Rock This House
Jared Walnum
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SO, WHAT IS THE SANCTUARY?

     The song I'm currently working on is titled, "In the Sanctuary."

        We tend to perceive the Sanctuary as a physical location which has been set aside for the purpose of prayer, praise, preaching and otherwise conducting the activity of fellowship with God. For the sake of practical application and understanding the function of the church building there is a certain amount of truth to this. But the Sanctuary is something much greater than this and exceeds the boundaries of walls and location.

     Some of my deepest interactions with God have occurred outside the realm of designated locations.

     The scripture says this of God and buildings: "However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands." (Acts 7:49). By this we understand that there is a difference between man made temples, church buildings and sanctuaries and the spiritual reality. The temple doesn't house God. Rather it is simply a place to which men have assigned the function of interacting with God. The same is true of the church building. The building is not the House of God. It's nothing more than a designated location for the collective worship of the congregation. The true/spiritual house is God's presence initiated through the act of spiritual worship. We then must consider the Sanctuary as something greater than the designated location.

      It's true that God's people in the Old Testament built structures, a tabernacle and a temple, that were God sanctioned. But I would raise this question: was this because God needed a location in which to be housed or because men needed a location in which to perceive His presence? God is omnipresent. This defies containment in any structure.

      It's also important to consider that we live under a different covenant. That's why the Bible is divided into two sections, New and Old Testaments reflecting two distinct covenants. The Old is the Testament of the Law. The Scripture itself says that the things of The Law are shadows of the good things to come and not "the very image of the things..." (Heb, 10:1).

     The Old Testament needs to be read and understood with New Testament eyes. The Old portrayed New Testament principles in physical or earthly elements. In this light we can understand the physical Holiest Holy as a shadow of the true or spiritual presence of God but not the presence itself. In the same light the sanctuary becomes a spiritual place which defies containment in a physical location. The activity may occur in the church building or any other location in which spiritual fellowship with God is initiated.

     It is this sense of the Sanctuary that my song addresses.