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NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



If Jesus simultaneously became our Sacrificial Lamb as well as our High Priest, and if the Temple and religious system in Jerusalem were destroyed due to their corrupt nature and the sins of the ancient Jews, then it stands to reason that following this same parallel between the physical and the spiritual, Jesus must have some other Temple -- or House of God -- in which He serves as High Priest. As I have pointed out before, the Scriptures make it very plain that we are in fact symbolic living stones in God's Spiritual Temple, and Jesus is the symbolic Cornerstone -- or Foundation Stone -- upon which this entire spiritual building rests. This truth is again evident in the New Testament by verses such as the following:

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said."


"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ . . . Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."


"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."


"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."


"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."


"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."


"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."


"And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end."


"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"


"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."


"And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it."


From this preponderance of Scriptural evidence, it is plain to see that with the introduction of the New Covenant which went into effect with the Death of the Testator -- that is, Jesus -- quite a bit changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament. We see that God's Holy Laws went from being written on tables of stone to being written on the tables of our hearts. We see that Salvation went from being dependent on adherence to the Mosaic Law to depending solely on Jesus Christ. We see that the necessity of animal sacrifices was replaced by Jesus' final Sacrifice on the Cross. We see that the office of the Jewish high priest, the Temple services, and even the Temple itself, were all replaced with spiritual counterparts. In every regard, we see that what had formerly been represented in a physical sense, was transferred to a more permanent and spiritual reality.

All of these amazing truths, and God's wonderful foresight and plan to save His own lost children, and how He gave the world these physical examples in order to explain to us the realities of the Spirit Realm, and how Jesus offered up His own life as the Testator of the New Covenant so that He now represents us before the Father, are clearly explained in the following inspiring verses. Read them and rejoice:

"And for this cause he [Jesus] is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:"


"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."


"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."


Thank you Jesus for all that you did for us! Thank you Jesus that when we were so unworthy and dead in our own sins, you willingly came and died, so that someday we may not only be where you are, but so that we will be as you are as well!

Let me share a few final verses with you to inspire your hearts. Please take special note of the words which I have placed in uppercase letters:

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."


"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, WE SHALL BE ALSO IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION:"


"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."


"Who shall change our vile body, THAT IT MAY BE FASHIONED LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."


"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for we shall see him as he is."


With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Are Christians Obligated to Keep the Sabbath?
Death: Final Battle, Final Victory
Free From the Fear of Death: Law and Works vs Grace
Is Jesus the Only Begotten Son of God?
Jesus Christ or Yeshua Messiah?: More Christian Zionist Legalism
Love, Mercy, Forgiveness and Chastisement
Should Christians Engage in Doctrinal Debates?
Striving for Perfection: Are You a Sinless Saint?
The Blood Atonement: In Jesus' Own Words
The Lamb of God Was a Goat!
The Royal Law: Thou Shalt Love
Welcome to Greater Israel, USA!
When Sin is No Longer a Sin
Women Shepherds, Pastors and Teachers: A Biblical Perspective

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