From the beginning, God always intended to dwell with us on earth. He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, and even after Abel's death, Cain cried out, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence." Cain's descendents continued to be hidden from the presence of God (Gen. 4-11), but Seth's descendents "called on the name of the Lord/Yahweh"---they knew Him by name, even before God revealed His name to Moses in the desert.
God was present to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; He was present to the Israelites in the desert. To this day, Jews still celebrate the Festival of Booths, commemorating God's dwelling among them on the way to the Promised Land. For the First - Century Jews, God dwelt among them in the Temple, but now that the Temple is gone, does that mean that God is also gone from among men on earth?
On the day of Pentecost, God established a new Temple---the gathering of believers who acknowledged that Jesus was/is the Presence of God with us [Emmanuel/ God with us]. And this Jesus promised, "I am with you always, even to the consummation of the world."
The Presence of God in Jesus did not keep the disciples from arguing amongst themselves; His Presence today does not keep us from disagreeing with one another either---but still, He promised that where 2 or 3 gathered together in His Name, He would be there. I pray that His Presence with us would become stronger than our disagreements.
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