In spite of the brokenness of both the northern and southern kingdoms of ancient Israel, God had a plan to bring them back to Himself. His plan was to unite them into one kingdom, His kingdom, over which a new king would reign. Through the provision of this new king, God said He would “make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them.” Of this “covenant of peace,” God says, “I will place [give, bless] them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people” (Ezek. 37:26-27).
In Jesus, the Jewish Messiah and the Christian’s Christ, this promise is fulfilled. In Jesus, God is establishing His kingdom on the earth. In His life, Jesus modeled the kingdom. In His suffering and death, Jesus came to say, just a moment before He died, “It is finished” (John 19:30). On the following Sunday, He was raised up from the dead, defeating mankind’s worst enemy, death. Several weeks later, Jesus ascended back to the Father, and poured out His Holy Spirt into His people. That people, filled and empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit, did what commonsense said could not happened. They set into motion a moment that is still expanding twenty-centuries later, and all over the world.
God’s everlasting covenant of peace is being realized in the world. God is blessing and multiplying His people. His sanctuary is in the very midst of His people. God is dwelling in the world through His people, establishing that God is present to be the God of all who will let His kingdom come into their lives. God’s redeeming love is being witnessed to all around the world, and every day, God’s people are praying, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10)
Can we live today as if the sanctuary of God is in our midst, as if God’s dwelling place is within us? This might be our challenged today. It sure doesn’t look like the kingdom of God is here. In fact, it looks just the opposite. We ought not be deceived, however. True, Jesus isn’t getting good press releases today, and the press releases we do read in media articles are usually negative.
Regardless of what rumors abound in the world, the people of God can live as if the Sanctuary of God is in their midst because, the sanctuary of God is in their midst. As a twentieth century hymn says,
Forth in the peace of Christ we go;
Christ to the world with joy we bring;
Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips,
Christ in our hearts, the world's true king.
James Quinn SJ, 1969
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