The Church as the Sanctuary of God

(Psalm 114)

What do you think is the true image of the Church? What does a church that truly reflects its calling look like? Personally, while meditating on the Book of Acts, I came to understand five key principles from the early church. My hope is that our church, Victory Presbyterian Church, will practice these five principles and thus become a church that is truly like the church God desires. These five principles are:

1. A praying church,

2. A Spirit-filled church,

3. A church that boldly proclaims the gospel,

4. A church where the Lord adds to their number those who believe,

5. A community of love.

In today’s Scripture, Psalm 114:2, the psalmist writes:
"Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion."
Here, the psalmist refers to “Judah” as the sanctuary of the Lord. That is, he is saying that Israel was the sanctuary of God.

So then, what is the "sanctuary" of God?
It is the place where God dwells in the midst of His people, where His presence abides with them. In that place, the Word of God is present and proclaimed. It is also the place where God's people gathered to offer sacrifices, to hear the covenantal Word, and to worship and pray to God. Moreover, it was the place where great festivals and feasts were celebrated.

This "sanctuary of God" in the Old Testament points to the "Church" in the New Testament. In other words, the sanctuary of God refers to the church. Today, focusing on Psalm 114:2, I want to meditate on three aspects of what kind of community the Church—as God's sanctuary—is, and receive the grace that comes through that reflection. It is my hope and prayer that our church will become such a community.

What kind of community is the Church, the sanctuary of God?

First, the Church, as the sanctuary of God, is a redeemed community.

Look at Psalm 114:1:
"When Israel came out of Egypt, Jacob’s household from a people of a foreign tongue..."
This verse reminds us of the time when God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt through Moses. The psalmist recalls how God rescued His people, Israel, from the hand of a foreign-tongued people—that is, from the Egyptians, who were considered a barbaric nation (according to commentator Park Yoon-sun). He is reflecting on the redemptive history in which God brought His people out of Egypt.

Why did God bring the Israelites out of Egypt? Why did He save them?
It was because God loved them and intended to keep the oath He had made to their forefathers.

Look at Deuteronomy 7:7–8:
"The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath He swore to your ancestors that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

God’s salvation is accomplished entirely under His sovereign will. Because He loved the people of Israel, delighted in them, and chose them, He fulfilled the promise made to their forefathers by delivering them from Egypt.

In the New Testament, the church is the true people of God who have received His salvation.
The word “church” comes from the Greek term ekklesia, which is a compound of ek (meaning "out of") and kaleo (meaning "to call").
In other words, the church is “those who have been called out.”
God chose the church in Christ before the foundation of the world. According to His good pleasure, He predestined us to become His children.
He saved the church from the kingdom of Satan, which is like Egypt, so that the church might praise the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1:4–5).
Therefore, whenever we reflect on the grace of God’s salvation, we must give Him praise. That is to say, the church must be a community of worship.
Furthermore, when we remember the salvation that God has given us in Jesus Christ, we should also look forward with hope to the salvation that will be completed at the return of our Lord.

Second, the church as the sanctuary of God is a community where God dwells.

Look at Psalm 114:2:
"Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion."
As we have already considered, the “sanctuary of God” is the place where God dwells among His people and is with them.
That is, the church must experience the presence of God, recognizing, sensing, and encountering the reality that God is always with us.

Especially in worship—offered in spirit and in truth—the church should feel and experience God’s presence.
Moreover, in times of crisis and adversity, the church must experience God’s abiding presence even more deeply.

The psalmist, in verse 2 of today’s passage, recalls how the people of Judah, freed from Egypt, were with God (as noted by commentator Park Yun-sun).
God was present among Israel. During the Exodus, God accompanied them in a pillar of cloud and fire. In the wilderness, He dwelled in the tabernacle and walked with the people of Israel.
At Mount Sinai, God gave the Law to Israel through Moses (v. 4, Park Yun-sun).
In other words, God walked with His people through His Word.

John 1 tells us that the Word, which was with God (vv. 1–2), became flesh and dwelt among us (v. 14).
The Bible refers to God who dwells among us as “Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23), which means “God with us.”

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16,
"Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?"
We are God’s temple. The Holy Spirit dwells within us.
The Holy Spirit is always with us, sanctifying you and me who have been saved.
Therefore, the church must be holy.
To show this dark world that the Lord is truly with us, the church must be holy.
We must live a life set apart from the world, with Immanuel faith—that is, the belief that God is with us.
In short, the church is the holy community of God.

Third, the church as God’s sanctuary is a community that manifests God’s power.

When God delivered the people of Israel from Egypt during the Exodus and led them to the promised land of Canaan, He demonstrated His power many times.
In Egypt, God revealed His power through the ten plagues; in the wilderness, He brought water from the rock and provided manna from heaven to feed the Israelites (verse 8).
God also displayed His power at the Red Sea, and about 40 years later, near the promised land of Canaan, He showed His power at the Jordan River (verses 3 and 5).
Before God’s mighty power, even the sea split apart to become like dry land, and water came out from the rock. Thus, the natural world trembled before God’s power (Park Yun-sun).
Therefore, the psalmist exhorts:
"Tremble, O earth, before the Lord, before the God of Jacob!" (verse 7).
All the peoples of the world should fear and revere God when they see His power.

The church must manifest God’s power.
That power of God is the gospel.
Look at Romans 1:16:
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
By boldly proclaiming this gospel, which is the power of God, our church must show the power of God’s salvation.
God’s church is a saved community, a community where God dwells, and also a community that manifests God’s power.
May our church become this kind of church of God.

With a heart praying that Victory Presbyterian Church be used as a channel of God’s salvation,

Pastor James Kim
(Dreaming of a biblical community)