Where On Earth Does God Live? Hebrew Series * Hebrews 3.1-6
March 2, 2014 Chester FBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A There have been at least six houses across the years, four of them were patterned after the plans God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai.
1 The two most prominent figures of Jewish history are Abraham & Moses.
a Moses is mentioned 70 times in the New Testament.
aa Moses had divine protection/provision at his birth.
bb He was called dramatically through the miracle of the burning bush.
cc He was supernaturally empowered to confront Pharaoh.
dd He led the nation of Israel through the Red Sea to the border of the Promised Land.
b He was the person God chose to give the Law and the pattern for God’s first home on earth, the Tabernacle.
aa Moses authored the first 5 books of the Old Testament (Torah.)
bb He stands as a man of great faith & justifiably held in high regard by the Jews.
2 As great as Moses was, Paul wanted his audience to know that Jesus was greater than Moses.
a Moses was God’s servant; Jesus was God’s only Son.
b In Heb. 3.1-6, we’ll see some interesting information concerning the habitation of God.
B Hebrews 3:1-6 (NIV) 11 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
2 This message will tour the places that God has chosen to inhabit.
3 Pray
I God’s First House
A We know that God lived with Adam & Eve in the Garden, yet the first record of a dwelling built to host God’s presence was the Tabernacle built by Moses in the Wilderness wanderings.
1 The floor plan for the Tabernacle, along with the Law, were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
a The Tabernacle had three section
aa The Outer Court (Sacrifice)
bb The Inner Court (aka Holy Place) Shew bread, Menorah, Alter of Incense.
cc The Holy of Holies (Ark of Covenant, Mercy Seat)
b Annually, the High Priest would sprinkle blood on the top of the Mercy Seat for an annual dispensation of God’s grace over the Mercy Seat.
aa Over the Ark there was a perpetual glory cloud that manifested.
bb The cloud was called the Shekinah & would manifest when God was there.
cc Exodus 40:34 (NASB) 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
2 The dimensions & patterns of the Tabernacle were used in subsequent Temples that were built. (The Temples were permanent “Tabernacles.”)
a Solomon
2 Chronicles 7:12 (NASB) 12 Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
b Ezra
Haggai 1:8 (NASB) 8 "Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the LORD.
c Jesus called Herod’s Temple, “My Father’s House.”
John 2:16 (NASB) 16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business."
B One of the saddest pictures in the OT is the departure of shekinah from Solomon’s Temple in the Book of Ezekiel.
1 Jesus expressed His own grief concerning Herod’s Temple
Matthew 23:38 (NASB) 38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!
2 In every case of each house that God dwelt in, He moved out of these earthly houses.
a No matter how glorious, beautiful, opulent the houses were, God moved out.
b No matter how beautiful, big a sanctuary may be, it is no guarantee that His presence is there.
T.S. Multi-million dollar Temples don’t seem to impress God too much.
II God’s Faithful House
A The Lord Jesus called Himself a temple of God.
1 John 2:19-21 (NASB) 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
a The Tabernacle/Temple is where God chose to reveal His presence; His glory
b In Christ, as of no other, the glory of God dwelt on Him.
aa He was born of virgin (not contaminated with the seed of Adam.)
bb He was God living on the earth as He had never lived there before.
2 The day came when Jesus took the entire sins of the world upon Himself.
a Matthew 27:46 (NASB) 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
b Just as in each Temple before Messiah, when sin entered into the House of God His glory departed.
B Jesus had said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”
1 Many in Paul’s audience had came to believe & profess Jesus as Messiah (some really did, some just said the prayer.)
a These Born Again Jews were under intense persecution for embracing Jesus.
aa Some were giving in to pressure, now rejecting Jesus.
bb Going back to Levitical law/sacrifice, placing the prophets, angels, Temple worship/sacrifice, Moses/Abraham over Jesus.
b Paul tells his readers that Moses was a faithful servant of God; Jesus is the faithful Son of God.
aa Messiah built the house and Moses lived in the house.
bb Moses was a servant in the house, Jesus is the Son over the house.
bb Moses built a Tabernacle, Jesus was the Tabernacle.
2 BTW, the truth in this passage proves a powerful argument for Jesus’ deity.
a If God built all things, and Jesus Christ built God’s house, then Jesus must be God.
b You and I are serving, worshiping, living for the One True God!
aa Jesus wasn’t a lunatic or a liar . . . He is Lord.
bb Our God is greater, stronger, mightier, bigger than any other!
III God’s Final House
A (v.6) “ . . . whose house we are,”
1 God has a brand new house in which to live, Christians.
a Ephesians 2:19-22 (NASB) 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
b Paul tells us that we are God’s building:
1 Corinthians 3:9 (NASB) 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
2 He has also said . . .
a 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NASB) 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
b In 1 Timothy, we find that the house of God is the church, the people of God.
1 Timothy 3:15 (NASB) 15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
aa This building is not the church . . . WE are the church.
bb IL. Young man wearing a ball cap entered the sanctuary. An usher was told by a deacon, “Go tell that man that we don’t allow hats in church.” The usher said, “Sir, in all due respect, the hat is on the church.”
c 1 Peter 2:5 (KJV) 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
B God has moved into a house to stay because tonight, He lives in the
hearts of His people on earth!
1 As His home on earth, we are superior to the house that was Moses Tabernacle.
a Hebrews 3:1 (NASB) 1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;
aa “partakers” means “partnership.” (Same word used in Hebrews 1.9, meaning companions’; Luke 5.7 uses the partners’)
Hebrews 1:9 (NASB) 9 "YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS."
Luke 5:7 (NASB) 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.
bb We are co-laborers, associates, co-worker with Christ.
b The same word describes our partnership with Christ in suffering.
1 Peter 1:4 (NASB) 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
aa Also are partners in His divine nature.
2 Peter 1:4 (NASB) 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
bb And in His inheritance.
Colossians 1:12 (NASB) 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
2 Because we are His house, we are to make Him the object of our affection & attention.
a Whether things are going good or bad.
aa Hebrews 3:6 (NASB) 6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
bb You can tell a person is a Christian, not because they said a prayer one time, but if they hold to their decision.
cc Paul is saying that if they hold their course in life along the lines of their present profession, that would show that they are saved.
b If they veered away from that course, that would show that they never had been saved & that their profession of Messiah had been not one of the heart but of the head.
Conclusion:
A We’ve looked at the Houses of God.
1 His First House, House of Faith, & His forever house.
a God’s presence will NEVER again leave the House of Faith (Jesus.)
b He has never, nor will He ever leave the church to be without His presence.
2 His favorite house is within our hearts!
a Ephesians 3:17 (NASB) 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
b God wants to live in our lives, our hearts can be His house, but He will only come in by invitation.
Romans 10:9 (NASB) 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
B IL. College, there was rule regarding over-night guests in the dorms.
1 My buddy, Matt Berning, came to see me while I was at SBU.
a We snuck him in, snuck him out. Hush, Hush.
b I wonder how many people treat Jesus like a secret house guest?
aa Only let Him come in contact with certain people, at set locations & times.
bb He doesn’t want to be snuck in & out!
2 Matt. 19.32,33
a Tonight, if you have not invited Him to live in the house of your heart, will you ask Him too?
b Maybe you’ve not given full access to your heart/home.
c Let this be the moment you unlock all the doors and give Him the keys, deed to your heart.
Invitation
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Mike Fogerson
