Did you know that from the very beginning God has been looking for a place where He can be at home–a place of rest?
To be “at home” means you can let your hair down, kick off your shoes, flop down on the couch, lay anywhere you want, raid the refrigerator anytime you feel like it. It’s when you can relax and be yourself without fear of rejection or judgment.
Conversely, when we don’t feel at home we’re always on edge. We’re careful about what we say, how to act, what we should ask for…and, hopefully, not wearing out our welcome.
We can’t be ourselves.
But here’s my question: can God be Himself with you?
For not only should we be “at home” with God, but He so wants to be at home with us.
This is what God has wanted and longed for all along. Here’s what the prophet Isaiah said about it:
“Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?” (Isa.66:1 NKJV)
What’s interesting is that Stephen quotes this passage in his discourse with the religious crowd of his day (Acts 7:48-50). For this was the high-water mark of New Testament revelation–that God finally found a home…not in buildings…but in us.
I talked more about this in “Thoughts about the family of God.”
Paul said that his ministry was to help us see this “fellowship of the mystery” (Eph.3:9).
Do you understand this secret plan of God?
That He could be at home with us where He could freely express Himself.
Frank Viola wrote a brilliant work on this subject titled, “From Eternity to Here.” I highly recommend the book. Here’s a quote from the book about his thoughts on God’s eternal purpose (Eph.3:11)…
“God’s ultimate desire, His highest passion, is to have a house on the earth through which He can express Himself. His eternal purpose is to have a group of believers who will be richly integrated together to be the Lord’s house in the cities in which they live.”
As Viola points out in the book, God was basically homeless before Jesus. He could only visit His people, but He had no home…until the Word became flesh.
This world Jesus entered into was an orphan world.
And orphans don’t have a home.
Jesus was never an orphan. He was incarnated as a Son. He lived, as a Man, at home in His Father’s house by the Spirit. It says that the “fullness of the Godhead” dwelled in Jesus. He said that His Father was in Him, and He was in the Father (John 14:10-11; Col.2:9).
But Jesus already had all this from eternity. This isn’t why He came. No, He came to show us the way to the Father (John 14:6)–to live at home in Him like He lived at home with Him.
For He sent His Spirit so we would no longer be orphans (John 14:18).
Again, so that we would be at home with the Godhead exactly as Jesus was at home in the Father, in human flesh.
This was Jesus’ ultimate prayer. In fact, this is the unity of the Spirit–the goal of our “growing up into Christ” (Eph.4:3. 13-15).
“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me (John 17:21)
Beloved, this New Covenant we have entered into is about us being filled the SAME way Jesus was filled. This is what Paul said…
“For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].
10 And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].” (Col.2:9-10 AMP)
The Old Covenant was about visitation; the New Covenant is about habitation.
To quote Dan McCollum, “Jesus came so God could FORGIVE us, to FREE us, so that He could FILL us with everything that fills God! (Eph.3:19).
Finally, the writer of Hebrews says that there is a “rest” for the people of God (Heb.4:1). To be “at rest” means we’ve stopped striving for acceptance, competing, putting on our pretensions. It’s believing what God believes. It’s open honest vulnerability–being totally comfortable in your own skin…like being at home.
Beloved, this is the deepest possible life with God.
A life lived where we can be at home with Him, and He can be at home with us. Amen.
In My Father's House 
Beautiful, lovely to reminded that God wants to be with me
Yes, He wants to be with us more than we want to be with Him. And that’s always a good reminder. 🙂
So awesome to not only be at rest with HIm,but to actually be a place of rest for Him. I just love that. And by the way … where did you get the picture of my cat? Lol! Not only does it look just like him, but (sadly) that is totally something he would do! He definitely lives like he owns the place–something to be learned from that for sure!
Amen. Yes, if you notice in Isaiah, it’s God who’s looking for rest. A place where He can be comfortable and be Himself. That’s my aim.
