"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith The LORD." [Zech 2:10]
In the Old Covenant, pictured for us at Mount Sinai in the giving of the law, access to God was highly guarded. It was not except by means of great preparation and explicit permission wherein a man could approach God. The LORD spoke to Moses regarding this, saying,
“And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall surely be put to death: there shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live…” [Ex 19:12-13]
This restriction permeated the Old Testament. This is shown to us in that the place which represented the most intimacy and acceptance, the Holy of Holies, was only open once a year, and not without great preparation and security. The Spirit helps us to understand this in Hebrews, saying,
“Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.” [Heb 8:6-8]
Notice what The Holy Spirit shows us through this: “the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.” In that old system, which has been done away in Christ, it was not possible to freely approach God. Joshua spoke of this too, saying, “ye cannot serve The LORD: for He is an holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” [Josh 24:19] Moses’ successor reveals to us a very stark fact: without Christ, in ourselves, we cannot even serve God: for He is holy. The LORD is so far set apart from us that without any alteration to our natural state, we cannot serve Him. Imagine, for example, the leader of a great company hiring a toad or a beetle as his office assistant. Would we not say he is a fool? How much grander is the contrast then when we compare The LORD to man? Moreover, Joshua shows us that without Jesus’ propitiation for our sin, God will not forgive us. How could He, He being a just God? As He Himself says regarding His character, “…that [He] will by no means acquit the guilty.” [Ex 34:7]
Therefore, seeing these things are true, we conclude that the grace and love and mercy offered to us by God through Jesus is exceeding great and without measure! “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” [Jn 1:17] “And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” [1 Tim 1:14] Praise be to God that when Christ died upon the cross, having been “made…sin for us,” and who in that act “condemned sin in the flesh,” that “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom,” opening up for us a “new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.”[2 Cor 5:21, Rom 8:3, Mk 15:38, Heb 10:20] So then, since those in Christ now have “boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,” [Heb 10:19] then,
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” [Heb 10:22]
The knowledge and application of this truth: that Jesus Christ died and rose again for our sins, and through belief in Him we may freely enter into and experience joyful, safe fellowship with God, being ever able to grow in the exceeding great and precious knowledge of Him, which is eternal life, is the most fantastic thing that can be experienced by man under heaven. In comparison to the Old Testament, this new truth exceeds in glory. As Paul wrote, “for if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” [2 Cor 3:9]
But let us take this truth one step further, for if this fact of our now freely available access to God through Christ Jesus is glorious, then so much more glorious is the fact that God desires, through His Spirit, to dwell in us. If God’s presence was so highly guarded and restricted before, so that a man could hardly enter into the tabernacle, except by great preparation and through a correct lineage, and we now, whosoever we be in Christ, get to freely, through His blood, experience not just God’s presence, but intimate fellowship with Him and knowledge of His glory, then how much more wonderful a fact is it that God, who was once so far away, now desires to dwell in us! Not only does God joyfully accept our fellowship and presence through and in His Son Jesus (and Jesus alone), but He desires to live in us! To make us His home!
Is it not a very precious thing that we might all truthfully say, as Paul did, “Christ liveth in me[?]” [Gal 2:20] And truly we can always say this, even if we act sinfully from time to time. For we have a sure and firm promise that God’s presence, His Spirit, shall ever dwell in and be with us. As Jesus says, “The Spirit of Truth…dwelleth with you, and shall be in you,” and as it is written, “after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,” and that, “unto the day of redemption.” [Jn 14:17, Eph 1:13; 4:20] Further, see that the very man who said “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief,” [1 Tim 1:15] also proclaimed boldly, “Christ liveth in me[!]” That promise long ago, which God made, “I will walk among you,” [Lev 26:12] and, “My tabernacle also shall be with them,” [Ezek 37:27] is fulfilled for all those who are in Christ. As Paul wrote,
“And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” [2 Cor 6:15-16]
And also which Jesus promised,
“If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” [Jn 14:23]
Through continued obedience to the command, “that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent,” [Jn 6:29] a man forever secures his salvation and is indwelt with The Holy Spirit of God. For, “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” [Rom 8:9] Again, we can see this truth in that all who are saved have become children of God, for “as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God,” [Jn 1:12] and because of this, “God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into [our] hearts, crying Abba, Father.” [Gal 4:6]
Seeing then The LORD told Israel to “sing and rejoice” over the fact that in the future He would come, saying, “lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee,” how much more should we rejoice today, who have seen the fulfilment of these precious promises. As Jesus said, “blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” [Mt 13:16-17] So let us praise and extol our good Shepherd, Jesus, who has fulfilled this promise and who has come to dwell in our hearts forevermore.
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