Key Verse:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body”

So often we hear the phrase mentioned – do you not know that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit? Do we understand what this means? Paul is adamant to addressing this is his letter to the church in Corinth.

In the Old Testament – the temple was where God’s Presence – His Spirit, resided.  The presence of God was so thick, so powerful, that only the high priest could enter the chamber where God’s Presence was.  What is crazy to think about is today, the Spirit of God, His Presence resides within us! We are that Temple! 

We have to come to a point where we realize we are taking God’s presence with us no matter where we go.  Let me say that again – we are taking God’s presence with us everywhere we go.  If we truly thought about that, I think our lives would look a little different.

Looking back at our key verse, it goes on to say:

You are not your own, you were bought with a price

God holds claim to each of our lives.  If we are living to please God, we cannot go and do just as we please. 

God paid the price for us – not ourselves. We can’t save ourselves. So often we try and do things our own ways of find our own solutions, or ways out. But God bought us, so HE owns us, and HE will take care of us.  If you buy something, you pay for it, and you own it.  In order for each one of us to have the amazing regenerate life in Jesus, He had to pay the greatest price, and now He claims us!

Looking back to doing whatever we want – we don’t have the right.  If we are the temple of God, again let’s think of this – everywhere we go, we are taking Jesus with us. Everything we do, we are basically doing to Jesus:

And Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Christ lives in us. He loved us, and gave Himself for us.  And we go and treat ourselves and take ourselves to wherever and do whatever we want? This isn’t the way we should be treating Christ – being a Temple for His glory:

-Alcohol/sex/drugs – defames the Temple.  Drags the cross – where Jesus paid it all, through the mud.

-Cutting/hurting self – as we read, if our bodies are members of Christ Himself, we can’t do this!

-Places we go – this too, we need to consider where are we taking Jesus – as a temple of His Spirit there   places we have no right being.

-Lack of confidence/self-esteem – we are the body of Christ – He lives in us – find your identity in that!

We find IDENTITY, PURPOSE, DIRECTION, and MEANING from the relationship that God has established through His act of “purchasing” us.

Looking at the last portion of 1 Corinthians 6:

Honor God with your body

1 Corinthians 6:15:

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ Himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!

By this point – we see that we are to honor God with our bodies.  Bring Him praise and honor through what we do and where we go – we are His people, carrying the light of His presence wherever we go – are you burning bright? Or are you covering the flame.

Matthew 5:16 says:

“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”

Let your light shine.

Keep yourself accountable to make sure you are honoring God – this was so important to me in high school and in college – having people keeping me accountable. You know, in this passage, Paul wasn’t just speaking on an individual level – he was speaking to an entire church.  So we need to keep each other accountable to honor God – to remember that we are not of our own, but we belong to God and carry His Spirit in us.

In closing, maybe some of you haven’t been walking in a way fully submitted to God, or haven’t really treated your Temple in the right way, or been in the wrong places. I’m here to tell you that God restores. In the Old Testament, the Temple was destroyed. The beautiful thing here is – it WAS rebuilt, and God can restore, and rebuild each of us.  And as He does this, we will realize that He in fact is the one who bought us, paid it all for us, and that we in fact our not our own, but belong to the One who is so worthy, awesome, and beautiful.