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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The House of God, #4
Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? (Acts 7:49—NIV)
It is interesting to note that Stephen's exhortation and testimony (Acts, Chapter Seven) proceeded without interruption until he came to the idea concerning the place where God intends to dwell. At this point the Holy Spirit of God assumed control and reprimanded the members of the Jewish Council. They were rebuked for resisting the Holy Spirit, for being "stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears," for betraying and murdering the Lord Jesus.
The Spirit of God came forth as soon as Stephen began to talk about finding a "tabernacle for the God of Jacob." The reason for the action by the Holy Spirit concerning this particular issue was that the building of the house of God is one of the main burdens of the new covenant. The Father in Christ through the Holy Spirit desires to settle down to rest in the heart of each Christian disciple.
The saints are to be formed into the Temple of God, the eternal Throne of God Almighty, the new Jerusalem. The members of the Jewish Council were under the impression the important "house," as far as God was concerned, was the Temple of Herod in Jerusalem. They crucified Jesus because He did not fit into the religious politics that were part of the Temple.
The Council members were reproved by the Holy Spirit for their hardness of heart and unwillingness to abide in harmony with the will of the Spirit of God.
The Gospel of John contains many comments by Jesus stating the Father lives in Him, speaks in Him, works through Him.
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. (John 14:10)
The Lord Jesus is the Temple of God and God dwells and rests in Him. However, John 14:2 informs us that there are many dwellings in the Father's house. The Temple of God consists of many rooms, many abiding places. The Father and the Son desire to find Their rest in a great multitude of hearts, each of which has been fashioned into a holy of holies from which the Glory of God can shine.
Each true Christian is being fashioned as a room in the Body of Christ. Christ, Head and Body, is the Temple of God, the Father's eternal house. It does not matter whether we find ourselves in a cottage or a mansion, in Heaven or upon the earth, just as long as God in Christ has found rest in us and we have found rest in Him.
As God has His dwelling in Jesus, in like manner Christ and God desire to have Their dwelling in us: living in us, speaking in us, working through us, resting in us. This is the mystery of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (John 6:56,57; 14:23; Colossians 1:27).
There are two main aspects of the concept of Christ being in us. The first aspect is the entire re-creation of the Christian's personality—spirit, soul, and body (II Corinthians 5:17). The second aspect is the coming of the Persons of Christ and the Father to dwell in the re-created personality (John 14:23).
To be continued.