Chapter Eleven
Today’s church should ask themselves this question, when is a house not a house? In responding to this question, we should ask ourselves and consider all that Jesus Christ is and what He has done for us. We must see that as our Apostle, He is God’s representative to His people and as our High Priest, He is the people’s representative to God. We should also understand that Jesus Christ is worth much more glory than was Moses because Moses was merely a servant, and but a member of the house of natural Israel. In contrast, as God, Jesus Christ is both the builder of and the Lord of His own House. He is the fulfillment of all that Moses could only foreshadow.
Heb. 3:1-6 declares,
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful to all His house. For this Man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath built the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is built by some man, but He that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over His own house; Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end”.
Again, we ask this question, when is a house not a house? Gen. 7:1 says,
“And the Lord said unto Noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation”.
Was God telling Noah to piece by piece tear down His dwelling place, his man-made house, and put it into the ark? No, when God was speaking to Noah concerning his house, He was declaring that the house which he was referring to and had built within this earth realm was not something that he lived in but rather “a way of life.” This “way of life”, that Noah had chosen to live was one that separated him from the life styles of the multitudes living around him. Noah chose to live a life that was one of righteousness, faith, grace, and obedience. How did the rest of the world live? They lived a way of life, a life-style also called a house, which was one that was patterned after sin, rebellion, wickedness, debauchery and idolatry.
Meaning that the world around Noah had built for themselves a house, a way of life, one they dwelt among and pursued with their corrupted hearts. With us knowing that the world’s way of life, which they of Noah’s time lived in, was one that God destroyed by the flood. Note, that if Noah’s house had also been destroyed along with the rest of the world, his way of life would have also perished. Nevertheless, Noah, because of righteousness in the saving of his house, brought judgment to the rest of the world, along with their lifestyles. Heb. 11:7,
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house [way of life]; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith“.
Is God, in our generation, likewise speaking to us of things not yet seen? Again, the question to ask, when is a house not a natural wood and brick house? When it is a human body, a place of habitation for the spirit. That is, becoming a realm or way of life, a place in which God desires to dwell according to His nature.
Abraham and his household also became an example as they multiplied to become the House of Israel. In them, God established a way of life through Abraham that God desired to set in the earth. In this way of life, Israel became the people known as God’s people. Gen. 18:19,
“For I [God] know him, that he [Abraham] will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of Him”.
These, the household of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were the house which God had chosen to build for Himself as a dwelling place. God desired to bring forth, out from Himself, a people in which to manifest His image and to continue from generation to generation manifesting His God life within and upon the earth. How then was it that God built the house of Israel? It was not with hammer and nails, but by birthing unto Jacob twelve sons that were to carry on in living the revealed God life upon the earth. These twelve sons were to become a way of life that was to be established and manifested through them to eventually affect all the earth.
Likewise, along with Ruth, Boaz’ seed built the house that the Lord would give him through Ruth. Ruth 4:12-13,
“And let thy house be like the house of Pharez whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. So, Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bares a son.”
Know that while Israel was one house, meaning that all twelve tribes were one. Also, within the house of Israel were twelve houses, with each son being a house from himself for God. Understanding is necessary to know that the Bible makes it very plain, that when speaking of a “house”, it is not speaking of a building to go into, to eat and sleep in, but is speaking of a way of life. Their life-style was to become a way of life, revealing God and becoming a habitation or manifesting life-style for those who are also willing to enter this covenant of the Lord.
What kind of house is it that God is building in our day? In John 14:1-2 we read,
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
In this scripture, the word “mansions” speaks of “abiding places.” Thus, speaking to us of the fact that the Fathers house is a way of life, a mansion or way of life in which the many are to participate in. What is it that you see when speaking of the Father’s house? Do you see golden streets with beautiful mansions, with the Father’s being the largest?
One thing we must always consider, that God is a Spirit. This means that no one physical structure, ever built in heaven or on the earth, could ever completely contain Him. In seeing this truth, do we need to worry that we will lose our beautiful large free mansion in the sky? The answer is no, because we never had one. When Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many dwellings (mansions),” He is referring to, as with Jacobs sons so also with God’s sons, the first-fruits many member body of Christ. Each son is a house or dwelling place for God’s way of life to dwell in and through. Like Jacob’s sons, each son was different, with different promises and ministries, but they were all the House of Israel.
In truth, we must understand what the truth here is. First, that there is a realm of life where God lives, and it is in that realm or way of life that He makes His habitation. Secondly, that it is in this realm of the Spirit that God is preparing a place for us. John 14:3,
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also".
This is saying that we shall live in the same realm of life, that certain manifesting life-style, that God lives in.
What does this mean, “That where I am, there you may be also”? Consider this; we have had an old house or way of life that we have dwelt in and been influenced by, it ruled over us. Our old house was a house of death, pain, sickness, sin, doubts, fears, loneliness, tears, tormenting spirits, religious confusions with misunderstandings as well as all manner of human difficulties. However, our new house or way of life is to be a place of eternal victory and glory, born of God and reproducing His life in the earth through our house or a way of life. Meanwhile we are inheriting all things according to God’s word. This means for us that each one shall have a prepared house, a way of life consisting of a ministry and a realm of dominion in the Father’s house. To this, we say yea and amen.