THE BUILDING WORK OF GOD

                              GOD’S ETERNAL INTENTION BEING TO BUILD A HOUSE

Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:1, 8-9; 28:18-22; Exo. 29:45-46; 40:1-2, 34-35; 2 Sam. 7:1-16; 1 Kings 6:1, 11-13; 8:10-11; 9:1-3; Isa. 66:1-2; 57:15; Psa. 90:1; 91:1; 92:12-13; 27:4; 23:6; Jer. 50:7b; John 1:14; 2:19-22; Matt. 16:16-18; 1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:20-22; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19, 17; 1 John 4:13; Rev. 21:2-3, 11-12, 14, 19, 22-23; 22:1-2

THE SCRIPTURES REVEALINGBOTH GOD’S CREATION AND GOD’S BUILDING

People can easily see God’s creation in their reading of the Holy Scriptures. However, the Scriptures reveal not only God’s creation but also God’s building. In the entire Bible only the first one and a half chapters of Genesis speak about God’s creation. From the second half of chapter 2 to the end of the book of Revelation, the Bible speaks about the other aspect of God’s work, God’s building.

Brothers and sisters, I hope that you would pay attention to these two things: God’s creation and God’s building. When you read the Bible, at the beginning you see God’s creation, but at the end of Revelation when you have finished reading it, what you see is the building of God. At the beginning of the Scriptures we are told that “the heavens and the earth and all their host were finished” (Gen. 2:1). This was the creation of God. At the end of the Bible it says that there is a city coming down out of heaven, adorned with every precious stone (Rev. 21:2, 19a). This is the building of God. In Genesis 2 we see a garden, and in the middle of the garden is the tree of life (vv. 8-9). This garden is a flower garden, filled with plants. We all [256] realize that a garden does not readily convey to us the thought of building. A garden primarily shows us the created things of nature, such as flowers, grass, and trees. When we see a garden, we would say, “Oh, how beautiful are the flowers and the trees created by God!” All the scenery in a garden gives us an impression of the creation of God. However, when we come to the end of Revelation, we see that the tree of life is no longer in a garden; rather, the garden has become a city. There is no longer a nature scene comprised of flowers, grass, and plants. Instead, there is a building that has been built with precious stones.

Therefore, the picture at the beginning of the Bible is very different from the picture at the end of the Bible. At the beginning it is a creation scene, whereas at the end it is a building scene. At the beginning there is a natural garden, whereas at the end there is a builded city. At the beginning everything exhibits the beauty of creation, whereas at the end everything shows forth the glory of building. Brothers and sisters, I do not know whether you have seen these two different pictures. One picture is a natural, beautiful garden produced through creation, whereas the other picture is a glorious city produced through building. In one we cannot see any building; all we can see is creation. In the other we see that in the created universe there is a building that manifests the glory of God. Thus, the Scriptures reveal that God’s work consists not only of the work of creation but even more of the work of building. Furthermore, we see that God’s creation occupies only a little more than one chapter in the Bible, whereas God’s building occupies all the rest of Scripture. From this we can see that God’s building is a very crucial matter in the Bible. Thus, to see only God’s creation is simply not enough.

THE PURPOSE OF GOD BEING ACCOMPLISHEDTHROUGH THE BUILDING OF GOD

What is God’s creation? And what is God’s building? We all know that to create is to produce something out of nothing. In creation something was produced without using any materials. Building, however, is different. To build is to produce a structure by using materials that are already in existence. Before creation there were neither the heavens, the earth, nor man. God created all these things. Now here is a question: Why did God create all these things? Why did God create the heavens, the earth, and man? We should not believe that God accomplished His purpose through creation. If this were so, then it would be sufficient for the Bible to have only the first two chapters. If God needed only the heavens, the earth, and man, then God would have accomplished His purpose after He had created all these items. Then the Bible and the story of the universe would have been very simple; everything would have been accomplished by the middle of chapter 2 of Genesis. This is not, however, what the Scriptures reveal. God’s creation did not accomplish His purpose; rather, the creation of God is altogether for the next step of God’s work, which is building. God’s creation is for the preparation of material for God’s building. It is only when God has done a further work of building on created man that He will be able to accomplish His purpose. Therefore, God’s creation did not directly accomplish God’s purpose; the accomplishment of God’s purpose depends on God’s building.

                                   GOD’S BUILDING BEING TO OBTAIN A HOUSE

What then is God building? What is the purpose of God’s building work? The Scriptures provide a clear explanation of this matter. We may not be so clear when we read the first few chapters of Genesis; however, when we come to the story of Jacob, the light shines forth, and we can see a little concerning God’s building.

Although Jacob had been chosen by God, he never thought much about God when he was young. He considered only his own welfare and how to take advantage of others by his craftiness. He was altogether a selfish man. However, his craftiness caused a big problem that forced him to leave home. While fleeing from his brother, he came to a certain place in the wilderness and spent the night there, because the sun had set. He took a stone as his pillow and went to sleep (Gen. 28:11). At this time he was really a wanderer, a homeless person. In this situation of wandering, God came to him. The God whom he did not care about came. The blessings that he wanted had all fled from him, whereas the God whom he did not want came to him. That night while he was sleeping, he saw a vision in his dream. In this vision there was a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven. On the ladder the angels of God were ascending and descending (v. 12). This vision impressed him deeply. I believe that the Holy Spirit enabled him to have some understanding of the meaning of this dream, which is that the God in heaven desires to enter into man on earth so that the earth and heaven may be joined and that man and God may dwell and live together. Therefore, after Jacob awoke, he did a marvelous thing. He rose up early in the morning, took the stone that he had used as a pillow, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. Furthermore, he said that this stone, this place, was Bethel (vv. 18-19, 22). In Hebrew el means “God,” and beth means “house.” Therefore, what Jacob meant when he said this was, “One day this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will become a house and a temple. This place is the house of God.”

The marvelous thing is that Jacob did not say, “This is my house.” Instead, he said, “This is the house of God.” This picture corresponds to the picture in John 4 . In John 4 we see a thirsty Savior asking for water to drink and a thirsty sinner coming to draw water to drink. You see the thirst on two sides. Man is thirsty, and the incarnated God is also thirsty. Both God and man want to drink water. This is the picture in John 4 . What does the picture in Genesis 28 tell us? On the surface we see a homeless man, a man wandering with no home and a man who has no resting place. When we read this chapter carefully, however, we get the feeling that there was not only a homeless man but also a homeless God. Man was not the only one who did not have a home. God also did not have a home on earth. At that time all that God and man had was a pillar of stone. Man was not able to live in it, neither could God dwell in it.

Therefore, the picture in Genesis 28 is the same as the picture in John 4 . In John 4 we see that both God and man were thirsty. In Genesis 28 we see that both God and man were homeless. On earth there was a homeless man, and in heaven there was a homeless God. You could say that they both faced the same hardship and thus could have sympathy for one another. In John 4 the Lord Jesus had much feeling for the thirst of the Samaritan woman, and the Samaritan woman also could sympathize with the thirst of the Lord Jesus. Here in Genesis 28 you see that God felt for this wandering, homeless man on earth, and at the same time, this homeless man probably also could sympathize with the homeless God in heaven. Of course, I do not believe that at that time Jacob was as clear as we are today. Yet, even though he was not fully clear, under the authority of the Holy Spirit he spoke some very clear and intelligible words. He said that the stone that he had set up as a pillar would become the house of God.