"I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." (Haggai 2:7)
To think that the almighty sovereign Creator, the judge of all the earth, the righteous sacrifice for our sins, the conqueror of death, would take up residence in our own hearts! Through His work on the cross, He has done away with the need for an earthly temple. Instead, "know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16).
This new and blessed relationship has been in view from the first. Immediately after pronouncing the penalty of death upon all creation (due to Adam and Eve's rejection of His authority over them), the Creator announced the ultimate solution to the problem which He would one day bring to pass. Speaking to Satan, God said: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15). And from that time on, the nation of Israel has been looking for the conquering seed of the woman who would return creation to its original created intent.
Adam's sin nature was passed on to all his descendants and likewise the unacceptability of sinful mankind to stand in the presence of a holy God. But His work in fulfillment of the prophecy above crushed Satan's hold on and claim over us. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). "Glory to the newborn King!" JDM
Come Desire of Nations, come! Fix in us Thy humble home:
Rise, the woman's conquering Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent's head;
Adam's likeness now efface, Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above, Reinstate us in Thy love.
Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King."
