“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.  In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.  On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”  Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”  Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.”  

John 14:18-24

 Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit, Christ Jesus and God the Father dwell within certain people.  God, the Creator of the universe, dwells within lowly humans.  Ponder the majesty of that thought.

 We cannot imagine all that God is.  Through His holy word, He tries desperately to communicate His glory in ways we mere humans can grasp, but our minds are too small, our language too limited, and our experience too narrow.  We have no point of reference allowing us to comprehend His glory, His holiness, His power, His love.  But we know enough to realize we should live in awe and reverent fear of Him, and by lifting Him up, we bow before Him recognizing our relative nothingness.

We sometimes make the mistake of elevating ourselves and, in so doing, we mistakenly lower His standing in our feeble minds.  We are nothing, made something through association with Him through Christ Jesus, and even the purest human soul is not worthy of comparing to His holiness.   Let’s consider a few indications of this from Scripture.

God spoke to Moses through the burning bush.  After calling Moses by name, God said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:4-5).  That little patch of earth was made holy by God’s Presence upon it.

Numbers chapter 4 lays out very specific instructions regarding how the Ark of the Covenant was to be handled because it was holy, and saying, “they must not touch the holy things or they will die” (Numbers 4:15).  God explained that the Ark was holy and gave clear instruction not to touch it.  David set out to transport the ark to Jerusalem.  Priests carried it on a cart pulled by oxen.  The ark became unsteady and Uzzah touched it to prevent it from falling, and when Uzzah touched the ark, God immediately destroyed him (see 2 Samuel 6:1-7).  

If we hear the account of Uzzah and think God overreacted, we possibly think that because we hold humans in too lofty of a position relative to God and His holiness.  We tend to forget that we are lowly sinners, separated from God, creatures whom He molded and into whom He breathed the breath of life.  We are mere clay subjects beholden to our Creator’s will, and apart from Christ Jesus, we are far from holy.

The Temple was constructed with an inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.  On the Day of Atonement, one priest entered the room to sprinkle blood from sacrifices on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant.  The place was holy because God’s Presence was there, and after taking purifying steps, with tremendous fear and reverence, one person entered it one day each year to offer sacrifices for atonement.  The place was separated from humans because it was holy and we are not. But in the moment that Jesus cried out His final words from the cross and surrendered His spirit, the curtain sealing the Holy of Holies was torn in two, from top to bottom (see Matthew 27:51).  Through Christ Jesus’ death, the final atoning sacrifice, His holiness was released to the world.

The place in which God dwells is sacred.  It is holy.  His holy Presence makes it so.  Thus when Jesus explains that the Holy Spirit abides in people who love Jesus and who keep His commands (see John 14:15-17), and then, almost in the next breath, Jesus says, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).  So those who love Jesus and keep His commands are the dwelling place of all three persons of God – God the Father, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit all dwell within those people.  

A few sentences later, Jesus expands on the concept by discussing the vine and branches, presenting an image of Jesus as the vine and His followers as branches, bearing fruit so long as connected with the vine.  And He urges His followers to “Abide in me as I abide in you” (John 15:4), and to keep His commandments including the new commandment, to love one another as He has loved us (see John 15:9-12).

It is shocking and more than a little frightening that God, the holy Creator of the universe, the One who spoke and the universe and everything in it came into existence out of nothing, the Almighty, sovereign One, whose word is more powerful than we can imagine, and who is holy, divine, and pure, dwells within mere humans.  He chooses to dwell within normal humans like us who love Him and keep His words.  That is shocking and awesome, and it is also frightening because we are not holy.  

It’s like when the prophet Isaiah encountered God.  He suddenly found himself in God’s presence and He saw God sitting on a throne with angels all around calling to one another continuously, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).  Isaiah was overwhelmed with awe and then, fear because he knew he was too sinful to be in the presence of God, and he said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5).  An angel cleansed Isaiah’s lips with a live coal from the altar, and Isaiah received his commission from God.

We know (i) the place in which God dwells is holy, (ii) no human is holy, and (iii) He dwells within certain people.  How can this be?

The passages link love, holiness, service, and God’s holy word and His commandments.  We are mere humans, rebellious by nature, living in this dark realm and all its influences, yet God chooses to dwell within those who love Christ Jesus and keep His commands.  And His new commandment was that we love one another as He loves us.  We abide in Him through prayer and studying His holy word, and we know His holy word so we are able to keep His commands, and through His holy abiding, we gradually take on aspects of His holiness, because the place where God dwells is holy, it is rendered so by His Presence.  And as we gradually receive His holiness, we are gradually transformed into His likeness, and gradually filled with His love, and His love creates within us the desire to love others and serve others as His Body.

Jesus says, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).  We know the place God dwells is rendered holy by His Presence.  May you abide in Him and seek His holiness in increasing measure as you keep your focus on Him.  May you love Christ Jesus and know His holy word and keep it, through His power dwelling within you.  Amen.