Jesus Is the House of God
Jesus Is the House of God
I suppose every devout Christian realizes that the Lord Jesus is the House of God the Father. Yet, we do not act as though we do. But this fact certainly is being made plain to us in these days.
It truly is a simple concept—much simpler than the idea of a Trinity, that leaves one at times viewing Jesus as the Father. Of course, if this were true, some of the passages of the Scriptures would make no sense. But when we view the Lord Jesus as the House of the Father, dwelling place of the Father, all the passages of the Scripture make perfect sense.
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)
Let me use another translation, and we will examine the difference.
In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2—NIV)
And another:
In the house of my Father are many mansions; and if not, I would have told you; I go on to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2—Young's Literal Translation)
Now compare these three expressions:
"I am going there."
"I go to prepare."
"I go on to prepare."
We will ignore the term "mansion" for now. It is an old English term for dwelling place, or room, and in today's interpretation of John 14:2 is quite misleading.
The word "there" warps the meaning. If you connect it with the idea that the word "mansions" is referring to ornate homes, we have the traditional interpretation of John 14:2: Christ told us He was going to Heaven to build a mansion for us.
I think the translators of the New International Version bowed to convention and inserted a term "there" that is not found in the Greek Text. If it indeed is present or inferred in the Greek text, then the New American Standard (above) or Young would have included it.
Another way in which we can check the meaning of a verse is by examining the context. The fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John has nothing whatever to do with homes in Heaven, or even with Heaven. Jesus spoke of how the Father is dwelling in Him; and how, if we keep Christ's commandments, the Father and Jesus will be dwelling in us.
Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. (John 14:10)
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John 14:23)
The Greek term for "home," in the verse above, is the same Greek term translated "mansions," in John 14:2 of the King James and other versions.
So much for "mansions."
Now, as to the Father's " house." To the best of my knowledge, nowhere in the Bible does it state that Heaven is God's house. But in several places in the New Testament it does refer to the Lord Jesus as God's house.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, (Colossians 2:9)
Also, we Christians are being made a part of God's house.
Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:20-22)
And as far as where Jesus was going, the first place Christ went was to the cross. Then Christ brought His blood into the Most Holy Place in Heaven and presented it before the Father as an atonement for the sins of the world.
When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11,12)
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (I John 1:2)
At this point, let's take another look at John 14:2 to see if we can understand what the Lord Jesus was saying to His disciples:
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)
The Father's House is first, the Lord Jesus Christ, and then those who are part of the Body of Christ.
There are many rooms in Christ in which we are called to abide.
I am going to the cross to make an atonement with My blood. Then I am going to bring My blood that was shed, into the Most Holy Place in Heaven and sprinkle My blood that was shed on the cross in the Presence of My Father in Heaven.
The wrath of My Father will be appeased. Also, when in the future you understand what I have done, and receive the atonement by faith, My blood will be sprinkled on you so My Father may accept you. Also, you will be created an integral part of Me as you eat My flesh and drink My blood. In this manner I will prepare a place for you in Me, so you, along with Me will be part of the eternal Tabernacle of God.
Now we should examine the following verses in the fourteenth chapter of John to see if they agree with our new understanding of John 14:2.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:3)
Because of verses that follow in this chapter, I do not believe that Jesus is referring here to His worldwide coming in which every eye shall see Him, but a coming to His disciples to make them part of Himself.
To be with Jesus where He is, is not just to be in that part of the spirit world referred to as Heaven, but to be in the center of the Person and will of the Father. There is no real benefit to being in the spirit world as such. Everyone who dies passes into the spirit world, but is not necessarily where Jesus is.
The truth is, we are to be with Jesus where He is, right this very moment. He is in the Father. Our goal is to be in the Father where Jesus is. To dwell in the center of God's Person and will is the rest of God. The rest of God is our land of promise, and we, as led by the Spirit of God, have to fight our way into God's rest. We have to labor to enter the rest of God.
You know the way to the place where I am going. (John 14:4)
I may be wrong, but I think the Lord gets a secret joy out of teasing us in this manner. The disciples had no idea where Christ was going or the way to that place. Maybe He wasn't just teasing them. Maybe He was preparing their minds so they would hear the answer when He gave it.
The problem here is that they had no way of understanding the truth: that Jesus is the House of God; that they are going to be rooms in that House; that Jesus was on His way to the cross to make an atonement for the sins of mankind.
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" (John 14:5)
His disciples did not understand what Jesus was talking about any more than we do today.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
If someone asked us the way to a certain store, and we said, "I am the way," they would think we were crazy.
But Jesus Himself is the Way. He does not tell us the way, He is the way. This is difficult for us to understand until we get past Pentecost and begin to appreciate the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.
In the spiritual fulfillment of Tabernacles, Jesus is our Salvation; Jesus is our Strength, our Righteousness, our Joy, our Song. This relationship is hard to understand until we experience it.
Jesus Himself is our Truth. He does not just tell us truth, He Himself is the Truth; and as we abide in Him, we understand Truth. Truth is not the scientific knowledge about things; truth tells us the meaning of things.
Jesus Himself is our Life. It is not that He give us Life, He is our Life. We think, speak, and act as He is thinking, speaking, and acting.
As we set aside our own life, as did the Apostle Paul, that we might live by the Life of Jesus, we come to know the Father. Jesus' purpose is to bring people to the Father; to reconcile people to the Father.
It is not that Jesus tells us about the Father, He brings us into that relationship with the Father that He has. So we know the Father because we are part of the Father's House.
