His Sacrifice for Steadfastness.

You know what's dumb? I say that I believe that the Word of God is living and active, yet when I read it, I don't come to it with the expectation that it will really, truly change me. But of course the Holy Spirit lavishes his grace on me despite my stupidity and lack of reverence. So of course on a normal night in my college dorm room, the Holy Spirit hit my unsuspecting soul like a bus. Of course the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the things I've known, but not truly known. Of course the Holy Spirit changed me when I least suspected it to display his power and glory.

Before I jump into the verses God used to teach me, here's the context of the passage:
God made a covenant with David that his son (Solomon) would built a house for the Lord (the temple). After Solomon builds it and the Shekinah glory of God enters as a cloud and rests in the Holy Place, this is Solomon's prayer:

"O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart. . .

But will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!"
 -1 Kings 8:23, 27

This is a big deal. Solomon says that not even the highest heaven can contain the glory of God, yet God chooses to dwell in a tiny, fragile house built by human hands.

He chooses to be present with the people of Israel even though they are constantly grumbling, complaining, and running away from him.

He dwells among the people of Israel simply because he chose to and he cannot contain his steadfast love for them.

He has made a covenant to be faithful to Israel and he refuses to break his covenant, no matter how much Israel denies him and commits adultery against him.

"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephriam to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with bands of love. . .

My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all. How can I give you up, O Ephriam? . .

My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not destroy Ephriam; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come with wrath."
- Hosea 11:1-4, 7-9 

"I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you will be my people.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high."
-Leviticus 26:11-13

The holy, perfect, righteous, glorious God does not stay upon his throne in the highest heaven, but he brings his glory down to earth. Simply to be with his people. And he not only dwells with them, but he's also actively involved in their lives, nurturing them and loving them unconditionally. Because he cannot contain his steadfast love. It's who he is.

God choosing to dwell in a house made with human hands seems like enough sacrifice, right? God already displayed extreme humility, right? Yeah... but our God is crazy. He wasn't satisfied. He wanted to sacrifice even more to be with us. His glory dwelling in the temple wasn't good enough for him. He loved us so much that he had to dwell with us in an even more personal way, and he was willing to sacrifice everything for it.

If you thought smushing God's glory into a cloud was claustrophobic enough, try smushing God's glory into a human body.

"Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." -Philippians 2:5b-7

God came as a man to be with us. Immanuel.

But wait... God didn't stop there.

"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." -Philippians 2:8-11

Why did Christ humble himself to die a brutal and unjust death?

Because making his dwelling among us was not enough for him. No, he was not content until he made a way to make his dwelling within us.

 "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. . .

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. . .

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."
-1 John 4:9-10, 13, 16

"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"
-1 Corinthians 3:16

This is the beauty of the gospel.

God with us. God within us. Even though we are broken, sinful, undeserving, adulterous people, God chose to satisfy his wrath by his own blood so that he could display his glory through his faithfulness to his people. It's who God is. He sacrificed it all because he could not contain his steadfast love for us.