“Notre-Dame de Paris, meaning “Our Lady of Paris“), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Ile de la cite in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral is consecrated to the Virgin Mary and considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Its innovative use of the rib vault and flying buttress, its enormous and colourful rose windows, and the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration set it apart from the earlier Romanesque style.”

April 15, 2019, 18:30 local time, will be remembered as “the day when religious artifacts were saved” from a heart-rending conflagration of catastrophic proportion of this iconic symbol of Catholicism. “Religious artifacts Fournier and other firefighters helped save, according to accounts of witnesses confirmed by his employer and the city’s mayor’s office, were the Blessed Sacrament (used during church services to represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ) and the Crown of Thorns (purportedly worn, Catholics believe, by Jesus Christ at his crucifixion).” Rose window is restorable as well.

“The 850-year-old Gothic Notre Dame cathedral’s spire and roof have collapsed but the main structure, including the two bell towers, has been saved, officials say.”

“We will rebuild Notre-Dame because that’s what the French people want,” President Emmanuel Macron vowed late Monday night. “That’s what our history deserves, because that is our destiny.”

Place for communion with God

The Christian world was devastated and filled with grief and anguish from the tragedy that has befallen this “jewel of medieval Gothic architecture“. And rightly so, as traditionally, church buildings are considered to be the “place to have communion with God”. But, how did it become so? How did we confer reverence to a church building? Historically, this utmost regard for a building has its origin in Judeo-Christian culture that dates back millenniums ago.

It started off as a tabernacle, a “residence or dwelling place of God“(YHVH Elohim”) described in Exodus 25–31 and 35–40. This was set up subsequently in Shiloh and from there onwards “After 440 years, Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem superseded it as the dwelling-place of God.” It has a special domain called “temenos” marked off and dedicated to a god.

Temporary dwelling

While directed to be God’s abode, this place was used only as needed and temporarily. He did not stay there or in-dwell in it for a long time. This transient stay suggestive of its temporary nature as a place to worship and have communion with God. This temple functions as a template for a future place where God will take up residence. As prophesied,

“Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,“(Acts 7:48)

Instead, he in-dwells in a place that he himself set up in us, the real you. And, that was done by YHVH Elohim/Lord God from the very beginning, “not with hands“, but by breathing into man’s nostrils the “breath of life“/spirit-of-man. As God is divine, this human component is the only divine part of man, as other parts are “matter-composed”.

As the “holy-of-holies“ is a unique and special part of the “template tabernacle”, so is this “divine component of man“ a special place in man where God planned to dwell. This is the precise place where God is starting to build the God-kingdom, in human anatomy.

Summary

As great as the tabernacle and Jerusalem temple were as a place to commune with God, they were temporary dwelling at best. The Creator God will in-dwell as promised in the “holy-of-holies” in man, to start the process of creating a God-kingdom, all spirit-composed, immortal, and with overall dominion on creatures on earth, including angels.

God Bless🙏😇

Original post: April 19, 2019

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