It is difficult to put into words, as I stated previously. But it is an experience, just like basic salvation or the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
I refer to the "Tabernacles" experience as our being on the same side of the net with God. Prior to this time we play volleyball with God. We perform a religious duty, and God responds. We give generously, and God gives generously to us. We are kind to people and God is kind to us.
But in the experience of Tabernacles, of the rest of God, we are on the same side of the net, so to speak. We learn to live by the Life of Jesus. Thus there is no need for God to respond. We are doing what God is doing, so there is no need for Him to respond. Why should God respond to His own actions?
We do not learn to live in the rest of God in a moment. It is year after year, patiently asking Jesus about everything we think, say, and do. We immerse ourselves in the Presence of Christ. We speak to Him all the day long. We give thanks continually. This is what it means to live "in that Day," that is, in the day when the Lord alone is exalted.
With joy we bring forth the water of eternal Life from the Throne of God that has been created in us. We are one with each other and with God through Christ. In this manner we become the dwelling place of Christ and God, the manifestation of God in the creation.
Okay so far? Are we making sense?
If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. (John 14:7)
The verse above is one on which the idea that Jesus and the Father are the same Person is based. It certainly could be interpreted to mean that, if one were to discard the remainder of the New Testament.
The following verse shows that this is not a valid interpretation:
Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" (John 20:17)
In my opinion, this verse proves that Jesus and the Father are not the same Person. If the Father is our Father as well as the Father of Christ; and if God is our God as well as the God of Christ; how, then, are the Father and Jesus the same Person? How are God and Jesus the same Person?
But there is more to this issue than just deciding whether God and Jesus are the same Person. If They are, then we may be considered the brothers of God; for the Bible states God has destined us to be the brothers of Christ. This just doesn't seem right!
Perhaps the most important issue of the present move of God is the bringing of us into a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus, so that we are living by His Life. If Jesus is another name for the Father, then everything becomes confused.
If we are not one of the sons of God, with the Lord Jesus as our King and elder brother, how then, as it says in the Book of Hebrews, do we join with Jesus in praise to His Father?
Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (Hebrews 2:12)
If it is true that the doctrine of the Trinity claims that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the same Person, or three manifestations of the same Person, then the doctrine of the Trinity is misleading, mischievous in its applications, and decidedly contrary to the New Testament.
I can understand the desire of the scholars to maintain the Divinity of Christ, and to insure that we regard the Lord Jesus as very God, which indeed He is. But to maintain this truth at the expense of the written Word of God is not defensible, and must be altered as we enter the current reformation of Christian thinking.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Word of God from the beginning. He is very God of very God and very Man of very Man. But He still worships God as His Father, which is clear from the New Testament; and this He would not do if He Himself is the Father.
It may be that it will add to this confusion when we discover that we are called to be in Christ one with the Father just as He is. We are to become rooms in the House of God, which is the Lord Jesus Himself. Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone of a house in which we are a room. Because of this, we may be considered the house of God and the manifestation of God just as Jesus is the House of God and the Manifestation of God.
We are not there as yet in the fullness God has in mind. But such is our calling, and it will be unfolding for a while yet. It is our Canaan, our land of promise, the rest of God into which we now are fighting our way. We will get there, if we do not quit and if we are faithful in subduing every enemy that comes against us. In that Day we along with the Holy Spirit will give the water of eternal life to those who are thirsty.
We are learning to live by the Life of Jesus just as He lives by the Life of the Father.
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." (John 14:8)
It is clear that Jesus had given His disciples the impression that Jesus and the Father are two different Persons.
Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (John 14:9)
There are two explanations for the above saying. The first is traditional: that Jesus and the Father are the same Person. But there are many passages of the New Testament that prevent this understanding.
For example, who was Jesus praying to in Gethsemane? Were two different wills exercised there? If so, then two different Persons were involved.
One cannot escape this conclusion without theologic acrobatics.
The second explanation is not as commonly held. It is that the Father dwells in Jesus and Jesus lives by the Life of the Father, just as the Apostle Paul lives by the Life of Christ.
This second explanation fits the New Testament perfectly, and it is just as logical. The words and actions of Jesus proceed from the Father. Therefore, anyone who has seen Christ has seen the Father.
Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. (John 14:10)
Here we have the clear explanation of the mystery, and the abolishing of the doctrine of the Trinity.
The Lord Jesus did not say, "Isn't it obvious to you that I am the Father? Think of the mighty works I have done. Could a mere man have performed these; could a human being have multiplied the loaves and the fish? How long will it be before you perceive that I am the Father? I am God and there is none else. Bow down and worship me!"
No, Jesus did not say that. Rather He pointed out that it is the Father who is living in Him who performs the works and speaks the words.
This is exactly the same idea that Paul expressed when he said that he was crucified with Christ and now Christ is living in him.
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. (John 14:11)
Jesus said that the miracles He was performing were proof of the Father living in Him; not that the miracles were proof that He Himself is the Father.
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12)
I have not seen these greater works as yet, but I believe for them. It may be true that when the people who, along with the Lord Jesus, compose the "two witnesses" of the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation, the power of the "seven thunders" will be issued to them because of their willingness to set aside their own life that Christ may live and bear witness in them.
Because it was God speaking in Jesus, there assuredly will come a time when the believers will be performing greater miracles than Jesus did, such as drying up large bodies of water or restoring paraplegics until they are perfectly whole.