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The Daily Word of Righteousness
A Giant Step Forward, #29
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:3—NASB)
The Lord went to the cross, and then into Heaven, to prepare a place for us that we may be part of the eternal dwelling place of the Father.
The Lord then promised He would come and receive us so where He is, there we may be also.
Where Christ is, is at the right hand of the Father. According to the Scripture, this is where we are now.
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
We have died and a firstfruits of our life, our born-again inward nature, is at present hidden with Christ in God.
Now the Lord has come to us in the Spirit so Satan may be driven from the remainder of our personality.
Is there actually a coming of the Lord to His Church before He comes to the world?
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. (John 14:21)
The revelation of Christ to us depends on our keeping His commands. Perhaps this is why Satan has endeavored to introduce into Christian thinking the idea that it is not necessary for us to keep the commandments of Christ. We are saved by grace so it is not necessary we keep Christ's commands, it is maintained.
"I will love him and show Myself to him."
Our point of view is that after we are saved and filled with the Spirit of God, Jesus Christ comes to us in the spirit realm and deals with the bondages of sin in our life.
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" (John 14:22)
Obviously, we are speaking of a coming of Christ to His disciples prior to His appearing to the world.
Compare:
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:3—NASB)
(I did not use the New International Version rendering of the above verse because it appears the translators have inserted words in such a manner that it gives the impression Jesus is returning to take us to Heaven. Perhaps the translators were thinking traditionally. Other translations have rendered the Greek as "receive you to Myself," which I think is more in line with the meaning of John Fourteen.)
All of this is leading up to the New Testament verse that most clearly expresses the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles:
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)
To be continued.