5/28/2019

The first mention of the House of God is found in Genesis 28:17 speaking of Bethel.

• Bethel means House of God.

 ‘And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”’  Genesis 28:17

• A House of God is a place where Heaven comes to earth.
• A House of God is the gate of Heaven.

Doors and gates are the same thing.

“Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.”  Psalm 24:7

• Jesus is the door. 

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”  John 10:9

• This means that Jesus is also the gate.
• We are everything that Jesus is.
• (Everything up to that line that separates the Creator from those who He created.)
• We are gates. 

Both individuals and ecclesias are spoken of in scripture as being Houses.

• Individuals – “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”                       2 Corinthians 5:1
• Ecclesias – “These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”  1 Timothy 3:14-15

Both the Tabernacle and the Temple are called the House of God.

• The Tabernacle – “Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God.” Judges 20:18
• The Temple – “So David commanded to gather the aliens who were in the land of Israel; and he appointed masons to cut hewn stones to build the house of God.”             1 Chronicles 22:2

Jesus was speaking of New Jerusalem when He spoke of His Father’s House.

 “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.”  John 14:2

• “Mansions” is better translated “dwelling places”.
• A dwelling place is a place where man lives (dwells) within God.
• In this case that dwelling place is a place where man dwells within God in a heavenly place.

When Jesus came to earth he tabernacled amongst us.

• He was the House of God in our midst.
• He was functioning as a heavenly gate bringing heaven to earth. 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14 

When we become a fully functioning House of God we are New Jerusalem come down to earth.

• We function as the gate of heaven.
• Bringing heaven down to earth.
• We do this both as ecclesias and as individuals.

Now, see this familiar passage of scripture with new eyes.

‘Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.’  The Revelation of Jesus Christ 21:2–13,  22-26

• See the walls of New Jerusalem.
• See the gates of New Jerusalem.
• See Jesus, the Lamb of God as the Light of New Jerusalem.

Once fully prepared, we come down out of heaven as the House of God.

• We function as the House of God dwelling amongst men.
• We are the Gate of Heaven.
• We are heavenly realms come to earth dwelling in the midst of men.
• As the House of God we are the Light of the World.
• This is true both of us as individuals and of us as ecclesias.

What else do you see?

• Use this page and this scripture as a door into Encounter.