The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, says the Lord Almighty, and in this place I will grant peace, declares the Lord Almighty. Haggai 2:9

The book of Haggai details the story of the Lord coming to him and telling Israel the time to rebuild his temple had come. God points out that the people have built houses for themselves yet his temple lays in ruins. God used Haggai to tell the people of Jerusalem to build a new temple for him and in this verse he promises that the new house will be greater than the temple that was destroyed. He told them not to fear over the construction of the temple because he would be with them. He would be right next to them as they worked to build up a temple worthy of the glory of the Lord.

The way this structural story can relate to our spiritual lives is that God tells us we are his temple. Once we enter into the covenant of grace through Jesus the temples of sin we once were are destroyed. God commands us to build him a temple worthy of what he has. Too often we are similar to Israel in that we fear undertaking such a large project. We know we are to change our behavior and to become more and more like Jesus everyday but we often don't know how to. The word tells us to look to the Lord. God tells us not to fear because he will be there building up a new temple in us for him to dwell in.

The joy at this news is caused because God promises us in these verses that the new temple will far exceed what the old temple was. Because we didn't have Jesus as our cornerstone when we were slaves to sin, our lives crumbled without him. Through his death, Jesus allowed the old temple to be destroyed and the work of the new temple to begin. God will create you into a new temple that is better than you can ever imagine. His glory will fill us as he builds us up as a new temple worthy of the fruits of his will.

We must not fear change or think we are alone in having to change our sinful desires and natures. Sometimes the enemy deceives us into thinking that in order to have the glory of God fill us, we must do it on our own. God tells us this isn't so in this story by promising to be with us. We don't have to figure out the "how" to changing but we must be prepared and willing to change. We aren't expected to lay every brick down in our new temples by ourselves because Christ will direct us what to lay down next. He became our foundation as soon as we accepted him into our hearts and God promises us that just as the structure of the Lord's temple in Jerusalem would be greater than the former house so too can we expect to see this happen in our hearts.

Another benefit to knowing that the new temple of Christ is being built within you is the peace that he mentions. In the book of Haggai it mostly refers to peace with the foes who originally attacked God's chosen people and in our lives we can apply this to peace with those who oppose us. We can have peace from the temptations of Satan and from the evils he brings into our lives. Even when suffering, trials, sorrow, deception, and all of the other realities of this world come to try and steal the glory God has filled our temple with, we are granted peace and that is a promise from the Lord God Almighty!

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Dear Lord,
We pray that you will just strip down the old temple Lord and build us up into a great nation. Let your glory fill us Lord as you wipe away all of our sin. Jesus you are our cornerstone foundation and we pray that you will guide us and help us not to fear the changing within us. Help us to welcome the change and realize that we aren't doing it by ourselves. Help us not to fear by reminding us that you are there Lord. We pray that the new temple within us is pleasing to you and welcome you to dwell in fellowship with us each day Lord. Be pleased and have all glory to your name father. Amen.