The Sanctuary of the Soul

Copyright © 2013 C. T. Lewis.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-8671-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-8672-4 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-8670-0 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013903352

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/08/2013

Table of Contents

PART I

THE DESTINY OF MAN

1.   The Kingdom of God

2.   The Garden, the Temple, and the Christ

3.   The Sanctuary of the Human Soul

PART II

THE DESTINY OF MAN MADE POSSIBLE

1.   The Holiness of God and the Sinfulness of Man

2.   The Ministry of Ritual Ablution

3.   The Ministry of Sacrificial Atonement

4.   The Ministry of Sacrificial Communion

5.   The Ministry of Jesus’ Example

PART III

THE DESTINY OF MAN MADE ACTUAL

1.   The Doorway of Faith

2.   The Incense of Prayer

3.   The Light of the Presence

4.   The Bread of the Presence

5.   The Kingdom of Prophets and Priests

For My Parents

A Note on the Translation

The New International Version (NIV) provides the default translation. In many instances, however, in order to reflect as clearly as possible the train of thought presented by the author, it has been necessary to translate from other versions (especially the JPS or NRSV), and in some cases directly from the biblical text itself.

Acknowledgments

The contents of this book arose out of numerous sermons, lectures, and talks conducted over the course of many years. It would not have been possible without the support of the congregation of Troy Christian Chapel, the missionaries of the King’s Lodge in England, and the students, parents, and staff of Christian Leadership Academy. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all of those who have sat under my teaching, and through whom I have learned so much.

INTRODUCTION

God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship him in spirit and in truth.

John 4:24

I

To worship in spirit is to worship at the sanctuary within one’s own soul. The scriptures provide us with a pattern for how this is to be done in the ancient system of temple worship established under Moses. Jesus Christ is the supreme exemplar and the supreme executor of that pattern: he is the incarnation of the temple, and his work consists in transforming his disciples into temples like himself. Through the gift of his blood, he renders their souls fit to serve as dwelling places for the deity; and through the gift of his body, he fills their souls with the presence of God.

This briefly summarizes the governing idea behind the present book, the remainder of which consists in unpacking its meaning in greater depth and in rendering it applicable to the life of the Christian. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to this task is that few modern believers take an interest in the ancient practices of temple worship. If it were true that these practices amounted to nothing more than a collection of obsolete laws and rituals, this lack of interest would be justified. But it is one of the aims of this book to show that these matters are not only relevant but have been preserved precisely in order to furnish us with a roadmap for the governance of our inner lives. Even though the believer may not observe these laws and rituals outwardly, they are nevertheless intended to understand, practice, and experience them inwardly.

To put the matter differently, I should like to re-establish the Torah as the spiritual center of the Old and New Testaments. Although Christians have sometimes been inclined to talk as though there were a fundamental discontinuity between the old and the new, I will be advancing the idea that the old is taken up, preserved, and transformed in the new. Jesus’ own teaching provides the most authoritative ground for this view, and the following passage has in many ways served as my inspiration for the whole book: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Torah until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of God, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of God (Matt. 5:17-19).

II

In the writing of this book, I have been guided primarily by the scriptures, as well as by the writings of a variety of theologians, philosophers, and scholars, and of course by such experiences as have emerged in the course of my own spiritual development. There is hardly a paragraph of this work that could not have been expanded into a whole chapter should I have wished to include an extensive account of my reasoning, or a survey of supporting and opposing views, or the thrust and counter-thrust of argument. Instead, I have chosen to present the vision of this book as simply as possible, devoting my attention to the economy, clarity, and distinction of its central thesis.

The book is divided into three parts, the titles of which exhibit the structure of the whole: (1) the Destiny of Man; (2) the Destiny of Man Made Possible; (3) and the Destiny of Man Made Actual. Each section lays the foundation for the one’s that follow it, with the result that the first three chapters are almost exclusively devoted to theoretical matters. For some readers this may prove to be a breath of fresh air, while others may wish to begin with the second section of the book (as it deals with the more practical issue of redemption), and still others with the third section of the book (as it deals with the most practical issue of all, the application of redemption). In all of these chapters, however, I have avoided the popular convention of hiding tiny bits of theology within dramatic personal narratives, so that even the devotional sections contain a relatively dense concentration of ideas.

While my only direct quotations are from scripture, I nevertheless wish to acknowledge a few individuals whose writings have been especially influential in the development of my own thought. Among classical religious writers, I mention the perennially relevant works of Augustine and Aquinas, the mystics Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, and the puritans John Owen and Jonathan Edwards. Among more modern writers, I have benefited greatly from the works of Rudolph Otto, Søren Kierkegaard, Maurice Blondel, G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Karl Barth, A. W. Tozer, and Thomas Merton. A special debt of gratitude goes to Marc Brettler, who assisted me in the translation of a number of terms, and to the late Jacob Milgrom, whose scholarly work on the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers has proved a constant source of inspiration and insight.

I hope that the present work will find an audience among all who harbor within themselves a genuine hunger after the things of God. In an age dominated by secular interests, and in which much of the western church has fallen under the shadow of the businessman, the spiritual vision of this book will no doubt seem out of step with the demands of the times. Nevertheless, it has not been written in order to serve the needs of the many who stand on the broad path of life, but to serve the needs of the few who have made it their ambition to lead a quiet life in devotion to the spiritual growth of themselves, their families, and their church communities. It is above all to this end that I offer the following work, that we may reopen the wells dug by our forefathers, and that we may shine a light on the path that leads to infinite communion with God through Jesus Christ.

