George H. Warnock — Christology
b5 — From Tent to Temple
Jesus as Temple — Resurrection as Temple-Building
The central Christological starting point of this work is Jesus’ declaration concerning the temple as his body. Warnock opens chapter 7 — “The Temple Which Is His Body” — with John 2:19, 21:
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up… But he spake of the temple of his body.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (chap. 7: “The Temple Which Is His Body”; quoting John 2:19, 21).
In the Introduction, Warnock sets the living Theos-Logos over against dead theological knowledge. He contrasts Martha’s abstract belief in the future resurrection with the personal self-revelation of Christ:
“But the Lord Jesus was the Theos-Logos standing by her side, and He said to her: ‘I am the Resurrection, and the Life’ (Jn. 11:25). This is what makes the difference between theological truth and living truth.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent-intro.html (Introduction).
Interpretation: For Warnock, the resurrection is not primarily a future event but a person: Christ himself is the Resurrection. His rising after three days is the temple-building of John 2:19 — his glorified body constitutes the real Temple of God.
Incarnation as God’s Dwelling
The Preface states the central line of the entire work: God always sought a permanent dwelling among his people and ultimately found it in Christ:
“The purpose of this study, and the title itself, are intended to show how God would progressively move ‘from one tent to another’ as He sought to lead His people into a higher relationship with Himself; and would then consummate His purposes by moving from the lowly ‘tent’ to a glorious ‘Temple’ as He took up His permanent habitation in the hearts of men.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent-preface.html (Preface).
On the role of the Holy Spirit in preparing the body for the Incarnation:
“In an earlier day He was given a commission to prepare a Body for the habitation of the Lord Jesus in incarnation… and He was faithful in all that He did by way of conceiving, nurturing, protecting, and bringing that One unto birth and unto full stature.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (sect. “Preparation Of The Body Of Christ”).
Interpretation: Warnock reads the Incarnation as the primary fulfillment of God’s quest for a dwelling. The taking on of flesh is not merely a soteriological strategy but the ontological consummation of God’s longing — God finds his home in the Word made flesh.
Jesus as Fulfillment of All OT Temples
Warnock states explicitly that Christ is the one true temple to which all OT temples pointed:
“And so it was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus who declared Himself to be the Temple of God in the earth. And then He showed us, through His holy apostles and prophets, how this Temple would be expanded and enlarged to embrace those who are the redeemed of the earth, and made to be ‘living stones’ in that same Temple.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent-preface.html (Preface).
On the purpose of all prior temples:
“the only temple God ever desired is now in the making, a holy Temple of the redeemed ones of the earth, a ‘habitation of God in the Spirit.’ And when God finds His home in the hearts of His redeemed, He is totally at rest.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent-preface.html (Preface).
Interpretation: The entire progression — Tabernacle → Tent of David → Solomon’s Temple → Ezekiel’s Temple → Zerubbabel’s Temple → Herod’s Temple — forms one continuous typological line culminating in Christ. Every OT temple was provisional; Christ is the reality. The title From Tent to Temple thus carries an exclusively Christological freight.
The Eternal Offering — Christ as the Lamb Slain before the Foundation
Warnock insists that redemption is not an afterthought of God but part of his eternal purpose:
“Christ is portrayed as ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Rev. 13:8), and not merely as a provision of God that came about as a necessary consequence of the Fall.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (sect. “God Must Reveal Himself”).
He connects this to the revelation of God’s own being in Christ:
“In redemption the very fullness of the Godhead was manifest in Christ Jesus… in such a way that fallen men can actually partake of Divine likeness, and thereby become a fitting habitation for the Most High.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (sect. “God Must Reveal Himself”).
Interpretation: Warnock positions Christ’s offering as integral to God’s eternal purpose — not as post-Fall repair but as the predestined revelation of God’s being. The Lamb was slain from before the foundation of the world.
The Fullness of the Godhead in Christ (Pleroma)
On the pleroma of the Godhead dwelling in Christ, Warnock writes:
“We do not have any problem believing that the ‘fullness’ (Gr. Pleroma) of the Godhead dwelt in Christ, fully revealing the character and nature of God.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (sect. “Abiding In Christ”).
He connects this to Christ’s mission as revelation of the Father:
“And therefore it is only in redeemed Man that we find the full unveiling of God’s Glory. For it is only in redemption that the very heart and nature of God is poured forth upon mankind. In redemption the very fullness of the Godhead was manifest in Christ Jesus…”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (sect. “God Must Reveal Himself”).
Interpretation: Warnock’s Christology is revelation-centred: the Incarnation is primarily theophany — God reveals in Christ who he truly is. This aligns with John 14:9 (“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”) and Col. 2:9.
Glorification — Glory Transmitted
Warnock connects Christ’s glorification directly to the transmission of that glory to his body:
“And this Body shall reveal the full glory of the Christ in the same manner that the Lord Jesus revealed the full glory of the Father. (‘And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them’ [Jn. 17:22]).”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (sect. “Abiding In Christ”).
Interpretation: For Warnock, Christ’s glorification is not a closed chapter but a transferable reality: the glory the Father gave the Son, the Son gives to his people. This establishes a threefold glory-line: Father → Son → body of Christ (cf. John 17:22).
Atonement — God Justified in the Spirit
Warnock addresses the doctrine of atonement through the formula “God justified in the Spirit” (1 Tim. 3:16):
“When Jesus was here on earth He so beautifully manifested the character of God through the ministration of the Spirit in His life, that God was ‘justified in the Spirit’.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (sect. “God Is Justified In The Spirit”; ref. 1 Tim. 3:16).
Through Rom. 3:26 he formulates the soteriological dimension:
“God was declared to be ‘just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’ (Rom. 3:26). The Cross fully justified God as far as His holy and righteous character was concerned: in His dealings with sin, and in His forgiveness and justification for the sinner who believes in Christ.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (sect. “God Is Justified In The Spirit”).
Interpretation: Warnock operates with a dual justification: (a) God justifies the believer (soteriological), and (b) God is himself justified in his holy character by the Cross (theological-apologetic). The Cross is simultaneously forgiveness for the sinner and the vindication of God’s righteousness.
Eschatological Temple — Christ and the Lamb as Temple
Warnock concludes his Christological discussion with the eschatological vision of Rev. 21, where the entire movement “from tent to temple” reaches its consummation:
“And I John saw the holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband… And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it.” (Rev. 21:2, 22)
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (closing citation of chap. 7).
And the passage leading to this vision:
“Christ will receive unto Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or blemish… or any such thing. And God will have found that habitation for Himself for which His heart has longed through times eternal.”
Warnock, From Tent to Temple, tent7.html (sect. “It Is Harvest Time”).
Interpretation: The eschatological temple is not a building but the fullness of the Godhead present in the glorified Lamb. The circle closes: God who sought a dwelling “from tent to temple” finds his eternal rest in the union of the Father, the Lamb, and redeemed creation — with the Lamb himself being the Temple (cf. Rev. 21:22).