The temple of God

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16
Several times in the New Testament we read words similar to these: ‘You are the temple of God’. The temple (following on from the tabernacle) was the one place in the Old Testament where God’s presence dwelt. It was in Jerusalem, and if you wanted to meet with God (through the priest), you had to go there, and present sacrifices.
Now God dwells in us by the Holy Spirit. We don’t need to go to any particular place (e.g. church) to meet with God, because we are the temple. The sacrifice for our sin has already been made, once for all, and we have been made priests (1 Pet. 2:9).
One important difference between how God indwelt the temple in the Old Testament, and how He indwells us now, is that in the Old Testament He could leave (Ezek. 10:18-19). For us though, He has promised to never leave. Once we have the Holy Spirit, He will not be taken from us. He is a guarantee of our salvation (2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5, Eph. 1:13-14). The Old Testament believers did not have this assurance (see for example Ps. 51:11).
So then, since we are the temple of God, how should we live? The temple was intended to glorify God and be used for His purposes only. When people looked at it, they knew exactly what it was and what its purpose was. It was the place where God was ministered to, first and foremost. It was a symbol to the nation of God’s presence among them. This is how we should reflect God to the people around us in our everyday lives.