Ha ha, on pic. I think all cats can teach us how to be at home! 🙂
Love this. Coming from Ukraine and living most of my life in America I never felt like I was at “home” in either places but I am always reminded that this world is just a temporary stop and heaven is my eternal home. As long as I spend time with Jesus I will always feel at home!
Great analogy, Anna. As Paul said, our citizenship is in heaven, but we live FROM heaven here on earth (Phil.3:20). Hope that makes sense. Because Heaven is in us! So what’s awesome about having a revelation of being a son or daughter is that you are always home, no matter where you are. Always living from a place of the Father’s embrace. 🙂
Awesome post, Mel ! The key scripture to me for being Father’s dwelling place is John 14, 1-3 though.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many mansions; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
For those who think Jesus is building fine homes for them in heaven – i do not agree at all. Well he may well be, but John 14 -17 is not talking about any of that at all but about abiding or being tabernacled with God and the HOUSE of GOD himself – JESUS.
What Jesus is saying here is:
1. My father’s house has many mansions, translated dwelling places. Meaning, JESUS – who is the HOUSE OF GOD has many dwelling places IN HIM & these dwelling places are for US.
2. I go to – means i go to the cross, to the grave, to the father’s presence to prepare a place for you. The place he preapred is IN HIM though. It doesn’t mean he’s going to heaven to build you a nice house. He’s made a place in HIM, so we can abide IN HIM the vine, and the FATHER can then come and dwell in HIM with US. At the SAME TIME, JESUS is also IN the BOSOM of the FATHER. Amazing!
John 14 & 15 is all about the abiding or dwelling in CHRIST, who is the HOUSE of GOD, where the Father dwells – & the only place He rests. It’s about Christ fulfilling the feast of tabernacles.
I’m planning on writing an article about this myself. It’s a major point for believers to understand & most are unaware of this.
Peace
AR
Amen and amen! I couldn’t agree with you more. You are stating the central theme and purpose of my blog! 🙂 What you’re stating is what we’ve been teaching our ministry students and most of my messages spring from this understanding.
You may have noticed, I have a whole category on “John 14-17” because the revelation you are talking about totally changed my life. My very first post, “Where are we going?” and others like “The Promise of the Father” all directly deal with this.
Blessings. I look forward to what you have to say. We need to get this message out. We’re not orphan Christians, we’re sons of our Father! 🙂
I’ve not read these other articles, but will read them now Mel. Awesome.
Yeah, the whole story is simple. It’s a story about a father that so loved his son, that he wanted to give him a bride. It’s also a story about a son that so loved his father that he wanted to bring many sons to him. We are both: sons and lovers. we’re caught up in the relationship between the father and the son: simples. holy spirit helps facilitate it. that’s it.
While i agree we are sons, i believe people like Jack Frost, Jack Winter and James Jordan have stopped short. While we must honour these vessels of God, we’re destined to be father’s too – not just sons.
We are created in the father’s image. So, we should also be fathers too, and reproduce ourselves in others. While Jesus was a son, indeed the Son, he was also a father. Not THEE father, but a father, to the disciples etc…
When jesus breathed on the disciples for example and said: receive the holy spirit – compare the father breathing in the notrils of adam. see, Jesus was a father too, in fact Isaiah called him the everlasting father. Not thee father mind you. We should be the same though – a father, just like Jesus, just like Paul etc. Not just sons.really believe that the last 15 years have all been about son-ship, but father is leading us into mature son-ship, which to me is fatherhood.
We need more fathers – like you.
Peace
AR.
Thanks. I appreciate that. And, yes, the Kingdom is always advancing so, hopefully, we are advancing beyond the foundation that people like Frost, Taylor, and Jordan have laid. And the Kingdom is full of paradoxes. And one of them is that we are sons who are also fathers. Every son should be fathering sons–as you said, disciples. It’s the normal healthy activity in the Father’s family in Christ, existing both heaven and on earth (Eph.3:14-15).
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