Homeward Bound

Published in Pasugo, Oct 2005

“HOME, SWEET HOME,” “There is no place like home,” “Home is where the heart is,” “A house is not a home, when there’s no one there,” – old clichés they may be, but they all capture the essence and importance of a home, of a dwelling place where one can find peace and tranquility, genuine rest and relaxation – commodities that are hard to come by nowadays, given the many concerns, worries, and problems that adversely affect life’s condition in this world we live in. Indeed, we all long to be home after an arduous day of work, after being away for a long vacation or for some business trip, or simply after a long day of grappling with life’s problems – to have some rest and a cozy place to retire for the night in order to recharge and prepare ourselves for another bout with tomorrow. And what better place to satisfy such a longing but one’s own home? However, the Bible speaks of homes that are by far better and greater than the home we ordinarily go into and which serves as our dwelling place. And these homes, as far as God’s people are concerned, have a great deal to do with their spiritual welfare. That is why, these are the homes they all the more long to be in and stay all the days of their lives.

Home to the servants of God
The temple or the house of worship is home to the faithful servants of God. King David describes how he longed to dwell in the temple, the house of the Lord, in this manner:

“One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek; That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.” (Ps. 27:4-5, New American Standard Bible)

The servant of God long so much to be in His house because it is here where they can meditate and find solace for their weary souls. Here, they can seek refuge from all their troubles and they can open up their hearts to God for their litany of woes with the firm hope that He will listen to their cries. The Psalmist, waxing poetic, recites:

“In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” (Ps. 18:6, Revised Standard Version)

And above all, it is the temple where they render worship to our Lord God, as King David emphatically states:

“But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.” (Ps. 5:7, New King James Version)

Undoubtedly, the temple or the house of God is very valuable to the lives of His people. The place is the center of their religious activities and it is where they commune with the Almighty. It is also where God promised to receive their offerings and to give them joy in their worship and prayers to Him:

“Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isa. 56:7, Ibid.)

So important is the temple of house of worship also to the Lord God that He commands His people to “Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified …” (Hag. 1:8, Ibid.). Furthermore, the Lord declares, “…and there I will give my people prosperity and peace…” (Hag. 2:9, Today’s English Version).

In God’s chosen home
Our Lord Jesus Christ has pointed out that God seeks the true worshipers to worship Him (John 4:23-24). Worship of God is valuable to Him, but He doesn’t want such to be rendered just in any place one chooses or pleases. God Himself emphasized, as early as the time of His early servants, that the worship and the giving of offering to Him must be done in the place He designated as His home:

“You must not make sacrifices to your God just anywhere, as the heathen sacrifice to their gods. Rather, you must build a sanctuary for him at a place he himself will select as his home. There you shall bring to the Lord your burnt offerings and other sacrifices – your tithes, your offerings presented by the gesture of wavering before the altar, your offerings to fulfill your vows, your free-will offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your flocks and herds.” (Deut. 12:4-6, Living Bible)

As the temple or house of prayer is home to God’s people, so also is it to Him. And as His early people were commanded to offer sacrifices in His home, God’s servants in the Christian era are also commanded to offer the sacrifice of praise – the fruit of their lips such as their singing of hymns and prayers – and sacrifices that are pleasing to God such as their voluntary offerings (Heb. 13:15-26) whenever they congregate to worship Him (I Cor. 14:26, 15). The Book of Acts records that the early Christians “…worshiped together regularly at the Temple…” (Acts 2:46, LB).

Indeed, the importance of the temple or house of worship as God’s home can never be overemphasized. Then, as now, His people loved to be in this place. As the Psalmist longingly puts it:

“Lord, I love your home, this shrine where the brilliant, dazzling splendor of your presence lives.” (Ps. 26:8, Ibid.)

God’s habitation in the Spirit
However, in order to commune with God and render proper worship to Him inside the house of prayer, one must first possess the right and the privilege to do so. Without this right and privilege, one cannot render valid and acceptable worship to Him. Only those to whom God granted such a right can offer sacrifices that are pleasing to Him in His house. Apostle Peter clarifies:

“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (I Pet. 2:5, New International Version)

Those built into a spiritual house have the exclusive right to offer unto God spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to Him. They are in the Church which is of God and of Christ:

“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.” (I Tim. 3:15, NKJV)

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18, Ibid.)

The Church owned and established by Christ is “the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood” (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation). This Church is also of God – Church of the living God as Apostle Paul puts it, because Christ said: “… all things which You have given Me are from You. …And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, …” (John 17:7, 10, NKJV).

The Church of Christ, therefore, is the house of God made up of “living stones” that are “built into a spiritual house” having the rights and the privilege to offer “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.” Man needs to be in the Church of Christ because it is where God deems his sacrifices and worship of Him worthy. That is why Christ says:

“I am the door; anyone who comes into the fold through me will be safe. …” (John, 10:9, Revised English Bible)

The fold or flock is no other than the Church of Christ (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation). Hence, those who have entered the Church of Christ are certain that their offering of spiritual sacrifices and services to God is not in vain and will result in their salvation. Being built into a spiritual house, they are also members of God’s household and are His habitation in the Spirit as taught by Apostle Paul:

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:19-22, NKJV)

As God’s habitation in the Spirit, it is not only God who dwells in them; our Lord Jesus Christ assures that He also will dwell in them if they remain faithful in keeping His commands:

“…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23, Ibid.)

Homeward bound
Inasmuch as they belong to the household of God, members of the Church of Christ also possess the firm belief and conviction of God’s early servants, who “agreed that this earth was not their real home but they were just strangers visiting down here. … And … that, they were looking forward to their real home in heaven” (Heb. 11:13-14, LB).

The conviction of the faithful Christians concerning this matter is firm because it was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who promised them this place, which they can rightfully call their home where they will dwell forever and ever:

“There are many homes up there where my Father lives, and I am going to prepare them for your coming. When everything is ready, then I will come and get you, so that you can always be with me where I am. If this weren’t so, I would tell you plainly.” (John 14:2-3, Ibid.)

The members of the Church of Christ will have their final homecoming when Christ returns and brings them to their true home in heaven. Although their sojourn in this world is filled with worries, problems, and difficulties, they are steadfastly unfazed in their faith, for they are homeward bound to that glorious dwelling place prepared for them by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible describes what kind of life they will enjoy in their eternal home called the holy city:

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there were no more sea. 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.”’.” (Rev. 21:1-4, NKJV)

The Holy City is the final and glorious home of the members of the Church of Christ. The Savior will take them there, their true and permanent home, as a reward for their being faithful in serving and worshiping God inside the true Church, God’s habitation in the Spirit.