{"id":229,"date":"2018-07-14T18:27:06","date_gmt":"2018-07-14T15:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/endtimecog.org\/html\/?p=229"},"modified":"2018-07-14T18:27:06","modified_gmt":"2018-07-14T15:27:06","slug":"the-everlasting-dwelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/endtimecog.org\/html\/the-everlasting-dwelling\/","title":{"rendered":"THE EVERLASTING DWELLING"},"content":{"rendered":"

As He was about to leave the earth back to heaven, Christ<\/a> told His disciples that He is going to heaven, to prepare a place for us- John.14:1-3. When, nearly all people read this verse, what comes to their understanding is that, Christ is right now building rooms for each one of us up there. Is this understanding right? Yes, is it true that Christ is building cubes for everyone who believes in Him, the like of what we normally build down here on earth? When we study keenly, what we see in the bible, which Christ is building in heaven, is not houses of the earthly type which we normally build. Brethren, if we will understand the dwellings which Christ is building now, we must allow the bible to explain it to us. This, we will do by following the godly given instructions on how to study it, that is, \u201c\u2026scripture upon scripture, scripture upon scripture,\u2026.here a little, there a little-Isa.28:9-11\u201d. <\/strong>By so doing, we will avoid adding to , or subtracting from God\u2019s word, which also brings a misinterpretation of the bible, and a misrepresentation of what God is teaching us-Prov.30:6; Ecles.3:14. With that said, let\u2019s now Read John. 14:2.\u201c In my father\u2019s house are many rooms\u2026\u2026. I go to prepare a place for you?\u201d <\/strong>We know where Christ is right now, but do we know what He is building, which he told the disciples about? Let\u2019s not be rushy in answering, and neither use our sensual minds to try and reason. Let\u2019s follow the guide of scriptures as instructed and hear Christ Himself giving us an answer, for He is that written word, the scriptures-John.1:1,14; Rev.19:13. If we will know those rooms He is building, it is important that we understand exactly what work He is doing right now in heaven. Reading the scriptures, we are told that, \u201cNow the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the heavenly majestHeb.8:1\u201d. <\/strong>Here, it is very plain that, Christ is right now doing the work of a priest, yes, He is our right now high priest, who officiates from heaven, not from down here. This means, the buildings he is preparing are being done through that priesthood work, for that is exactly the service He is busy with. We know that the work of a priest is to reconcile people to God, by way of teaching them, for it is written, \u201cTrue instructions are in His mouth, and no wrong is found in his lips. He walks with me in peace and uprightness, and turns many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and men should seek instructions from His mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of host-Mal.2:6-7\u201d. <\/strong>We all know that, God wants a man who is,a spirit being like Himself that he may rule upon the earth-Gen.1:26. But His creation is a process that is going through three stages before completion (Our message, \u201cMan\u2019s creation process<\/a>\u201d has details). We also do agree that, this physical bodies are the first stage in that creation process, and that, man was deceived and diverted from the process at this stage, which discontinued it, separating him from God-Isa.59:1-2; Acts.14:16. Afterwards, God did send His messenger who came and reminded man why God created him and what He wants to make of us, which is the very purpose of this physical life-Eph.3:9-10( our message, \u201c why the physical bodies?<\/a>\u201d, will explain more). Therefore, for those who hear this message being proclaimed by Christ(the gospel), and accept it, they also begin to learn to live according to its guidelines. This brings us to the answer of our question, that is, what work Christ is doing in heaven as a high priest. Seeing that the second stage in man\u2019s creation process is to develop God\u2019s knowledge and character, which can be possible only if man learns from God, and here he is, accepting a lie and learning from Satan, the knowledge he acquired by which, he developed the right now character, was a lie, thus becoming like Satan himself. So, the second creation stage did not pick up. Had man chosen to listen to God, God would gone into that stage. Therefore, those who through Christ\u2019s gospel, discover that lie, do go back to their creator, and God picks up His man\u2019s creation work from where He had left it, for there is no other person who can do it-Psalm.127:1. This is where the work of Christ\u2019s priesthood comes in, with \u201c God pleading with us in Christ Jesus, that we be reconciled to Him-2 Cor.5:20\u201d. <\/strong>Let\u2019s now connect things please. Knowing that, God wants in Jesus Christ, to finish creating man, and this, to those who accept His message, who also have known what God is doing in their lives, they are here yearning for that completion saying, \u201c For we know that, if our earthly tent(the physical body) is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens- 2 Cor.5:1\u201d. <\/strong>This clarifies the fact that, this physical life is not the end of man\u2019s creation, for it is said to perish. Even then, we have been promised another heavenly body which does not perish, which, all those who accept Christ\u2019s message understand and look forward to for \u201c while in this tents( the physical), we sigh with anxiety; not that we be unclothed, but that we be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life-2 Cor.5:4\u201d. <\/strong>The truth is, all those who believe God in Christ Jesus do enter into the second stage in Man\u2019s creation process, where God is imparting His knowledge in man\u2019s mind, and\u00a0 God\u2019s Character which forms his behaviour, fulfilling