Temple built in 3 days
Temple built in 3 Days
Sunday – 15th January 2023
Overview
1. Introduction – We are a splendorous Temple.
2. The Temple which was built in 3 days.
3. The Significance of the number 3.
4. The work that Jesus did in the 3 days.
5. We should be the captives of Jesus.
6. Three processes - Torn, Bind, and Raise
7. The Significance of the 3rd day.
8. Glorified Body
9. We are Co-seated with Lord Jesus Christ
10. Conclusion
Introduction – Temple that was built in 3 days
This is the message preached by Pr. Anish Mano Stephen
This is the third part of a series of messages on “New Temple More Glorious”
We are a splendorous Temple
There are only three temples mentioned in the Bible. The first temple, The Temple built by King Solomon was made of riches that were handed over to Solomon by King David. And during the time of its dedication, the fire from heaven lit up the sacrifice and the glory filled the Temple of God. The Second Temple was built under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and of Ezra and Nehemiah. They all worked hard and built the temple. But the second temple was not as magnificent as the first temple. And here, God is promising through Prophet Haggai that the Glory will fill this temple and this temple’s Glory will be greater than the former glory. But the prophecy did not get fulfilled at the time of Prophet Haggai.
Now the people did not know that this latter Glory was not the same Glory that they should be expecting as the former glory from the first temple, because on the day of the dedication of the second temple, there was no fire from above and people had to manually light the fire and the Glory did not fill the temple.
But then, after many years, Jesus walked into this temple, in Luke 19, after the triumphant entry and the procession, where people said you are the King of Kings, but the temple was not ready to receive the King of Glory to fulfill the prophecy which was given by Haggai, in Haggai 2:7-9, instead, they rejected Jesus and the Bible says Jesus wept, looking at Jerusalem and said, the Jews did not understand the divine time of their King of Glory’s visitation.
But this is good news for us, the new covenant believers because the prophecy, which was not fulfilled in the second temple, got fulfilled in our generation, the third temple, the Body of Christ, which is fulfilled by Christ, the Hope of God’s Glory. Jesus himself built this third temple.
Temple built in 3 days
Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
- John 2:19
When Jesus was in his earthly ministry, He said, destroy this temple, and I will build this in three days. Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” (v.20)
But Jesus was talking about his own earthly body, which ultimately becomes the Church.
The significance of Number 3
On the day of creation, Genesis 1, we see that in the first three days, God did not create anything that is inside the planet earth, but He was creating a glorious atmosphere outside of earth that is eternal. On the first day, God created the Light, which is not the sun, and so are the next two days. The first three days of creation were things that are eternal and the rest three days of creation were things that are perishable and would be attacked by sin and death. So, whatever the Lord has done in the first three days is established forever. In other words, Jesus was looking at these Pharisees and telling them that temple number 1 and 2 were attacked and destroyed, but this time, I am going to build the third temple and it will not take 46 days or 17 years, but only three days and it shall be an eternal temple, which shall never be destroyed. Whatever demon or darkness, or powers try to touch this temple, the Body of Christ, it shall not be defeated but will stand forever. If we are part of the Body of Christ, we will be eternal and death is not waiting for us, eternal Glory is waiting for us.
So, when Jesus was saying that in three days, He will raise it up, He meant that in three days, He will create a new environment that will stand forever. That does not mean that the creation of the remaining days will perish forever, but because of the eternal character of the creation of the first three days, of what Lord Jesus Christ did between Good Friday and Easter, between Jesus’ death and resurrection, the creation of the remaining days is also made eternal. And so, death, sickness, and curse lost their grip on the New Covenant believers, and something eternal, wonderful, and glorious is built for us.
Three days- Descended, Ascended, and Glorified
Day 1- Descent, day 2 Ascension, and Day 3, Resurrection and Glorification.
Therefore, He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
- Ephesians 4:8-10
On day 1, Jesus descended to the lower parts and led the captives free, on day 2, Jesus ascended with the captive people, and on day 3 the tomb was opened and Jesus presented himself as a glorified person.
In our lives as well, if we are desiring to get glorified, then first we must face a descent, which will surely follow an ascend that will lead us to glorification. A sickness or a problem will make us descend and then the healing or a miraculous solution will ascend us which in turn will lead us to glorification.
Descended and Ascended
Therefore, He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
- Ephesians 4:8
The temple that Jesus built was not only for the New Covenant believers but for all. The word of God says that no one can go to heaven unless they believe in the name of Jesus. So, the old covenant believers cannot enter eternity without Jesus, because Jesus is the captain of Salvation. So, after the crucifixion, the bible says that Jesus descended
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
- 1 Peter 3:18-20
The Word of God says that Jesus left His Glory and came into this world in the form of a man. So, as he was in the form of a man, he took a body to live on earth and this body was killed. But right before the killing of his body, Jesus prayed a very important prayer ‘Father into your hands I commit my Spirit.’ Now the bible says in Ephesians 1:19-20, this spirit came into the hands of the father and he exerted the greatest power of God into the spirit of Jesus to win over the devil once and for all.
