Years of preparation preceded the construction of Solomon's Temple. Before David died he gave to Solomon the plans for the Temple, and precious metals and stones. Solomon, in his God-given wisdom, carried forward the work of preparation by contracting with Hiram, the King of Tyre, for cedar and fir lumber. In addition, Solomon obtained the stone blocks for the foundation of the Temple.

And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house. (I Kings 5:17,18)

So it is with the eternal Temple of God. God Almighty, the greatest King, is the designer and builder of it. Only eternity will reveal the amount of thought, time, and material that God has spent, is spending, and will yet spend on His holy dwelling place. It is a living temple; for the Temple of God is Christ—Head and Body.

There is no resource in the universe that will be withheld if its contribution is needed. In fact, "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." His purpose is that we may be in the image of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and become one with Christ in God.

We, as individuals, must be fashioned into the image of Christ. If we are not in the image of Christ, God will not be able to find His rest in us (Psalms 68:18). All of the ministries of the Body of Christ work to the end that we may be created in the image of Christ and that Christ may be brought to fullness in us (Ephesians 4:7-13).

God will dwell only in Christ, and the more of Christ we have the more of God we will be able to receive. Each of us must allow God to finish, to perfect His work in us no matter how pleasant or unpleasant the process may become. Only as we become perfect in His sight will we be ready to be fitted into the corporate Temple of God that will rule all of God's creation to the ages of ages (Revelation 22:5).

The Temple of God will be composed of each individual who has been made ready in advance by the Word of God, by the body and blood of Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. We must lay hold on the grace of God that has been freely given to us so God can fashion us into a perfect fit in the Temple.

In the mind of God there is an exact place in His temple for each of us, a position in the structure that each of us is to fill. God knows the exact place and what will be required of that part throughout eternity. God has foreknowledge and we have been predestined according to His foreknowledge (Romans 8:29).

To be continued.