The Daily Word of Righteousness

That Which Is Perfect, #8

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22)

Each true Christian already has come to the city of God, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect. Mount Zion in the spirit realm very well may be a marvelous place in which to grow and minister. But all the while we are to be pressing toward that which is perfect—the fullness of God.

No doubt we shall make much progress during the thousand-year Kingdom Age. The perfecting of the Bride may be the main purpose for the Kingdom Age, the period prior to the descent of the perfected new Jerusalem, the unblemished Bride of the Lamb.

To be with the Lord Jesus where He is, is the supreme goal of the Christian pilgrimage.

And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. (John 14:4)

Jesus was returning to the Father, not merely to the spirit Paradise but to the Father. When the Lord stated that the disciples already knew the way, He may have been inviting their questioning, or He may be declaring that the desire to go to the Father resides deeply in every human heart; that we know instinctively that our goal is the Father.

We strive for so many things in life but there is rest and lasting joy and peace in none of them. It is only when we discover that our longing is to go to the Father that we have a chance to fulfill what actually is the deepest desire of our heart.

Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? (John 14:5)

The Lord Jesus was not able at this time to explain to His apostles that He was the eternal House of God and that they were to become rooms in that house. The men were separate personalities from Jesus. They could not abide in Him until He first was crucified and then rose from the dead. Christ is the Firstborn from the dead and His Church is named after that fact.

To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just [righteous] men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23)

The "church of the firstborn."

By being crucified and then resurrected the Lord Jesus is able to enter the personality of the believer. When the Lord enters the believer it is the eternal House of God entering the believer. The believer then becomes the habitation of God. He has been born from the dead.

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)

If the Lord Jesus had said, I am returning to Heaven, Thomas could have understood that. But there was no way Thomas at that time could comprehend the plan of God to build a great Temple for Himself. Such understanding was not possible until the Holy Spirit was given to us.

To be continued.