The loving Father chooses the safest and securest way to seal the new relationship. He and His Son come to live within us!16 This is true of both the family as a whole (Ephesians 2:22; 1 Corinthians 3:16), and each individual member (1 Corinthians 6:19).
In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). M
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own… (1 Corinthians 6:19). M
In Christ, we become the living temple of the living God! Citizens of Ephesus and Corinth may call their famous buildings ‘temples.’ But those earthly buildings are empty lies, tombs made fancy to cover up the deadness of the idols within. A temple’s magnificence depends, not on its appearance,17 but on the majesty of the God within. God’s very presence with us testifies to our reconciled condition. His Spirit certifies our new status: Yes, we really are royal sons! Yes, we truly inherit the kingdom of God!18
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God (Galatians 4:4-7).
God’s adoption of us “in Christ” is legally binding. As Galatians 4:5 shows, it now gives us the full rights of sons. Yet, since God’s grace keeps overflowing, this heavenly adoption goes further than earthly adoptions can. After taking the legal step of adoption, the Father then takes the amazing step of sharing His own Spirit with us. Notice the order of events: first the adoption, then the gift of the Spirit. “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.”
16. Research subject – God, Spirit within us: John 7:37-39; 14:23; 17:26; Acts 5:32; 19:2; Romans 5:5; 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 7:40; 12:13; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 6:16; Galatians 3:2-3,14; 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:22; 3:17; 5:18; Colossians 1:27; 1 Thessalonians 4:8; 2 Timothy 1:14; Titus 3:5; 1 John 3:24; 4:13; Revelation 3:20
17. Research subject – Outward appearance: 1 Samuel 16:7; Isaiah 11:3-4; Luke 16:15; John 7:24; 8:15; 2 Corinthians 5:12; 10:7; Galatians 2:6; Philippians 3:4; 1 Peter 3:3; Isaiah 53:2 with John 1:14
18. Ephesians 3:6; Matthew 19:29; Romans 8:17; Hebrews 1:14; Titus 3:7; James 2:5; 1 Peter 3:7; Revelation 21:7
Picture: On the coast south of Athens stands a temple to Poseidon, the sea god of ancient Greece. That temple, though stately, is a bare skeleton compared with the living temple of the living God (Ephesians 2:21-22; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19).