The House of God VII: Conduct Fitting the House

The House of God VII: Conduct Fitting the House

2 Timothy 2:19 - 22

To end the series on the house of God let us examine how to live in the house of God. By the renewing of our minds, God is transforming us into his likeness. He is perfecting the vessels in his house for the house agenda (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Paul compared life in the house of God to that of a great house (2 Timothy 2:19 – 22). The house  is so great that you do not live in it anyhow. Being born into a great house puts you on the spot light.   The ‘paparazzi’ come after you. You have a reputation to keep, privileges to enjoy and responsibilities to carry out. Believers are born into such a house. Humanity is watching with high expectations (Ephesians 3:9).  Heaven is watching with great support. Hell is also watching helplessly, puzzled by the manifold wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10).

A house can be great by its extraordinary nature,  by its history of significant contributions, by its destiny, by its wealth, by whose it is, by the children it raises, by its good governance, order and the remarkable experience it gives. The house of God has all these characteristics and more. It has qualities that are above ordinary.  Let us look at three highlights.

>> A Sure Foundation

Great architects design great houses. God does great things.  His house has a sure foundation (Isaiah 28:16; 2 Timothy 2:9) and is according to God’s plan. It is built to last. It  is able to withstand any pressure. God is the foundation, designer and builder. For no other foundation can man lay than that already in place, which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). Members of the house are born into it by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8). They live by faith in Gods word, and power from the name of Jesus, prayer and dependence on the Holy Spirit.

>> A Holy Ground

Do you realize the greatness of the house to which you belong?   ‘Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil (Ecclesiastes 5:1; Habakkuk 2:20).’  We also learn from Exodus 3:5 that God meets with his people on holy ground. When Moses met with God at the bush that had flames but was not burning, God warned him not to get any closer without taking off his sandals for the place was holy ground. The house of God is holy ground where God’s presence abides.  It is the place where humanity can experience God. With his sandals on, Moses could only get close to God to a point and no further. In a similar way, we also can get to know God only so far without removing from our lives things that keep us from following God more intimately. Shoes represent the attitudes, sins and weights, which hinder you from drawing to God near enough (Hebrews 12:1-3). Taking off shoes can be laying aside pride. Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mathew 5:3).  Taking off shoes can also signify being careful to walk worthily before God. Paul wrote to Timothy the importance of learning how to behave in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (I Timothy 3:15, 16). The great house has manners and protocols to be observed. Also, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3).

>> A High Value Opportunity

The realization of the greatness of God’s house is key in deciding worthy conduct in the house (Ephesians 2:19; 1 Corinthians 3:9). Your attitude and behavior in the house of God determines your role in the house. A great house does not have vessels of honor only. It has a wide range of vessels. Some are vessels of honor/high value and others are vessels of dishonor/low value to God’s agenda (2 Timothy 2:19-21).  Unlike the vessels in a lesser house that are only of low value. The house has vessels meet for the master’s use and unfitting vessels. People in the house are at different levels of maturity, faith, and knowing God. In a great house, there is opportunity to be of high value so why settle for less. All members of the house have the potential to be great but are not necessarily great. ‘The Lord knows those who are his. Let everyman who names the name of the lord purge himself from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19; 2 Corinthians 4:6, 7).’  A great house has opportunity for honor and greatness that is non-existent in a lesser house. Members can determine what they become by their faith in the house especially their attitude towards sin. So if someone cleanses himself of such behavior, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

Purify yourself from doubt, fear, worry, anxiety, and bitterness. ‘Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Timothy 2:20, 21).  How you live in the great house determines how much of its greatness you enjoy. You are called to greatness. God promised to Abraham with whom we share God’s blessing, ‘And I will make of thee  a great  nation , and I will bless  thee, and make  thy name  great  ; and thou shalt be a blessing’ (Genesis 12:2). He also promised, ‘I will be your exceeding great reward (Genesis 15:1)’. The promises we have in Christ are exceedingly great. ‘Whereby  are  given unto us  exceeding great and  precious  promises : that  by  these  ye might be  partakers  of the divine nature , having escaped  the corruption  that is in  the world  through  lust (2 Peter 1:4).’

You are safe and fruitful in the house with a sure foundation. God is inviting his people to take off their shoes and seek him. He is calling them to desire to be of higher value to God’s purposes, people who diligently endeavor to be vessels of honor, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use. Let your heart cry out like the Psalmist’s, ‘How lovely are your dwellings, Yahweh of Hosts! My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God (Psalm 84; 92:13).

[This message is the seventh and final among several in a series of messages on the house of God. The series raises awareness of the importance of belonging and fully participating in the life of a local church.]

Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.

Faith Ministries – Johannesburg Faith Life Center.

Ground and First Floors Sunset Bay Building,

204B Bram Fischer drive,

Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

The House of God VI: The House Agenda

The House of God VI: The House Agenda 

Text: Ephesians 3:7 – 11

That I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ;  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ (verses 8b, 9)

The house of God is about stewardship of the glory of God on earth. The Bible is about the loss and restoration of God’s glory on earth. Throughout the Bible, the glory of God distinguishes his house and his people from others. God’s glory comes from knowing him as revealed in his word. The agenda of the house is for God’s people to share God’s glory in the form of his tangible presence, character attributes and power with all people. The agenda is to share God’s goodness and love. The house is therefore not only a reservoir but also an attractive display and distributor of God’s love and a pillar of truth in the world (1 Timothy 3:15; Mathew 5:14-16; 28:19-20; Mark 11:17). God’s dream is an earth filled with the glory of the knowledge of him (Habakkuk 2:14).  Christ fulfills the glory by inhabiting his people. As stated by Paul, ‘Christ in you the hope of glory’ (Ephesians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 2:7-8). That is the mystery hidden from the foundations of the world. The glory was given to the church so that it can be to the world and to God.

