Ezekiel 11:16 ESV
Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.’
1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
John 14:20 ESV
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
In the resurrection, we were raised up with Christ, and in the ascension, we were seated in the heavenly places in Christ, and at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out in us, completing the mutual indwelling of our being in Christ and Christ being in us. This amazing union is what makes us new creations and identifies what kind of new creation we are. We are new creatures to whom Jesus is our sanctuary, while at the same time, we are the sanctuaries of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Think about that. The very life of Jesus is the holy space in which we live and move and have our being, and you and I are the holy space through whom Christ lives. We are the body of Christ and therefore have the privilege of sharing and participating in the very life that Jesus lives on this earth. We also get to share and participate in the very life that He lives in intimacy, and favor with the Father, and the intimacy with and anointing of the Holy Spirit He has. The word “lost” very accurately describes who we were before we said the “yes of faith” to Jesus, and now we are “saved,” not just from the old but into what Romans 6 and Ephesians 4 refers to as “newness of life.” Saved means so much more than just “rescued” from being lost. It means to be rescued “into” wholeness or wellness. The wholeness that we have been rescued into is the mutual indwelling of our union with Christ (that is newness of life beyond imagination). Think of how lost we were before Christ, and now we are His POEM.