what He promised saying, \u201c I will write my laws in their hearts and, in their minds, I will inscribe them-Jerem.31:33\u201d. <\/strong>This is the work Christ is doing in heaven, but doing it in men down here on earth, \u201c for\u00a0 building up the body of Christ, until we all attain\u2026.the knowledge of the son of God, to mature manhood—Eph.4:12-13\u201d. <\/strong>\u00a0Adding weight to that, our Lord through peter says, \u201cand like living stones, be yourselves build into spiritual houses- 1 Pet.2:5\u201d. <\/strong>This proves beyond doubt that, what Christ is building in heaven as our high priest is , developing God\u2019s mind and character in men who accept His gospel, and this being the second stage in man\u2019s creation process. Christ\u2019s building begins when one gets baptized, for he\u201c\u2026 receives the holy spirit-Acts.2:38-39\u201d. <\/strong>\u00a0From that point, the work of, \u201c putting off the old nature which is corrupted by following deceitful fleshly mind, and the putting on the new nature, which is being created in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness( godly mind and character) begins-Eph.4:22-24\u201d. <\/strong>From here, we begin to speak the truth in love, and to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ-Eph.4:15\u201d; 1 pet.2:2. <\/strong>So now, with all this said, how exactly is this building being done in us while being worked from heaven? We will liken it with a builder who, in order to build a concrete pillar does join timber together in the shape of the pillar he wants, leaving a hollow in which, after mixing cement with concrete, he pours it into the hollow. When it dries up, he removes the timber, and remains with a very strong concrete pillar, which is the exact shape of the timber-pillar he began with. In this same way, we know that in this physical body ( just like the timber), God created us in His image-Gen.1:27, meaning, though spiritual, he is formed like us-Rev.1:14-16. So, because He wants somebody who is like Him, it means that this physical bodies are shaped like the spiritual ones, just like the timber-pillar was shaped like the concrete one which is the intention of the timber, and which must replace it at last. It is this spiritual body which Christ is building in us while in heaven, \u201c\u2026until Christ be formed in us-Gal.4:19\u201d. <\/strong>To the extent that someone commits himself and pursues this godly life by obeying what he learns, God also builds his knowledge and character in him. That way, a person begins to grow from this corrupt life, and grows into the eternal godly one, resembling that likeness of God, from one degree of glory to another which is from the Lord who is spirit-2Cor.3:18\u201d. <\/strong>This is the work Christ is doing in heaven as our high priest in the most holy place ( the heavenly temple), \u2026..a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord-Heb.8:2-3. <\/strong>If we read further, we fully confirm that Christ is building in us those spiritual bodies because, He is sanctifying us, by cleansing us with water through the word; that he may present us(the church) to Himself in splendour-Eph.5:26.<\/strong>Citing the example in the old covenant, which is a type of the present one, when the high priest entered into the most holy place(once a year), the whole congregation( the then church) of Israel used to stand outside, surrounding the tent and fasting until the priest comes out, and places his hands on the head of the Azazel goat and sends it into the wilderness-Lev.16:20-22. In the same way, those who now believe in Christ are living in a spiritual kind of fast( continual denial of self), having their eyes fully fixed on Christ and their minds fully tied in His word( doing it), until when Christ will come out of the heavenly tent, for he tells us, \u201cset your minds on things above, not on things that are on earth(the physical). For you died and your lives are hid with Christ in God( living heavenly life though on earth in the physical)-col.3:2-3\u201d. <\/strong>It\u2019s only those who will dwell in the word, learning to do everything like God ,who will be built to completion, and made exactly like God, for we must be like Him-1 Pet.1:16; Mat.5:48. Yes, even though we are here on earth, we don\u2019t lead a earthly life, nor live according to this physical bodies, for God did not create us for these bodies but that, in them, He may create the spiritual imperishable ones. If we look into the whole bible, we don\u2019t see any other work Christ is doing now in heaven, except that of creating man to make him a spirit being (a god). But this will happen only to those who have resolved to live by His word only. Beware of Satan through his agents, who are deceiving men to believe that, they are like God, and all they are waiting for is to go to heaven when Christ comes and dwell in those houses which He is building now. This is the lie that makes almost all human beings not to see the need to study the bible and understand, and live that life which God is teaching, and which is what He is creating in us right now. This physical body was created to be God\u2019s temple that, He may dwell in it and further man\u2019s creation to end up with a spirit being- 1 Cor.3:9, 17, for right now, \u201c we are His work-Eph.2:10\u201d, \u201c putting on the new nature, being renewed to be like his own-col.3:10\u201d. <\/strong>\u00a0So now, since what Christ is doing is to further man\u2019s creation till he makes him a spirit being like Himself-Gen.1:26, it obliges every one of us to use this physical in learning to live like God as taught by His word, for this is the holiness without which, no one will see Him-Heb.12:14. Even though we are not clearly told how this change of bodies will happen, we know for sure that, those who will commit their lives fully to God this time and be fully developed to perfection, when Christ returns, \u201c.. He will change our vile bodies that they be like His glorious