The Daily Word of Righteousness

I Will Come to You, #5

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9)

We know that Heaven is God's throne and the earth is God's footstool. In Christ, Heaven and earth are united. The footstool is joined to the throne. Christ sits on the throne, rests His feet on the footstool, and reigns over the creation of God.

But Heaven is not the house of God. Earth is not the house of God. Christ is the eternal House of God. There is no other house of God.

There are at least three houses of God mentioned in the Old Testament, and each of them typifies Christ: the Tabernacle of the Congregation, David's Tabernacle, and the Temple of Solomon. God dwelled for a season in these "temples made with hands" but never permanently in any human before Christ rose from the dead.

Since one of the central purposes in the creation of human beings is the construction of the eternal temple of God, the theme of the house of God appears in several places in the Scriptures.

Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? (Isaiah 66:1)

We humans have a natural inclination to want to build a temple for God. Peter desired to build three tabernacles. The building of the Tower of Babel is in every human personality.

The great question is, "Where is the house that ye build unto me?"

The Holy Spirit spoke through Stephen prior to his death:

But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? (Acts 7:47-49)

The house of God is a central issue of the Scriptures.

The New Testament writings answer this question. They state in several places that Christ is the House of God and that the saints are being fashioned into one living whole as an abiding place, a place of rest for the Father.

In the strictest sense it is only Christ who is the House of God. A human being can become a living stone in the eternal house of God only as Christ is formed in him and dwells in him. For the Father will abide and rest only in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Consider the following statements:

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)

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9)

God the Father dwells eternally in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the "Zion" in which God finds perfect rest. Christ is the House of God. There is no other house of God.

To be continued.