Afterwords -- dwelling place
"My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Ezekiel 37:27)
January 23, 2023
Dear friends,
I've been thinking about the presence of God. The Father's house (John 14:1-3) is a wonderful place because the Father and his Son will be there. The kingdom of Christ will be a wonderful kingdom because of the reigning presence of Christ himself. Being God's temple is special because God's Spirit dwells in us (1 Cor 3:16). Heaven will be beautiful because God is there.
THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD. In the OT, King David yearned to find a dwelling place for God, a place where the Lord would be known and worshiped (Ps 132:5, 7, 13). This is the city of Jerusalem and Mount Zion, where the temple was built. This has been the hope of all redemptive history, that man and God might dwell together (Lev 26:11-12; Ezek 37:27; 2 Cor 6:16). NT believers await the return of the righteous King, the Son of David, who will bring the dwelling place of God from heaven to man forever (Rev 21:2-4, 23). The new heavens and new earth will be glorious, not only because it is a new creation, but because God's visible glory is there. Herman Bavinck wrote, "The heavenly Jerusalem is... the city of the living God, inasmuch as God is not just its architect but also makes it his home." (RD IV:719)
CONSIDER THESE VERSES...
"And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..." (Gen 3:8)
"The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms." (Deut 33:27)
"How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God." (Ps 84:1-2)
"My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." (Ezek 37:27-28)
"In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." (Eph 2:22)
"Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God." (Rev 21:3)
A QUESTION I MUST ASK MYSELF is, do I truly long for God's presence? Do I delight in his presence? Do I seek God himself or just the things he can give me? Do I reckon his presence to be true for me even now? God's presence, his dwelling with us now and forever, is the greatest blessing we can receive! Isaac Watts penned this in a hymn: "Within thy circling power I stand / On every side I find thy hand; Awake, asleep, at home, abroad, / I am surrounded still with God."
ON THE PASSING OF A FELLOW ELDER. This week our brother in the Lord, Dave Kenyon, has gone to be with the Lord. For many years he served as a pastor/elder at BCF, while also teaching full-time at Virginia Tech in Agricultural Economics. (He used to laugh at the term Ag-Econ, saying that it was a contradiction in terms -- that is, you don't really make any money by farming.) He was serious, however, about being a disciple of the Lord Jesus, and his messages were always convicting and practical. I came upon this quote recently and it encouraged me...
“Death does not tear the individual believer from his place in the Body of Christ. As in our human bodies each member is nourished by the same blood which at once gives life and unity to the entire organism, so in the Body of Christ the quickening Spirit flowing through every part gives life and unity to the whole. Our Christian brethren who have gone from our sight still retain their place in the universal fellowship. The Church is one, whether waking or sleeping, by a unity of life forevermore.” ― A.W. Tozer, Man the Dwelling Place of God.
READING AND SUCH.
-- Finished The Abolition of Man, by C. S. Lewis, and After Humanity, by Michael Ward. Also Time and Time Again, by Robert Silverberg.
-- "When Were Christians First Regarded as Intolerant Haters”? By Michael Kruger.
-- "Could genetic mutations in the concrete world of matter produce something nonphysical like an abstract thought?" Read 9 Proofs You’re More Than Matter.
-- "God loves to hear the loud outcries of needy souls. It is His delight to bestow favors. He is more ready to hear than you are to ask. The sun is not weary of shining, nor the fountain of flowing. It is God’s nature to keep His promises; therefore, go at once to the throne with, 'Do as You have said.'" (C. H. Spurgeon) Read "Put God's Promise into Circulation" here.
-- Malcolm Guite and Phil Keaggy talk about C. S. Lewis (while smoking pipes in a music studio). https://youtu.be/hCfeNgb6AEM
-- And happy National Handwriting Day! January 23 is the birthday of John Hancock, whose signature is well known. Here are "5 Reasons Writing By Hand Is Good For The Brain And For Well-Being."
FINAL QUOTE. “Be hard on yourself and easy on others. Carry your own cross but never lay one on the back of another.” (A.W. Tozer)
That's it for this week,
Sandy
Image credit: the watercolor painting above is "Villa Falconiere" (1907) by John Singer Sargent. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
