Where Dwells God?

[Darris McNeely] Steve Myers and I are in Rome. We’ve been on a study tour of Paul’s response to the Roman world. We’ve come here to Saint Peter’s Square, where we’ve had a tour of the Vatican museums and Saint Peter’s Cathedral, which is really at the heart of the Christian world. As you look at Saint Peter’s and the massive volume within this church and all that it represents – one of the largest churches in all of Christendom – you are struck by so much – the art, the size, the tradition, the teaching that is behind and a part of this entire structure. Certainly, Saint Peter’s Cathedral is the center of the Roman Catholic Church and a symbol for Christianity around the world.

I had a thought as we were coming out of this building and looking at it, and standing at this particular point, looking back – it reminded me of another building in Jerusalem at another time, and a man who stood in the shadows of that particular temple – that building, the temple – and he was talking to a group of Jews, and he was teaching them about God. And he pointed to that building, the second temple, and he said, “Gentlemen, God does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24).

And I have the same thought, the same question in my mind – does God dwell in a building such as this? Does God dwell in any building, consecrated or otherwise? Well, Scripture shows that He doesn’t. God is beyond any building, in terms of His power, His greatness, and His glory, no matter how big this building might be, no matter what it represents to so many. The same question that Stephen put to the Jews in Jerusalem, the same statement that God does not dwell in temples made with hands, applies here. And it’s something for us all to think about in coming to a true worship of the true God and his Son, Jesus Christ. That’s one of my thoughts on this particular tour. We’ll have some more.

That’s BT Daily. Join us next time.