Purposed for Glory

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God
and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone
who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
(1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NLT)

What does that mean, to be holy?

I’ve been doing some study on this. Holiness isn’t walking around with your hands folded in prayer while a halo of gold follows your every move. Holiness doesn’t mean we sit and have others wait on us. It doesn’t even mean we are less sinful or more worthy than those around us. 

Holiness is being set apart, saved for a specific purpose for God, dedicated to worship, and devoted to the service of God. 

How does this apply to our day-to-day lives?

A number of years ago I was reading about the building of the tabernacle. If you want to read about it in Scripture, I encourage you to read Exodus chapter 40 in the Old Testament; I will paraphrase it here.

When the Israelites fled Egypt, they plundered all they could. They took gold, furniture, lamps, silver, jewelry, and much more. Later, while they were wandering in the desert God asked Moses to build the tabernacle so Moses asked everyone to bring what they could to help. The people were stirred by the Spirit of God and they brought all the precious things they had—including the items they had taken from Egypt — and the builders had more than they needed. God said that these items would be consecrated to him, meaning they would no longer be of ordinary use but would be used for the tabernacle and in the worship of God. So God took the plunder—the ordinary—and made it holy. An ordinary lamp stand that was once used to light the home of an Egyptian enslaver, was brought before God and set apart for his use; dedicated to him. 

This is the same thing he does with us. He takes our lives, which were once used for ordinary things, and he sets us apart for himself when we come to faith in him. As new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), we are now purposed for holy service: Saved for a specific purpose for God, dedicated to worship, and devoted to the service of God.  

If that wasn’t amazing enough, here is what I find fascinating: The root word for holiness (as we use it today) comes from the German word heilig, which also means whole.

So in being set apart from ordinary use and purposed for God, we become whole. No longer incomplete, but completed by God, through Christ, with the Holy Spirit residing in us. 

As a child of God, you have been made whole in him, and he has set you apart for a specific purpose for himself! 

WOW!

Think on that for a few days and ask God how he wants to purpose you for his glory.