Studies in the Gospel Message
THE subject of the Sabbath-school lesson for May 24, the eighth in the present series, is The Tent of Meeting and the True Temple. The tabernacle, regarded simply as a structure, and apart from its furniture and its services, was setting forth in this concrete form the lesson of the incarnation of the Son of God. Outwardly it was simply a tent covered with the skins of animals, and it was not especially attractive in its appearance, but within it was all glory and beauty. It was the dwelling place of God, where an illustration of his glory was manifested. Ordinarily this glory was not observed by those without, but only by those who ministered within the tabernacle, being shut off from those without by means of “the veil of the covering.” Sometimes the glory would break through the veil, and appear “before all the children of Israel.” Thus was shadowed forth the manifestation of the glory of God in the person of his Son. “And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.” This was divinity veiled in humanity. There was nothing striking in his outward appearance. “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” Because he walked about as a man among men without the outward marks of distinction, some failed to recognize the manifested glory. The people said, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.” The Jews on another occasion said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?” On rare occasions the glory broke through the veil of his humanity, and his divinity flashed forth upon the people. It must have been so when “Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves.” There was a divine authority, the authority of manifested divinity, which his adversaries could not resist. And so it was again when he was on the mount of transfiguration, “and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” “For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” “Divinity from within flashes through humanity, and meets the glory coming from above.” And thus was the glory manifested. This was the reality which was foreshadowed in “the tent of meeting.” But while in outward appearance Jesus was simply a man among men, yet he was in fact much more than this. He was “the last Adam,” and “the Lord from heaven.” The Word did not become simply an individual man, but “the Word became flesh.” Divinity was united with humanity. This was the lesson of the tabernacle and the temple. “That temple, erected for the abode of the divine presence, was designed to be an object lesson for Israel and for the world. From eternal ages it was God’s purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God. Darkened and defiled by evil, the heart of man no longer revealed the glory of the divine One. But by the incarnation of the Son of God, the purpose of heaven is fulfilled. God dwells in humanity, and through saving grace the heart of man becomes again his temple. God designed that the temple at Jerusalem should be a continual witness to the high destiny open to every soul.” When divinity was united with humanity in the person of Jesus, the divine purpose was being accomplished to “gather together in one all things in Christ.” And so he “gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body.” The man Christ Jesus stood for humanity. As humanity he lived a life of obedience to the law of God, as humanity he suffered on the cross and paid humanity’s debt, as humanity he was raised from the dead, and as humanity he ascended into heaven. In him as humanity we have passed through these experiences, and this constitutes the reality of our salvation. “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Thus the purpose of God in the incarnation of Christ extended beyond the6making of one man to be a partaker of the divine nature, and included the making of all men to be partakers of the divine nature, “in him.” It was thus that humanity was again to become the temple of God. And so the true temple of the living God is the body of Christ, the church. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” “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.” “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.” All this was involved in the original promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. Humanity gains the victory over sin and Satan through God’s gift of his Son, in whom divinity and humanity were united, and in whom humanity is restored to become again the temple of the living God.