Acts 17:24

[mellontes]

Acts 17:24 - God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

I stumbled across this verse today, and after reading it, had to ask myself this question:

[/i]" into the context?[/color][/ul]
Now, I am taking it to this board to ask it. Hopefully, I won't have to repeat what I asked myself... ;D

[Allyn]

Feb 18, 2010 16:10:09 GMT -5 @mellontes said:

Acts 17:24 - God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

I stumbled across this verse today, and after reading it, had to ask myself this question:

[/i]" into the context?[/color][/ul]
Now, I am taking it to this board to ask it. Hopefully, I won't have to repeat what I asked myself... ;D[/quote]

It stands to reason for me at least that Paul is making the point that after the establishment of the New Covenant in Christ that God's place among men is back where it should be and that being in our hearts. Perfect union with God , who is spirit, must be in a place not made with hands. Temporary union until the perfect came was in a place where men could touch and see the temple of God. I think this is because since Adams sin we became creatures of flesh rather than living in spirit and truth. God accomodated men for a time and even made a conditional covenant with men leading up to the time of Christ. After that there is no more of those such things. Jesus paved the way to how we were intended to be in our relationship to the Father. There is no going back nor any future provision that can be done.

[mellontes]

I guess what came to my mind was John Walton's book about Genesis 1 being a temple construct...

BTW, Allyn, in your much appreciated response, you didn't seem to deal with the aspect of a literal, material creation in that context - at least it didn't seem that way to me. Perhaps 8 of my 15 brain cells were sleeping, or had gotten zapped at a synapse conference...and that is why I couldn't understand.

[stephenpatrick]

While being the creator of things material and physical, He Himself is not material, but spirit. I think we can all agree that God did make the world (physical creation) and all things therein, and "He is" Lord of the heaven and earth (physical creation) even though Paul may be making the connection to Old Israel. Verse 25 says He gives "to all life, breath, and all things." Breathing is a physical, material act or function that people and animals do right now. Verse 26 speaks of "men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings." Aren't those things physical too?

I'm not trying to take away from Allyn's point, or as you mentioned Genesis 1 concerning the temple.