Sunday 04:04:10

Easter Where We Meet God The Crucifixion Matthew 27:33-44 The Death of Jesus Matthew 27:45-56 The Burial of Jesus Matthew 27:57-61 The Resurrection Matthew 28:1-9 John 2:18-22 18Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" 19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." 20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. Why did Jesus draw the connection between the Jewish temple and his own body? The temple was the dwelling place of God in rare times when the glory of God filled the holy place. But in Jesus, the presence of God does not come and go. He is God. The Bible says about Jesus, “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9) Where we meet him, we meet God. He came to take the place of the temple as the meeting place with God. With the coming of the Son of God in human flesh, ritual and worship would undergo profound change. Christ himself would become the final temple. The earthly temple would pass away, but he would remain. Referring to himself, Jesus said, “I tell you, that one greater than the temple is here.” (Matthew 12:6) God met his people in the temple through many imperfect human mediators, but now it is said of Christ, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5). If you want to see God. If you want to meet Him. If you want to know what He’s like, there is only one place we must go, that is Jesus Christ. Do you want to see God? Jesus says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Do you want to know what God is like? Jesus says, “no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27) Do we want to receive God? Jesus says, “Whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” (Matthew 10:40) There are times in our lives that we wake up and realize our need for God. We find ourselves in need of God’s forgiveness, We have a need for hope for the future, We go through a circumstance that takes us beyond our limit, we need strength. “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.” (Hebrews 10:19-20) You can meet God. He is approachable. He is knowable. You can receive his grace and forgiveness. He is within your reach by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is where we meet God.