2 Chronicles 6:2 But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.
After Solomon had finally finished the Temple, he dedicated it to the Lord with prayer in a grand ceremony. The Lord had said that He dwells in the thick darkness, meaning that He is deus absconditus, the hidden God that cannot be seen with sinful human eyes. We cannot fully comprehend Him or understand His ways and thoughts. “My ways and thoughts are higher than yours [Isaiah 55:9].”
This hidden God in love has determined to come out of the dark cloud and reveal His loving character through the Word and the Spirit. He is deus revelatus, the revealed God, and through the Gospel by faith we see Him as Love. He comes into the temple prepared as His dwelling place. Then He comes to the earth as the man, Jesus, to live among us and bring us back to Himself. Then the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts through baptism and faith. Our body is the temple of the living God.
We build a house for God to dwell in our hearts by repentance and faith in the Gospel. We receive Him into our bodies and lives, not as a guest, but as Lord. Faith, created by the Spirit through the gospel, receives God into that place in the heart built for Him. The Gospel gives faith; God sees it, and swoops in to the place prepared. Where is God? He is in the temple (the body) and we may approach Him there.