This Temple. John 2:18-22. In the ancient past, He was seen occasionally by a select few, His face and form hidden from most men. I am not sure if they were “Christophanes” or not, but I know it was different back then. When the “fullness of the time” arrived, the time of His birth, He was looked upon with love and adoring faces. He was God manifest in the flesh, and to the world, He came forth, known as Jesus, seen by thousands in many different places. It is true He was “veiled,” or all would have died if they had seen Him as the One who is brighter than the sun in holy glory. God was manifest in the flesh so that He might dwell with men. The Lord Jesus was here in the “temple of His body.”
It is not quite the same today, although He lives with His own, providing comfort through the Spirit and with His presence unseen but here. Now, His temple is made up of all who believe in Christ, and the abundance of His blessings flows from our Head. His physical body was a temple that died and rose again three days after He was crucified. He rose from the dead, and that body is now glorified in a way we have not seen, but we will see Him clearly when He comes again.
The body of believers is also called the temple of the Lord, composed of those saved from the day of Pentecost until the Lord Jesus Christ calls us at the church's rapture. Every member of the church, which is His body, is part of it according to the Word. The church is a temple everyone will recognize as a dwelling place of God with the saints. Each believer’s body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, who dwells within us. The moment a sinner trusts Christ, the Holy Spirit becomes the gracious Host within us.
Each local gathering of saints, who come together solely in the Lord’s name to fulfill His divine commands, is a temple of our God. It is where He dwells with those who submit to the authority of His name. His word is their only guide on how public worship and testimony should be conducted. Each believer in that local “house of God” is a priest who offers sacrifices that are acceptable to God.