perfect tent not made with hands.”
Building another temple could tempt people into rejecting the finality of Jesus’ sacrifice (Hebrews 6:6, Hebrews 10:29).
Thus, focusing on a future physical temple:
Distracts from the reality that we are the temple now.
Devalues the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.
Reintroduces a barrier between-
Distracts from the reality that we are the temple now.
Devalues the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.
Reintroduces a barrier between-
God and man that Jesus tore down (Matthew 27:51).
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Closing Exhortation
Brothers and sisters,
You are the Temple!
Jesus fulfilled the types and shadows; we now live in the reality.
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