The Hebrew word ‘kabawd’ refers to evidence of honor, praise, splendor and abundance. In reference to God, it is something of divine presence, divine encounter, divine nature or divine power. God’s presence provides his people with provisions for their needs and responsibilities. We need God all the time. For example, when in face of temptations and trials, when we are weary and need strength, when we need a hand to hold us, a shoulder to lean and a back to climb on.  Through his strength, even though challenged in life, we are neither corrupted nor conquered.

The relationship of God with humanity can be traced from the garden to the city - the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2, 3) to the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21).  From the garden to the city, God makes provisions to be on earth with the people he created. Let us trace the house:

In the Garden

God was present with Adam and Eve. In the cool of the day, they would fellowship (Genesis 3:8). Adam and Eve enjoyed God’s glory and it was their covering. The glory gave them dignity and marked right standing with God. They were very free to enjoy the fullness of God. They occupied a position of authority that gave them dominion over earth. They had ability to multiply and replenish. They were healthy and lacked nothing. Their experience gives us an idea of what God desires for his house.

Adam and Eve failed in their stewardship of the glory of God by disobedience regarding the tree of knowing good and evil (Genesis 3).  God however promised to restore the glory (Genesis 3:15).

As the Tabernacle

In exodus 25:8, God spoke to Moses ‘"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8). Prior to this time God related to his people like Abraham through visitations for specific purposes. Now it would no longer be visitation but accompaniment. The tabernacles of Moses and that of David were tent structures that housed the Ark of the Covenant and were portable. It was designed for migration so that they could advance and take territory. When the tabernacle was dedicated, God’s glory came down in the form of a cloud (Ex. 40:33-35). The glory distinguished the house and marked it as of God. The tabernacle made it possible for God’s people to relate with God and to enjoy his prosperity (2 Samuel 6:12).

Stewardship of this glory was not without challenges. At times, the ark was taken to captivity and the glory lost – ikabod.

As the Temple

When the children of Israel had reached the promised land and were no longer migrating as before, they built a house for God in a fixed location. Araunah the Jebusite’s threshing floor occupied the location before David bought it. David regretted that he lived in a house of cedar while God lived in a tent. God appointed David’s son, Solomon, to build the house. Solomon built a magnificent temple whose splendor and that of his kingdom attracted the attention of the world.  When the temple was dedicated, God’s glory filled it endorsing it was God’s (1 King 7:51; 8:10-13).

This temple is best known for an era of peace and prosperity. The people of God at their destination were enjoying the land of promise. Gold was abundant and flowing in all the time from the nations and from the gold fields of Ophir. 

Stewardship of this glory was also a challenge. Israel lost the glory when they were taken to captivity because of sin and the temple had to be rebuilt two times – by Ezra, Zerubbabel and Joshua, and much later on by King Herod. 

As the Church

Each impression of God’s house seemed to serve a purpose and to enhance the evidence of glory from the earlier one. God promised through the prophets that a time would come when he will live in a house not made by human hands. In which his law will not be on tablets of stone but written on people’s hearts. The prophecies are fulfilled in the church collectively and as individual believers (Ephesians 2:2). In it, the purposes of the migration and temple eras are fulfilled with ability for much greater impact.  The ark can no longer be taken captive by the enemy and the people can no longer be taken away from a temple. God inhabits his people. The ark is no longer confined to one location.  It is no longer a time for visitations but habitation and no longer a time for migration but of exaltation. Believers are highly exalted to sit with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 1, 2) far above evil principalities. They are not seeking to conquer because Jesus Christ completed the conquest. Now it is time to receive from Father God.

The glory of God also came down at the launch of the church in the form of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 1-4).  The Glory did not exclude the priests from entering the temple but filled the priests for their work because they had become the temple.  Through Christ, believers gained the divine nature and God shared in humanity. The metaphors of the church all suggest closeness of relationship between God and his people - a body, a people of God, a family, a flock, a bride, the elect, a vine and branches, and other concepts.

The glory in the church far exceeds that of the tabernacles and temples (2 Corinthians 3:7-11).  The glory is however in earthen vessels and relies on the willingness of the earthen vessels to break (2 Corinthians 4:7).  Stewardship of the earlier houses faltered. How will we steward the greater glory we have as the church. Will all people see and hear the good news of Christ.

In the City

The dominion that was lost in the garden is to be restored fully in the great city. The New Jerusalem will fully express the final triumph we already have in Christ. The cross of Christ already has made the provision we can enjoy the abundant life of the New Jerusalem now. It will however reach its consummation at the end of time. It will usher in the final abode of God with his people for eternity (Revelation 3:11-12; 21:23. The glory once departed now restored.  We will dwell the house in forever with the Lord (Psalm 23:6).  It will be the city without limitations (Zechariah 2:2-5). The Lord will be wall of fire surrounding it and will be the light and sufficiency of it.

What will you do with what you have received from God? We have received in order to show and share - that all may see the goodness of God. That is the agenda of the house of God. What will you do to share Christ and show his love this week?

[This message is the sixth among several in a series of messages on the house of God. The series raises awareness of the importance of belonging and fully participating in the life of a local church.]

Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.

Faith Ministries – Johannesburg Faith Life Center.

Ground and First Floors Sunset Bay Building,

204B Bram Fischer drive,

Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa