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Articles 2 General The House of God
Articles 2 General The House of God | The House of God | | Print | |
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Suddenly we realize our purpose we’ve been building a new house within ourselves. The book of Hebrews progressively discusses our Godly house, Therefore, holy brethren (believers), partakers of the heavenly calling (heirs of salvation), consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. (Heb. 3:2, NKJ) The readers knew that Moses was found faithful-- now, consider that Jesus was faithful. A key to understanding this portion of Scripture is right here. "Consider" or fix your thoughts, mark with attention this thought. What thought? That Christ faithfully endured and still endures. His building did not end, but still continues. He helps all of us build. He completes each building in loving perfection.Moses built a dwelling in the wilderness, while Christ is the Great Builder of God’s house. Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest over that which we profess and acknowledge – making certain that our confession builds our lives. Heb. 3:3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. (NKJ) Moses contributed great effort to build a glorious house for God. But, we see a parallelism between Moses and Jesus begin to develop here to add to our understanding. As we interpret the word house for this purpose, we note that the Hebrew author uses the illustration of construction. Heb. 3:4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. (NKJ) Let’s continue for our purposes, to realize that the house represents our lives. We may do the building, but God built all things. Whatever you become, God has greater honor than the house (your life) itself. The beauty of our structure must give all tribute to the architect. Our house can't grow like a plant – it doesn’t evolve on its own. The analogy here says that God is the architect overseeing all building. We can’t take the credit! God works through the Son (Heb. 1:2, 2:10). Because Jesus builds God's house (tabernacling in us), He is of greater honor than Moses (who built the earthly Tabernacle). Heb 3:5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, (NKJ) This is a quote from Numbers 12:7. The Greek word usually used for servant is dulos, which means "bondservant." Dulos is not the word used in this text. Moses was not called a bondslave, slave, or attendant. Instead, the word used here is therapon, which means a "noble servant." This word occurs often in the Old Testament, but only once in the original Greek... it represents the unusual relationship that Moses was a servant of superior and noble position. But even as great as Moses was, being a servant in the house of God was the best he could ever accomplish. By contrast we see Jesus (Heb 3:6), Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. (NKJ) Christ was faithful OVER His own house because He was not a servant, but the Son. Here was see a differentiation between Moses (living under the law) and the believer who’s incorporated into the Sonship Company of Jesus. The New Testament house represents His body, His flesh (flesh of His flesh), and His bones (bone of His bone, Eph. 5:30). This text verse continues by saying, "whose house we are." Jesus was the Father’s house – and we are the many mansions (abiding places) housed in Him (Jn. 14:2). We belong within His house… where He rules. Both individually and collectively, we constitute His house."Whose house we are" can also be translated, "We are God's house." The metaphor continues to describe us as a house. We are that house if... If what? If we hold fast. This passage presents the possibility of an unfulfilled condition. IF And the criterion necessary to be His house? If we "hold fast." The Jews of that time had to hold fast through great persecution. They were not to return to the old systems, to old traditions, to predefined religious ways, to cultural expectations. They had to be "possessors" of God’s Word and not merely "professors." Therefore, the mark of a well-built HOUSE is perseverance. And that holds true today. " Hold fast" is also a nautical term. This same word is used in Acts 27:40 where it speaks of heading directly toward shore. "Whose house we are" only if we don't deviate or drift from where we're going. If we hold fast to correct concepts and don’t drift into false ideologies. They were to confidently hold steady. "Hold fast" to what? Confidence. Confidence (courage) in Christ Jesus proves whether or not you're a true possessor of salvation. We cannot BE A HOUSE unless we have confidence (courage). "With confidence" means that they must maintain consistent words and actions that demonstrate and establish the fact that they are true possessors of The Truth. We who are His house display our faith by walking in steady confidence -- no matter what the circumstance. Plus, these believers had another assignment in addition to holding fast to confident courage. They had to hold fast to something else: "And the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end." "Rejoicing in hope" establishes and verifies a living witness as one who consistently trusts in the Almighty God. Rejoicing (the boasting of His glory) unto the end – until hope becomes a reality (Rom. 5:2-3, Phil. 3:3). Heb. 10:23 reminds us again, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.By now the building of our spiritual "house" should have moved past having to continuously "repent from dead works." No longer should we be re-learning the "elementary principles of Christ" -- over and over. There’s more to Christianity than milk (Heb. 5:11). There’s more to learn than we know now. There’s more growth for the mature to experience, more expanded concepts to realize, and more capabilities to apprehend. Heb. 6:1 urges us, "...let us go on unto perfection (teleiotes)..." The Amplified version explains it further, "Therefore let us go on...advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belongs to spiritual maturity." That idea of perfection (teleiotes) means completion or finished work, or being grown up. The author of Hebrews urges us to move on past our childhood into the fullness of maturity and completeness – into present truth – into a further building of The House. Perfection is the process of aggregating wisdom. Jesus went through that process. Luke 2:39-40 says, And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom… Luke 2:52 And Jesus grew (progressively increased) in wisdom…NIV The struggle toward perfection is an integral part of the overall restoration process. Eph. 4:11-13 expands this concept by telling us that the purpose of the five-fold ministries is the PERFECTING of the saints... unto a PERFECT (grown up teleios) man..." Those adult individuals are BUILT UP to form a PERMANENT DWELLING PLACE for God in the Spirit..."(Eph 2:21-22), a mature church that walks in unmistakable completeness -- a body that actualizes total redemption. Thayer’s Lexicon adds that "TELEIOS" means "brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary to completeness; consummate human integrity and virtue; used of men, full grown, adult, of full age, mature." Its root word is "TELOS," which means, "a definite point or goal; properly, the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state; the end to which all things relate, the aim, purpose." This forceful word defines our coming to full MATURITY in Christ. This full-grown wholeness manifests itself in clear communications with God, absolute discernment, vivacity for life, equality, unconditional relationships, readiness to subdue difficulty, and an ease in yielding to Spiritual purposes. God can only have a mature relationship with mature sons. Each believer must apprehend wholeness (sozo) before he/she is capable of connecting with another. We must grow up before we can discern the singular, consistent, divine, and global plan for the church/HIS HOUSE. Paul eloquently explains, "In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord" (Eph. 2:21). Here we see our individual houses joined to become one temple. But hear this… it isn’t a cute thought for the sweet by and by. "It is joined together" – it is already done! It is a finished work that we must apprehend – connecting one to another. It’s the valley of dry bones already fused, upright, and walking. The time has come that the LORD’S house should be completed (Haggai 1:2-5). Permanent charges are eminent. God no longer abides in the temple made with hands. His ultimate purpose is to infuse His nature into the temple of our circumcised heart. This new inundated personality (the PERFECTED TELEIOS PERSON) boldly grasps the new concepts received from heaven and resolutely transmits them on wave-lengths never before imagined. There’s a grand collective truth just beyond our own individual agenda – that’s "US" together creating God’s house. NOW. |
By Dr. Kluane Spake -
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