Will God Dwell on Earth?
A Sermon on 1 Kings 8:27
Originally preached Dec. 25, 1961
Scripture
27But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
Sermon Description
The Old Testament recounts the desire of David, the great king of Israel, to build a house of God befitting His glory and splendor. God redirected David’s desire and Solomon, David’s son, fulfilled this desire at a later time. Solomon built and dedicated a magnificent temple for God’s dwelling place among His people as a place for God’s people to commune with Him. In the sermon on 1 Kings 8:27 titled “Will God Dwell on Earth?” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones expounds this theme of God’s dwelling among His people in this special Christmas Day sermon by showing how the Son of God dwelt on earth in the incarnation. Jesus “tabernacled” among His people; He literally came to dwell on earth. This reality is a great paradox: that God could come and take on flesh and be the means of salvation. How can Christians respond in any other way than in great amazement and faith at this momentous occasion. Through the incarnation there is now a way to meet and commune with God that is impossible without the Lamb of God coming to taste death on the sinner’s behalf.
Sermon Breakdown
- God came down to dwell on earth. This is a literal fact, not a story or fairy tale.
- The incarnation is a marvel and wonder. God confined himself to a womb, stable and manger. The creator contained in his creation.
- This is a paradox - Jesus is fully God and fully man. He humbled himself, made himself of no reputation but did not empty himself of deity. He laid aside the manifestations of his glory.
- Jesus shared in the human experience - he grew, learned, worked as a carpenter, faced temptation. He identified with us and our sin though without sin himself.
- The purpose of the incarnation was to bring us to God. Jesus is the only way to the Father. He died to reconcile us to God.
- We need God's help in trouble, defeat, drought, famine, pestilence, mildew and the plague of our own hearts (sin). Jesus meets this need.
- In Jesus we find forgiveness, pardon, new life, sustenance and blessing. He deals with our sin so we can meet with God.
- Our response should be amazement, worship, adoration, praise and rejoicing. Do we understand the incarnation? It should produce this response in us.
- We should be amazed at God's love in sending Jesus. We should worship him for dying on the cross so we can meet God.
- We should rejoice that God has visited and redeemed us, we know him as Father and our sins are forgiven.
Sermon Q&A
Questions and Answers from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Christmas Sermon (1961)
What is the central message of Christmas according to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the central message of Christmas is that "God has come down to dwell on earth." He emphasizes that this is not a story or myth but literal fact: "The second person in the blessed holy Trinity has literally and actually come down to dwell amongst men." Lloyd-Jones stresses that what happened at Christmas was the incarnation - God confined Himself to human form.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones distinguish between a theophany and the incarnation?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that a theophany is a temporary appearance of God in human form, like when the angel of the covenant appeared to Abraham. These were brief manifestations where God could "appear in human form for a while and then disappear again." In contrast, the incarnation was permanent - "not a mere temporary appearance of the Son of God" but God literally taking on human nature, being born as a real child, and dwelling among people.
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones find particularly marvelous about the incarnation?
Lloyd-Jones marvels that God, whom "the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain," confined Himself to something as small as "the virgin's womb." He states: "The Lord of glory in the virgin's womb. God confined to a womb. And then, of course, being born, there he is, a little helpless infant." He calls this "the astounding and stupendous thing" - that the creator and sustainer of everything became "a helpless child" who could be held in human hands.
What was the purpose of Christ's incarnation according to the sermon?
The purpose of the incarnation, according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, was to provide a way for humans to meet with God. He states: "This is the object that we might meet with God." Lloyd-Jones explains that Christ "didn't come on earth merely to talk politics or to give us general teaching," but came with "one grand object and intention to bring us to God." Because humans are "estranged from God" and "under the wrath of God," Christ came to be the mediator who makes communion with God possible.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones connect the Old Testament temple with Christ's incarnation?
Lloyd-Jones uses Solomon's temple as a parallel to understand Christ's incarnation. He explains that the temple was built as "a place where the people could meet not only together, but to meet with God." Similarly, Christ came to be the meeting place between God and humanity. As people went to the temple to meet God at the mercy seat, now we meet God through Christ. Lloyd-Jones states: "As God appointed, that they should go and meet with him there in that old temple... so he has done this. That was but a shadow... just pointing forward to the coming of the son of God himself."
What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the proper response to the Christmas message?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies four proper responses to the Christmas message: 1. Amazement - "Are you filled with amazement this morning? Is that your supreme feeling?" 2. Worship - "They stood in worship, in praise and in adoration. And it is the only adequate response to the message of Christmas." 3. Adoration and Praise - We should give "praise to him who alone is worthy to be praised." 4. Rejoicing - Like the shepherds who "went back to the fields and to their sheep rejoicing," believers should rejoice in knowing "God is your father" and "your sins are forgiven."
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones address the problem of human sin in relation to Christmas?
Lloyd-Jones explains that the fundamental human problem is sin, which separates us from God. He describes humanity as having "the plague of his own heart," being "vile," with a "nature [that] is twisted and perverted and hopeless." Christmas matters because Christ "was born to die" and "sacrifice himself for us and our sins." Lloyd-Jones states that Christ is "the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world" and that through Him we can find forgiveness and "know that we are the children of God."
What biblical texts does Dr. Lloyd-Jones use to frame his Christmas message?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones frames his Christmas message using two main texts: 1 Kings 8:27 (Solomon's question "Will God indeed dwell on the earth?") and John 1:14 ("The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us"). He also references Philippians 2 about Christ not counting equality with God something to be grasped but making Himself of no reputation. These texts help him develop the theme of God's amazing condescension in coming to dwell with humanity.
Old Testament
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.