one-Phil.3:21\u201d. <\/strong>So, though Christ is doing this work up there in heaven, He is doing it within us just as we have seen with the timber-pillar in which is created a more firm and stronger one of concrete. This because, when He comes, \u201c in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet,\u2026. The dead will be raised imperishable, and the living will be changed to an imperishable body-1 Cor.15:52-53\u201d. <\/strong>Christ\u2019s physical life on this earth is the is the only example we have, of the course that we will take before we are made complete. We see how, after He was perfected, after dying, He was resurrected with a spirit body( the heavenly one). This happened because in His entire physical life, \u201cHe learned obedience through what He suffered just like we need to do now)\u2026 until He was perfected-Heb.5:7-8\u201d. <\/strong>\u00a0This resurrection or, being changed to imperishable bodies is the third and last stage in man\u2019s creation process. It is here that God will have accomplished His desire of creating a man who is like Him, and He will give him rulership over the earth forever and ever. It is also here that Christ will have finished the work He is doing in heaven now. This is why, He will leave the heavenly temple, and come down to the earth, fulfilling what He promised saying, \u201c I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also-John.14:3\u201d. <\/strong>Dear brethren, I believe to this far, the preparation Christ is doing, the mansions He is preparing in heaven are now known to those who have keenly followed this message. Christ is building the spiritual bodies( heavenly tents) in this physical bodies of flesh and blood. I know, most of us may not be knowing the meaning of worshiping God in spirit and truth- John.4:24. Lets understand please. During the old-covenant temple, God used to appear before the high priest in the most holy place. The priest used to go and tell the congregation (church) what God has said. This same arrangement is the one being used in this new covenant. The only difference is that, the priest- Christ, who is telling us what God is saying, is not with us here on earth, but in the heavenly temple. So, we are joined with Him through His holy spirit which He has given us. This is why He tells us that, \u201cHe (God) has raised us up with him in the heavenly places, in Christ-Eph.2:6\u201d,\u00a0 a reason why, though on earth, \u201c our citizenship is in heaven-Phil.3:20\u201d. <\/strong>Though on earth, we are being instructed from heaven, \u201c..from mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem-Isa.2:3; Gal.4:26; Heb.12:22-23\u201d. <\/strong>For this reason, if anybody is desirous of this heavenly body( dwelling) which Christ is preparing now, he\/she must be joined with Him in His word,\u00a0 being very careful to, \u201c walk in exactly the same way Christ walked-1 John.2:6; 1 pet.2:21-22\u201d. <\/strong>It\u2019s by this way of living His word that, Christ is preparing, or rather building the spiritual body in us. Because He himself understood the purpose of this physical body,, when He lived in it, He never bothered about it, nor minded about shame, but, \u201cendured the cross, and despised shame-Heb.12:2(<\/strong>and by so doing, He developed God\u2019s mind and character, and god crowned Him), and as a result, he is sited at the right hand of the throne of God-Heb.12:2\u201d. <\/strong>Since God wants to create those bodies for us so that, once perfected like Christ, we may rule the earth forever, and Christ has come and taught, as well as shown in deeds how we can arrive at that goal, then it behoves us to take that example and imitate Him, for it is written, \u201c Look to Christ, the pioneer and perfector of our faith, who, because of the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, and despised shame-Heb.12:2-3; 1 pet.2:21-22\u201d. <\/strong>Dear brothers and sharers of this great invitation, the promise to those who will share with Christ in being build into this spiritual life is that same one which God gave to Christ, for they, \u201c shall be given eternal life and immortality, and shall be given to sit with Christ on His throne in the same way He was given to sit on God\u2019s throne- Rom.2:7; 1 Cor.15:52-53; Rev.3:21( <\/strong>our message, \u201c are you a Christian?<\/a>\u201d, of added information)\u201d. <\/strong>Who therefore among us is given to understand what our Lord and king is telling us here? Who desires to be led by the truth till he arrives at this promise? If you are one of them, then what you are reading here is the sure information from your maker.Let\u2019ssubmit ourselves to Christ by living according to His instructions, and He will surely prepare this everlasting dwelling for us, and we will inherit and reign in God\u2019s kingdom with Him forever and ever- Dan.2:44; 7:27(for more info, read our message, \u201cWill you go to heaven?<\/a>\u201d). He who has ears, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the Church.\u00a0 This is coming to you from your Lord and King, Christ through His sent servant, THE ENDTIME CHURCH OF GOD.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As He was about to leave the earth back to heaven, Christ told His disciples that He is going to heaven, to prepare a place for us- John.14:1-3. When, nearly all people read this verse, what comes to their understanding is that, Christ is right now building rooms for each one of us up there….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nTHE EVERLASTING DWELLING - End-time Church of God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/endtimecog.org\/html\/the-everlasting-dwelling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"THE EVERLASTING DWELLING - End-time Church of God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As He was about to leave the earth back to heaven, Christ told His disciples that He is going to heaven, to prepare a place for us- John.14:1-3. 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