There are three nails holding the entire structure
together. It withstands any storm and cannot be destroyed by fire.
No thief can break in, though its door is not locked. Consider
who lives there and who built the house, and understand.|
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There are three nails holding the entire structure
together. It withstands any storm and cannot be destroyed by fire.
No thief can break in, though its door is not locked. Consider
who lives there and who built the house, and understand.
God's house is the city of souls. Dwelling in
the land of promise, Abraham "waited for the city which has
foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:10).
The New Testament calls the spiritual place of deliverance, Zion
(Romans 9:33). Here the King of kings reigns. Hurting Hebrew Christians
are reminded, "you have come to Mount Zion and to the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company
of angels" (Heb. 12:22). This is the blessed place where
the guilty find mercy and the downcast are uplifted. Inside the
city walls there is no begging, "for those who hunger and
thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled" (Mat. 5:6).
Nobody is poor in the city of souls, because through the King's
poverty the Kingdom becomes rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). On Mount
Zion, no person is put to shame (1 Peter 2:6).
Jesus lives and dines in the house of hearts.
He stands just outside the door knocking, "If anyone hears
My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with
him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20b). The Gospel calls out for
us to have faith (2 Thessalonians 2:14). We hear and believe (Romans
10:17). Our positive response is the marvelous invitation that
welcomes the Lord in. Once inside, Jesus makes His home through
the very faith we opened the door with (Ephesians 3:17). The Word
calls us; we call on the name of the Lord (through baptismal conversion,
Acts 22:16). We yield ourselves, and the Lord comes through our
faith to live in us. There's something else amazing. This dinner
we share Jesus himself is the life-giving meal. He says, "I
am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats
of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall
give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world"
(John 6:51). Know what else?
God's house wasn't built with human hands. So,
even if our habitat was destroyed, and even if our bodies were
cremated, we would still have a place to call home. Scripture
actually says, "we know that if our earthly house, this tent,
is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Co. 5:1). God doesn't live
in a physical structure, made of earthly materials. His mansions
are in the spiritual dimension (John 14:1-6). "Christ came
as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and
more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this
creation" (Heb. 9:11). It's not the cardiac organ Jesus dwells
in. It's the center of the soul the spirit's heart. It is that
place which pulses in rhythm with faith and hope, and love. His
dwelling is of the Divine and eternal.
God's House is home. While we walk in faith, God
makes His home with us. But, our home is not of this world. "For
our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait
for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our
lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according
to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to
Himself" (Phil. 3:20-21). Don't forget the promise Jesus
made to the earliest disciples, "In My Father's house are
many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go
to prepare a place for you" (John 14:6). We are God's house
on earth (1 Timothy 3:15). We will be in the Father's House, in
Heaven.
The heart. The faith. The Builder. The home. And,
the Home. Three crucifixion nails hold it all together. With Jesus
we will weather life's storms. Against this hope, the thief of
souls cannot prevail. We're securely locked comfortably inside.
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