God is a Spirit. His Spirit fills the universe. Yet, because of His love for His people, He desired to dwell among them.

God told Moses,

Exodus 29:45 KJV - And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.

At first, He dwelt among them in a tent in the wilderness. Then, King Solomon built Him a magnificent Temple in the city of Jerusalem. Even though God dwelt in a temple on earth, His Spirit was not contained just within that temple, for at the same time, God’s Spirit filled the whole universe.

Solomon spoke before all the people in his prayer of dedication of the Temple he built.

1 Kings 8:27 KJV - But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

Although God dwelt among His people in a tent and in the Temple, He desired a closer relationship with His people. The problem is, our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2).

Only God could solve this problem. He did this by making Himself a temple of flesh and dwelling among His people as a man.

While the tent in the wilderness and the holy Temple in Jerusalem were both places of sacrifice (2Chronicles 7:12), God’s temple of flesh BECAME the sacrifice that would take away the sin of the world. (John 1:29, Colossians 2:14, 2Corinthians 5:19)

Because of God’s sacrifice of His temple of flesh and blood, WE can become a temple of God’s Spirit. (2Corinthians 5:19-20) When we love Jesus with all of our heart, soul, and might, turning away from sin, we can wash away the sin that separates us from God by being baptized in Jesus name. With a clean temple, we can receive His Spirit to live a holy life. (Acts 2:38) We become the temple of God.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV - What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.