Solomon's Important Question?

DAY 25
1 Kings 7:38 - 16:20

1 Kings 8:27
"But will God really dwell on earth?"

It's one of the most important questions of all time. Now that Solomon has built the temple, will God dwell on earth with man? A yearning for a time back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day. It's asked in many different ways, but it usually comes down to:

Will God be a part of our lives?

The question is just as relevant today. There are millions of people searching for relevance and significance. Is there a God? Does He even care about me? The Tabernacle and Temple were the ways that were instituted for a holy God to make His presence known to man. It was the means by which sinful man could still approach his Creater and Sustainer. It was a foreshadow of when God would take on human flesh and dwell with man in person.

John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

And His life was lived as an example to all His creation. It showed man how to love God and to love others. At the end of His life, He became the substitutionary atonement for our sins. He became the means by which sinful man could gain the remission of sins and have access to God. At His death, burial, and resurrection, He promised never to leave us alone by providing the Holy Spirit to guide us in our relationship with God, the Father.

Matt. 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

Yes! God dwells on this earth! But instead of dwelling in a physical structure, He dwells in the heart of every believer. And God's restoration of man continues. For now, the Holy Spirit has fellowship with your spirit, and walks with you in the garden of earth. It too is a foreshadow of what will come; when there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Then we will see Him face to face!

I am glad the answer to Solomon's question is Yes!

External Links: Plans of Solomon's Temple
http://www3.telus.net/public/kstam/en/temple/study/temple.htm?study=on

3D Project of Solomon's Temple
http://www3.telus.net/public/kstam/en/models/models.htm

Timeline for the Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah
http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/xian/bible/timeline.html