The Dedication of God’s Dwelling - 1 Kings 8, Psalm 84

The Dedication of God’s Dwelling South Bay Christian Church Sermon, Aug 24 1 Kings 8, Psalm 84 1 Kings 8: The dedication of God’s dwelling As Christians, you are the temple of God, God’s dwelling place. How then should you be dedicated? 2 Tim:16. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. A Christ-centric view of scripture All scripture either: ● Prophesizes, looking forward to Jesus Christ ● Tells us about the life and work of Christ ● Tells us how to live as Christ’s followers ● Shows a sinful world, and why we need Christ A panorama: 33 Centuries of Israel’s History Solomon and the temple Maccabees Hasmoneans Judges Temple Destroyed Modern Israel Independence Desert wandering Babylonian Bar Kokhba Exile Revolt fails Holocaust Spanish Inquis. Isaiah 65:2 - "I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts." Luke 13:34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” Solomon and the temple A third temple? The Temple Institute: to rebuild the Temple and resume sacrifices and levitical worship. 1 Kings 8:1. Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 4 … the priests took up the ark, 4 and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, 5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted. 6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. 10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. 14-21: Solomon recites how he fulfilled his father’s aspiration of building the temple 22-53: Solomon prays in dedication of the temple. ● Seven times he prays in various detailed ways for mercy and grace: when the people sin, God please forgive them. God is forever faithful “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today. An everlasting throne is promised of the line of David - a messianic promise 25 “Now LORD, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, The grandeur of the temple is from God alone 27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Lessons about God’s Dwelling place ● Founded on a covenant relationship ● At the cost of great sacrifice ● Cherished and protected by God ● Requiring lawful obedience ● Glorious in the Spirit, sealed with perfect grace ● Established through God’s faithfulness ● In fulfilling his messianic promise As Christians, you are the temple of God, God’s dwelling place. Scriptures illustrating this: Application to us 1 Cor 3:16-17. Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. 1 Cor 6:19-20. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Eph 2:19-22. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and 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. As Christians, you are the temple of God, God’s dwelling place. How then should you be dedicated? 1 Kings 8 dedications, applied to Christian life ● Keep your sacred covenant relationship ● Honor Christ’s great sacrifice ● Trust you are cherished and protected by God ● Follow through with obedience to the Word ● Live glorious in the Spirit 1 Kings 8 dedications, applied to Christian life ● Know and teach about God’s perfect grace ● Be confident you are established through God’s faithfulness in fulfilling his messianic promise How wonderful it is that God chooses to dwell in us! “How lovely are thy dwellings” Closing recitation Psalm 84 - A hymn of Solomon’s temple ● Built around 957 BC ● Destroyed around 586 BC by the Babylonians ● This hymn likely composed in between ● Attributed to the Sons of Korah – temple doorkeeper clan How lovely are Thy dwellings, O Eternal Lord of Hosts! My soul is longing, fainting for Thee, O living God Yea, the bird has found its home, built a nest to lay her young; O that I may find Thine altars, My Lord, my King, my God! How lovely are Thy dwellings, O Eternal Lord of Hosts! For those who dwell in Thy house shall ever sing Thy praise! Blest and happy is the man, who has found his strength in Thee; He is stronger day by day, And shall in Zion dwell! How lovely are Thy dwellings, O Eternal Lord of Hosts! Give ear unto my prayer, O God of Israel For a day with Thee is better, than a thousand other days; O that I may find Thine altars, My Lord, my King, my God! End