The body of Jesus is still there in the tomb or on the cross, but the Bible says Jesus was made alive in the Spirit because He had a great task to do. For us, as believers, to be part of the body of Christ is not bringing our body and showing ourselves in the church, but it is our Spirit that should be alive and present in the presence of God.
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
- Revelation 1:20
So, Jesus with the power and authority He got from Father God, went into Hades to unlock the captives who were locked by the Devil, using the keys of Hades and of death.
Captives of Jesus
When we accept Jesus, we should experience a character change. When we continue in our old selves, it means we are not responding to the Holy Spirit. When Jesus descended to this earth, He led us out of the captivity of sin, addiction, and the world and made us captives of his presence, his anointing, and the revelations of the Word of God. And Jesus gave us gifts.
Torn, Bound, and Raised
Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us; On the third day, He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.
- Hosea 6:1-2
This word is a prophetic revelation of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. On the first day, Jesus restored us and healed us, and on the second day he will bind us up and revive us, and on the third day, He will resurrect us. This is the process of God. Day 1 is restoration, bringing us back to our original purpose and the plan of the Almighty God. Only a person who is restored can be part of the Body of Christ and can be revived. And only a person who is revived can be resurrected. How did Jesus build the church in three days? Day 1 restoration, day 2 revive the church, and day 3, resurrection. He restored us back to his kingdom because we were lost like a lamb who missed the flock and He released his life into us by the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives and He revived us. There is a physical resurrection that has already happened in our life, now we are waiting for that glorious resurrection that is going to take place in our lives. Now even if Jesus comes now, or if we leave this earth and we are in the grave, when the sound of the trumpet blows from the archangel we will be caught up with our master in heaven because He has promised that He will build the Church in three days.
God will heal us because He is a good God. Healing first happens in our soul, If our soul is not healed, even if our body is healthy, it will not benefit the body of Christ.
We all have to go through the process of getting torn and healed in order to get raised up in the second coming of Jesus. Jesus has promised that He will heal us, so there should be a transformation in our lives.
The Significance of the Third day
In Genesis 22, Abraham was tested by God to sacrifice his son Isaac whom he loved the most. Because God said, Abraham decided to go ahead with the test, and on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and looked and He saw the provision of God, the sacrificial Lamb.
It was on Day 3, that the sacrifice of Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross was completely fulfilled because, on the first day, the remission of sins happened, the second day, the release of Life was happening, and it was on the third day, according to Colossians 2:19, Jesus disarmed the Devil forever, made him a public spectacle that the enemies and people would see that Jesus has defeated the Devil, once and for all.
As we understand from Exodus 19:2-3, It was on Day 3 that the Israelites saw the Glory of the Almighty God.
Glorified Body
After the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus became supernatural with a new body that could pass through walls. By this appearance, Jesus was showing the New Covenant believers how the glorified body would be. There is a glorious hope for a born-again Christian. We will be full of God’s glory radiating through our bodies while we are on this earth.
Day 1 – From the day of creation to till Jesus’ death on the cross.
Day 2 – From the day of the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ till today.
Day 3 – The day of our ascension with the Lord Jesus Christ, our eternity.
Co-seated with Lord Jesus Christ
There are Messianic prophesies in the Bible which is prophesies told about our Lord Jesus Christ. In Psalms 16:10, where David says, “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption,” was said about Jesus.
Now, as we read in the New Testament, once we are joined to Christ, every prophecy for Jesus except for the sufferings on the Cross which was only for Jesus, becomes the prophecy for the Church, because no more we are two but we are one. Therefore, the Church, that is us, will not decay in Hades, but we are ascended and will resurrect with our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the best, most exalted, safest, and most glorious place in the whole world. This realization will make us move from descension to ascension and we will really be seated with the King of Glory. And as we are part of the living church of the Almighty God, we are co-seated with Lord Jesus Christ and we are not fighting with some powerful opponent, but we are looking down from heaven at a defeated enemy who is defeated forever by our Lord Jesus Christ.
And once we are joined with Jesus Christ, we will have the heart of Jesus Christ. We will not be sad and we will not murmur or complain, because Jesus Christ does not have that behavior. We will be testified like how David was testified by God, a man after God’s own heart. If we are like Jesus, we will be sinless and we will be at rest always.
Concluding Prayer
Lord Jesus, we pray that, in 2023, we would walk with you as you desire for our life. Give us more grace to correct and mend what is to be corrected and mended and help us to be consistent and growing in the relationship with Lord, Jesus Christ.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.