One of the great attributes about God is that He is everywhere. In the opening of the book of Job God asks Satan where he has been? (Job 1:7). The answer was that he had been over all the earth, walking up and down in it. The answer shows us that Satan is not God in as much as he is a created being. Satan cannot be everywhere but must “move” about over the earth. The angel tells Daniel that from the time Daniel offered his prayer it took some 21 days for the angel to come (Daniel 10:13). The problem was that in the spiritual realm the angel ran into opposition in his journey. The point is that angels as created beings have to move from one place to another. God is eternal, He has always been. As God He is everywhere.
There is no planet, land mass or building that can hold God. Solomon at the dedication of the temple said the “heaven of heavens” cannot contain Thee how much less this house I have built (2 Chron.. 6:18). In this verse, Solomon raises this question as a means of honoring God. He asks, “But will God if very deed dwell with men on earth…”. We see then that the temple was the place where God would dwell. This building was where they would connect with God. Daniel in Babylon faced Jerusalem in his prayers (Dan. 6:10).
The last stage of man on earth is the Christian age (Isa. 2:2). Christ is a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec (Heb. 7:17). The only way that Jesus could be a Priest would be if the law was changed (verse 12). Since His priesthood is unchangeable there can therefore be no more changing of the law. The law of Christ is the rule in this last stage of history of man on the earth (Gal. 6:2). We then look to the Christian age as revealed in scripture to find those truths that govern our lives. We do not go out in our back yards and build an ark because those words to Noah do not apply to us. Neither do we offer animals as sacrifice because that law does not pertain to us. The temple that was in Jerusalem for the same reason has no bearing on us.
The church today is the temple of God. The “building” fits together and continues to grow unto a holy temple (Eph. 2:21). What is the purpose of this building called the church? Those who believe in the Rapture teach it is just some kind of substitute until the kingdom can be established in Jerusalem. This “substitute product” was paid for by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28). The church is no substitute but rather it is the dwelling place of God on earth (Eph. 2:22). The great value of the church is seen in the fact that it is where men go to have a connection to God. Jesus taught to seek the kingdom (the church) first (Matt. 6:33). In that verse there is an important “and”. We seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
It is not, therefore, coming to a building (brick, mortar or stone) but rather it is coming to God by the lives we live. If one can stay at home with no need to be a part of the temple where God is, then that temple has no reason to exist. Its existence requires us to assemble together each week as we honor God. It connects us to where God dwells. Paul defended the truth on one occasion by saying that God does not dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 17:24). God continues to dwell with man on earth through the church that His Son built and paid for. So then does God dwell or live with us? Yes, He does through the church. Men may build nations or have good homes but such does not fit the description of where God lives. In other words if we live righteous lives we seek to be connected to God in the church which He paid for with His own blood (Rom. 16:16; Acts 20:28).
Men can, therefore, live good moral lives and may by those good moral lives have good homes to raise their children in. It does not mean a Christian home. A Christian home is composed of those who choose to live righteous lives as determined by God. Righteous people seek the kingdom of God that is the habitation of God. Individual lives are blessed by God to those who fear Him and work righteousness (Acts 10:35).