Where Does God Dwell?

After Jesus was taken up to heaven, the apostle John received a magnificent vision of glory. He said, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light” (Revelation 21:22-23, NKJV). In other words, the only temple in heaven is Jesus himself.

Now that God’s temple is in glory, sitting at his right hand, where does the Lord dwell on earth? We know that no building can contain God. As God himself says, “Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me? And where is the place of my rest?” (Isaiah 66:1). Paul echoes this in the New Testament, “God, who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24). If we look for God’s dwelling place in some building, we’re not going to find it.

Paul gives us our answer: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). The Lord lives and rests in the bodies of his created humankind.

Once we place our belief in Jesus, we become God’s very dwelling place. This was demonstrated most visibly at the Upper Room. The Holy Spirit fell on the disciples there, filling them with himself. He claimed their sanctified bodies as God’s temple where the Father would come and live. The Spirit would help them to mortify and destroy the works of their sinful flesh, and he would give them power to live victoriously. Their bodies became God’s temple, a dwelling place not built with hands.

Jesus says, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). In other words, you belong to God, and he wants you to be his resting place.

Dear believers, give God glory by opening up your heart to the truth that you are his temple on earth.