“Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house.”- 2 Chronicles 7:1-2
The glory of God, the power of God, the presence of God, was so great that it posted a proverbial DO NOT ENTER sign on the Lord’s house. The Lord God had filled the room to every square foot. It was so magnified in that place that there was no room left to be able to even stand. Like looking into the sun, the brightness and awesome power is enough to cause us to turn our face away. This was the glory in the house of God that day.
Glory doesn’t come unless God sends it. Unless he sees the sacrifice and longing of his people to experience it. Solomon continued upon the path set by David’s perfect heart of devotion. He built the temple that his father had planned to build and with the material his people sacrificed. Solomon contributed to it in his own right, and took great care in building God’s house, not because God needed it, but because he deserved at least this much. The temple would stand as a place of worship, forgiveness, and where God would put His name. How wonderful would it be if this was the testimony of every church service? That the preacher could not preach, the singers could not sing, because there was so much of God’s glory. We could only fall on our faces and worship Him. Where the people did not leave because they were arrested by God’s awesome presence. Where they felt that they could not stay in the presence of God's glory lest they die. The presence of God is so strong it fills the room and would seem to fill the whole earth and grind humanity to dust if He did not stay his own hand. How wonderful would this presence be in our devotion time? Or in our prayer life. In our small groups or prayer groups. There is nothing so enriching, inspiring, or all-consuming as the glory of God. What are you willing to sacrifice to experience this glory? What are we willing to give up, to seek after, to consecrate; so that God would fill the house? Not just the house of God, but this house; this mortal flesh; yes, you, and even me.
God’s own Son, Jesus Christ paved the way so that God could fill us with His Spirit, and we could experience His presence and glory. Jesus brought to us the glory of God by his resurrection. We now look to Jesus for forgiveness and our sanctification. Christ paved the way and gave us the example to follow. The example of sacrifice, of self-denial, of grace and mercy. Now we are the temple of the living God, and he can come and dwell with us. We have what we have because Jesus did what he did. We can have the abiding presence of God in our life if we repent of our sins and commit our lives to Jesus Christ. By faith believing in Him for our salvation from sin. Christ our redeemer, deliver, sanctifier, keeper, and abiding presence. He can fill every corner of our heart, every square foot of this earthly house.
