“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself”
1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT
There is a trend on social media called “what I ordered vs what I got” where people put up pictures of things they ordered via online stores besides a picture of what was delivered to them. In most of these cases end up in tears because the delivered item is a far cry from what was ordered.
As believers in Christ Jesus, our case is different. When you believed the Gospel, you were just looking to be saved, but you got much more— you were delivered from death to eternal life!
Let’s consider this reality in other ways. When we examine the Old Testament, we see the difference in worship culture. Only the Israelites had access to God and even at that, they had to go through a priest at a physical temple who had to make regular sacrifices of animals and grain for the forgiveness of sin (Exodus 28-29, Leviticus 1).
The Holy Spirit only came upon specific people in a generation for specific assignments, and that was all. It must have been a chore! Even Moses wished everyone in his camp had the spirit upon them. (Numbers 11:29)
Now, anyone regardless of race, socio-economic status or tribe can have access to God by believing the gospel (Romans 10:9-10, Galatians 3:28). The blood of Jesus has been shed once and for all for the forgiveness of the sins of the whole world (Hebrews 9:11-15). We don’t need to sacrifice animals; Jesus’ blood has covered it all.
We don’t have to go through anyone to talk to God, we can do that anywhere at any time, and He listens (Romans 8;15, Hebrews 4:16). Everyone who believes has the Holy Spirit within them (Ephesians 1:13-14). Not just upon them but within them, we carry God ev’/ery single time! GLORY!! God went over and beyond for us. Before we realized we needed to “order” for salvation, He had delivered us the very best!
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8 NKJV.
This should stir up immense gratitude within us. We got much more than we dreamed in Christ! We got family, gifts of the spirit, purpose, enlightenment, and more! Knowing this, there is a way we ought to conduct ourselves:
Paul to the church in Rome put it this way,
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering…” – Romans 12:1 MSG
You know the way you carry yourself when you get what you ordered, this is how you should carry yourself when you remember your saved state— like someone who carries God on his inside.
Bible Reading Plan:
John 15:1-8, Revelation 2:18-29, Job 27, Hosea 9-12