John 2:1-16 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and other sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” Now that is a Son defending for His Father right there!
As I was reading this scripture, I actually pictured God’s temple (Church) as a market place, picture yourself getting into church and all you see is people selling sheep, cattle, doves and money changers (gamblers). Jesus was annoyed because they turned His Father’s house into a market place, He didn’t like the fact that the people were disrespecting His Father’s house yet He Honoured His Father. How many of us would even defend our earthly parents, let alone stand up for Jesus and the gospel? And if this were to happen today, and people changed the house of God into a market place would you still go to that particular church? Would you challenge them? or would you bring your stuff too and share the gospel on your iPads like everything is normal.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is scared, and you are that temple. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 o you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body. When Jesus left this earth, He promised us His Spirit, which descended on earth on the day of pentecost, Jesus didn’t leave any vaccum or space, He fulfilled His Word. Therefore what we see in these few verses is that our bodies are God’s temple and His Spirit lives in us and so we are to keep our bodies pure.
How do we defile God’s temple? by committing Sexual Immorality. Paul tells us to flee from sexual immorality, because all other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body 1Corinthians 6:18. When Jesus cleared the Temple, He was signifying that they were not doing what they were supposed to do and so He cleared it to show an example. Today ask yourself this question, how is my temple? how is my body? is it holy and acceptable? is it honouring God? Can God’s Spirit comfortably stay in my temple without being suffocated by everything that I put there? or will He be at peace because the temple is clean, tidy and glorifying God? We living in times whereby sex has being commercialised to the fullest, even cooking oils are sexualised and your left wondering what has our world come to? More and more people are entangled and addicted to ponography, masturbation, casual sex is the order of the day.
It is said that ‘the two shall become one flesh,’ meaning every time that we sleep around with different people, we become one with them. But He who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in Spirit, It is better to become one with the Lord, than one with the world. Our bodies are prone to the sinful nature and that is why we need to fill our hearts and minds with the word of God, then and only then will we be able to resist the devil. If all you ever feed your heart and mind are lustful things, how then do you expect to get out of the addiction? If you don’t feed the addiction, it will die, but if you continue feeding it, sin will rule over you and master you!
cynthiagitongablog.com 