“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14)
When God created the heavens and the earth, He prepared a special dwelling place to live in fellowship with mankind, His most cherished creation. This place was the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8). In the garden, God’s presence—marked by the fullness of His attributes—dwelt in a special way. The glory of God filled this place, and it perfectly embodied the communion between God and humanity.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they were expelled from the Garden of Eden and separated from the immediate presence and glory of God. Yet God did not abandon them. He spoke to them and promised that through a descendant of the woman, humanity’s broken communion with Him would be restored, allowing them once again to dwell in His glorious presence (Genesis 3:15).
When this promise was not yet fulfilled, God demonstrated His desire to dwell among His people and maintain communion with them through the tabernacle (Exodus 33:7–10) and later through the temple in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 7:1–13; 1 Kings 5:1–5; 6:1). These sacred spaces were places where God chose to dwell in a special way and where His glorious presence was made manifest.
How God dwells with His people in the New Testament
The Old Testament concludes with a dramatic moment in which the presence of God departs from the temple because of the persistent sin of His people (Ezekiel 10:4; 10:18; 11:22–23). Yet this departure is accompanied by the hope that God’s presence would one day return in all its splendor. The New Testament then opens with the profound declaration, “The Word became flesh.” Significantly, Jesus later rebuked the leaders of Israel for turning the temple into “a house of trade” and “a den of robbers” (John 2:16; Matthew 21:13). The implication is clear: God’s presence was no longer dwelling in the temple. The question then arises—where would God dwell with His people?
The answer is found in Christ. When the time of fulfillment had come, God chose to dwell among His people through the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. He is Immanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23), and the ultimate “temple of God” (John 2:18–21). For this reason, John could proclaim, “The Word … dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory” (John 1:14).
In Christ, the glory of God was fully revealed, for in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). The apostle John and all who believed in Jesus beheld His glory—the glory of the one and only Son from the Father (John 1:14). Thus, in Christ, God came to dwell with His people, making His “tabernacle”[1] among them and restoring the communion with God that humanity had lost in the Garden of Eden because of sin.
How God dwells in us
This is indeed good news, yet God’s redemptive plan does not end there. The saving work of Christ—His death, resurrection, and ascension—goes even further by transforming His people, the children of God and His church, into the temple of God. As the apostle Paul emphasizes the significance of the church, he writes, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
It is in the church that God dwells in a special way and where His glory is made manifest. How is this so? Because as believers and followers of Christ, we have been regenerated, adopted as children of God, and brought into communion with Him. All of this is possible only through Christ. We are the firstfruits of the new creation and live in the confident hope that the entire world will one day be transformed and redeemed into a new heaven and a new earth, where everything will be God’s dwelling place and sin will exist no more. This renewed creation will surpass even the Garden of Eden in glory. This will come to pass when Christ returns. What a great hope awaits us!
In conclusion, as members of God’s church, we are called to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23–24). This means worship that flows from a regenerated heart and worship that is shaped by the truth of God’s Word.
What a joy it is to know that in Christ our fellowship with God has been restored!
[1] The Greek verb translated “made his dwelling” / “dwelt” in John 1:14 literally means “to dwell as in a tent” / “have a tabernacle”.