330 of 365 - Pleased to Dwell

For in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Colossians 1:19
 
Holiness, wisdom, grace, creativity, authority, power, excellence, mercy, justice, love…all power and attributes. How tightly it all was squeezed into the constraints of human flesh during Jesus’s short 33 years on earth.
 
God actively and continuously pursues us. From the Fall in Genesis 3 to Revelation, God is drawing closer to us to bring us back to Genesis 1…the beginning, when God’s creation walked and talked and DWELT with Him without constraints. He longs to physically dwell with us again.

In the Old Testament, God dwelt in the tabernacle tent and later the temple. Tucked deep in the temple was the Holy of Holies behind a thick curtain that only the high priest…only once a year…could enter to make a sacrifice for the sins of the people. Access to the presence of God and the forgiveness of sins was only available via the high priest. And the forgiveness of sins was temporary. Then Jesus - God in the flesh – arrives on the scene. The presence of God – God Himself – getting closer to His people; dwelling with His creation.

Where God dwelt with the Israelites in the temple, He now dwelt in the human body of Jesus, God in the flesh. And when Jesus fulfilled His mission here on earth, the presence of God was released from the confines of the Holy of Holies. The curtain was torn in two, no longer separating God from His people. God is getting closer to His people. First in the temple, then in the person of Jesus walking AMONG His people, then via the Holy Spirit IN His people.

The entire Bible is the story of God’s plans unfolding. Redemption, reconciliation, restoration through Jesus. The promise of a new heaven and new earth – a new dwelling place with God for eternity – is in the final chapters of God’s word, where we will again dwell with God without hindrance forever. Until that day, let us dwell well in these earthly bodies.
 
Questions: Imagine what it will be like to once again dwell with God – face to face with the Creator of all things. Describe a hypothetical day in the life.