There are no Jews, Greeks, etc. Part 22

Because it is on His Holy Mountain, the church is holy, as the altar and tabernacle were holy (Exodus 30:26-29). Not because of the ground itself, not because of the building, but because of the intent, and the atmosphere of obedience to God, and the people that He has called His own. Not just the backbone of the church, in actuality that is God and Jesus, but the flesh. Because I clothe myself with Him in baptism, because, as it says in Gal 3:26-29, I am an heir of God, I have surrendered the old man and all the sins that accompany that creature and have become the new creation in Christ that Paul speaks about in 2 Cor 5:17. As is everyone who also has clothed themselves with Him. And how do I keep holy? How do I keep this place with others holy daily and forever? By remembering Jesus’ sacrifice in the Lord’s Supper. Just as Passover supper was to remember how God saved the Jews from Egypt, I and those who are in communion with God partake of the bread and wine to remember that Jesus gave His body and soul so that I and others could join God and Him in heaven, that we are part of that realm today, now, every day, and to act accordingly. The memory is the covenant, God’s Word stamped on my soul, and when I am hardened, I deny that stamp is there, but when I actually believe and live as God wants me to that stamp lives forever in my heart and guides me to action. The covenant is so important, because all who believe are directed first by Jesus then by Paul to take the meal in all seriousness because the death, burial, and resurrection resembles not only what Jesus did but why He did what he did. Similar to the Hebrew’s memory of being rescued from Egypt and why each portion of the meal is important. God is so sweet that He will provide for us even if His people grumble. (Exodus 16:1-23) But He also understands that this mercy doesn’t preclude the fact that people must still obey Him, and so whether the people wander four hundred years, or Moses cannot enter Canaan, or our own deaths are the result of the lives we lead in our sinful nature, we must realize that He expects obedience. Not what excitement we get from the relationship. Some people want to make this into a love relationship where each one gets a thrill from the other. That is not the case between our relationship to God. In God we are children. We are the bride of Christ collectively, but individually we are the children of God and must treat Him as a Father. It is a mystery, but when I come together with my brethren to worship God collectively, we are being prepared to meet God, Jesus loves us as though we were His bride and our love for Jesus as Saviour is as a bridegroom. Hence we must treat each other with the respect and honor of that relationship. This is why God through Paul tells us not to lie, not to gossip, and other things that would hurt one another. (Ephesians 5)