* FATHER'S HOUSE *
Jesus, the Pattern Son; the household of faith, the Body of Christ
SCRIPTURES: Lk. 6:48; Jn. 14:2, 23; 2 Cor. 5:1; Gal. 6:10; Eph. 2:19-22; Col. 1:19; 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:15.
The "father's house" is the house that the father lives in. "House" is from the Greek "oikia" (Strong's #3614) which means "residence (abstractly), but usually (concretely) an abode (literally or figuratively); by implication a family (especially domestics)." Compare "oikos," translated in the King James Version as "home, house, household, temple." Note also the word "mone" (Strong's #3438) which means "a staying, residence (the act or the place)," and is translated in the King James Version of John 14:2, 23 as "mansions" and "abode." Vine's Dictionary adds that there is nothing in the word "mone" to indicate separate compartments in Heaven.
Jesus, the Pattern Son, the Word made flesh, was the "house" that the Father lived in. He declared, "In My Father's house are many mansions [dwelling-places]"--in Him there is a place for us (Jn. 14:2). Paul explained that "it pleased the Father that in Him [Jesus, the Son] should all fullness dwell...For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 1:19; 2:9). Moses' Tabernacle (Ex. 25-40) and Solomon's glorious Temple (1 Kg. 5-8) prefigure Him who is the "true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man" (Heb. 8:2). The archangel declared to the virgin Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Lk. 1:35).
When Jesus spoke the words of John 14:2, He wasn't on His way to Heaven, but to Calvary! Through His finished work, we didn't receive a "mansion;" we became His "mansion," His temple, the habitation of God through the Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:19-22)--the "abode" for the Father and the Son through the Person of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:23). The "house of God" is the Church (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:5-6). We are to build our "house" (life, family, ministry) upon the Rock Christ Jesus (Lk. 6:48-49). Paul declared this mystery, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1). The apostle admonished, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Gal. 6:10).
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