October 6

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite. — Isa 57:15 BSB

Oh, what a mystery that God should have two dwelling places! The “heaven of heavens” cannot contain Him, yet He also dwells in the humble, broken, and contrite heart! For the Lord of heaven to have a place to live and dwell, He gives His people gifts and graces; for He cannot come and live in a carnal mind, in our rebellious nature, or in a heart filled with hostility and sin. Therefore, He prepares a place for Himself—a pavilion for the King of glory, with curtains like those of Solomon. His dwelling is the holy, divine nature that is given at the moment of regeneration—“the new man, created after God in righteousness and true holiness.” In this way, Christ lives in the heart through faith, and He is “the hope of glory” in His people. This made Paul declare, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”

This is the purpose of God’s dealings with us—that the Lord might dwell in His people and establish a union between the Church and her covenant Head—“I in them, and they in Me, that they might be made perfect in one.” This unfolds the great mystery, the solution to the incomprehensible reality of “God manifest in the flesh”—that the Lord God might dwell in His people. “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; I will be their God, and they will be My people,” and by this, He glorifies Himself, filling their hearts with His grace and glory, as Solomon’s temple was filled of old, that they might enjoy Him and be with Him forever when time is no more. This is the key to all of the Lord’s dealings with the soul and all His mysterious workings in providence—that He might dwell in the hearts of His people here on earth and be eternally glorified in them in a brighter, better world.