C. T. Lewis, 2013

PART I

THE DESTINY OF MAN

CHAPTER ONE

The Kingdom of God

The time is fulfilled; the Kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news.

Mark 1:15

I n Jesus’ earthly ministry, the fundamental theme of his preaching is captured in the little phrase, The Kingdom of God: Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled; the Kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news (Mk 1:14-15).

When Jesus spoke in this way, he was not introducing a new idea, but taking up an old idea, and one that already had a long currency in the history of Israel. If we would hear what he is trying to say to us, we must try to see it in the historical context he placed it in. If we would understand the New Testament, we must first understand the Old Testament.

In the book of Genesis, God is portrayed as the great king over creation, and man is presented as living in rebellion against him. The whole of the biblical narrative that follows can be viewed as a story about the deity’s restoration of that kingdom. This he achieves through his covenant, a solemn contract in which he binds himself and his people to the terms of his sovereign rule. The spatial and temporal center out of which this covenant operates is the sanctuary, the deity’s palace and the place from which his decrees, laws, and judgments go forth into all the earth. Now Jesus is the incarnation of that sanctuary: he fulfills the terms of the covenant, and he re-establishes the deity’s governance on earth beginning with his own self. Through him, we too are called to belong to this kingdom, to enter into this covenant, and to become sanctuaries indwelt by the presence of the living God.

The Creational Kingdom of God

God’s kingship achieves its first expression in his rule over the primeval sea. According to the scriptures, creation did not begin as an orderly whole, but as a chaotic, dead, and barren mass of earth submerged in dark waters: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was barren and empty, darkness was over the face of the deep, and the breath of God was moving over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:1-2).

In the Bible, God brings forth of a kingdom of living creatures from this raw material, and the biblical poets dramatize this event as a battle between YHWH and Leviathan (a monster personifying the primeval sea). In this battle, God uses the breath of his mouth to subdue the sea monster, after which the divine breath and the tamed sea reappear as the fundamental elements of creaturely life. First, he fashions creatures from the dust of the earth and breathes into their nostrils the breath of life: How many are the things you have made, O Lord: the earth is full of your creatures… When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send back your breath, they are created (Ps. 104:24 and 29-30). Second, he sustains the creatures he has made by channeling all of the sea’s destructive torrents into fertile streams, making the earth productive of food, and its creatures productive of offspring: O God, my king from old, who brings deliverance upon the earth: it was you who drove back the sea by your power, who broke the heads of the monster in the waters; it was you who crushed the heads of the Leviathan, who gave him as food to the creatures of the desert (Ps. 74:12-14).

In this way, the Kingdom of God assumes its most basic form in creation. As a kingdom teeming with living things, this divine order is not expressed in the eternal unfolding of an abstract principle or in a deterministic chain of causes and effects, but in the free call of the Creator and the free response of his creatures. The Creator’s call consists in the manifestation of his glory to his creatures: The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world (Ps. 19:1-4). And the creatures’ response consists in the giving of glory to his Creator: All your works will praise you, O Lord; all your saints will bless you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom, and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and your dominion endures for all generations (Ps. 145:10-13).

The Creation as a Sanctuary of God

Now if the Kingdom of God is expressed in the giving and receiving of glory, then the primary function of the created order can be none other than to serve this purpose. In other words, the created order may be regarded as a sanctuary: a place for housing the deity’s presence, and for manifesting his character and calling forth divine worship: I will see you in the sanctuary. I will behold your might and glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you (Ps. 63:2-3).

Furthermore, a careful reading of the creation story indicates that it is intended to be read as an account about the construction of a sanctuary. Above all, this is exhibited in the parallelism between the creation of the world and the construction of the Tabernacle, both of which are structured around seven divine commands, culminating in the Sabbath (cf. the seven days of creation with Ex. 25:1, 30:11, 30:17, 30:22, 30:34, 31:1, and 31:12): God saw all that he had made, and behold: it was very good… So God blessed the seventh day (Gen. 1:31 and 2:3); Moses saw all their work, and behold: they did it just as YHWH had commanded. So Moses blessed them (Ex. 39:43).

Again, since the most basic function of a sanctuary was to provide a resting place for the spirit of a deity, the function of creation may be said to consist in providing a resting place for the spirit of YHWH. Accordingly, the seventh day is not only a day on which the divinity rests from his work, but also a day on which the divinity rests within his work. On the day of rest, the created order is brought to completion not only because it has been created, but also because it has been indwelt by YHWH: For YHWH has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: This is my resting place forever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it (Ps. 132:13-14). Therefore, in Isaiah, God declares: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? (Is. 66:1).

The Creature as an Icon of God

In ancient times, after the construction of a temple, an image of the deity was installed inside the shrine of that temple. In the Bible this same pattern is evident: after the creation of the world, the human creature is installed within it, having been made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26).

This word image is a translation of the Hebrew word tselem and the Greek word eikon. Now while the function of a sanctuary is to house the presence of a deity, the function of an icon is to reflect the glory of that deity. Thus, the role of man is to dwell in the sanctuary of God, so that he might become a reflection of the glory of God. He fulfills this role by living in communion with God, whereby