Abiding in His Presence (Exodus 25:8)

And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst.
– Exodus 25:8

Oh, verses like this are so important in the Bible because they represent a theme that carries from the beginning to the end of the Bible that we see over and over and over again. God wants to be with his people and God wants his people to be with him. This is the very beginning of the Bible. What made the Garden of Eden perfect was God’s perfect presence with his people, his creation unhindered by sin. Everything good, not just good, very good, the end of Genesis one says.

And then we know Genesis three is a result of sin and its entrance into the world. Man and women are separated from God, from the presence of God. And you see the rest of the story of the entire Bible is God bringing sinful men and women back to his presence. You just jumped to the very end, this is what heaven is. It’s the place Revelation 21 says, where God is with us and we are with God restored to what was lost in the beginning of Genesis.

Exodus 25:8 teaches us that God desires to dwell with us.

And all throughout the way we see these pictures like Exodus 25:8, as God’s people are going to travel to the Promised Land. He says, “Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst.” And I just want you to let this soak in maybe in a fresh way today. God, we’re talking about the devouring fire, the Sovereign Creator, Sustainer, Lord over the whole universe. We’re talking about the holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, he wants to be with you. Let that soak in. He wants to be with you, and he wants you to experience the goodness of his presence.

He is the author of everything that’s good. It all flows from his presence and he wants you to experience all of his goodness. He loves you so much that he wants to be with you. He wants you to be with him. And he’s made a way for this to be possible in a way that’s far greater than Exodus 25. This picture just points us to Jesus, who is the word made flesh, God with us, Emmanuel. He’s come to us and he’s made the way for us to be saved from our sin, restored the relationship with God, and filled with his spirit, his presence inside of us as we were praying about in Exodus 24. So let’s pray accordingly.

Exodus 25:8 illustrates the hope of perfect communion with God.

God, we praise you for your desire to be with us. We deserve to be in hell right now. We’ve sinned against you. We deserve to be cast out of your presence for all eternity. We praise you for your love for us, for your pursuit of us, for coming to us. Jesus, we praise you as God in the flesh. We praise you as God with us who came to save us. We praise you for your life without sin. Your death on the cross for our sin, your resurrection from the dead, for your ascension to Heaven, for sending your Spirit down to live in us, that you have made our bodies your sanctuary, that you may dwell in our midst with us, us with you.

God, we praise you for this reality. Help us to live in it today. Help us to walk in close communion with you all day today, to pray continually, to follow the leadership of your Spirit in all that we do, to follow your leadership all day long today, to trust your provision, your mercy all day long today.

And God, we look forward to the day when we will be with you perfectly, you with us. Oh Lord Jesus, come quickly we pray. We long for your return. We long to be with you and to lead others to be with you. God, help us today to live, to lead others, to be with you, to lead others to a relationship with you. God, we long for all the nations to experience communion with you.

Prayer for the Baori People

We pray specifically today for the Baori people of India, 434,000 Hindu men, women, and children, no known followers of Jesus among them.

God, we pray for the Baori people of India to be reached with the good news that God has come to be with us. The good news of Emmanuel, of Jesus, of his death on the cross, of his resurrection from the grave, of his making a way for them to be restored to relationship with you in a way no other gods. Among the 300 million Gods worshipped in Hinduism, they’re all false gods. You alone are the true God. And you have made a way for the Baori people, for all the peoples of the world to be restored to you. May they be reached. We pray all of this to your word and this theme we see throughout your Word in places like Exodus 25:8. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.

David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.

He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.

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