Skydiving the Frontiers
From the Wilderness
“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? - Mark 11:17
For many of us, we have never heard of a "House of Prayer." For those of us who have, we have often associated it with packs of unemployed young twenties graced with musical talent huddled together singing spontaneous and unscripted songs of worship and praise. Others may think of a particular space specifically dedicated to the ministry of prayer. However awesome those might be, the Biblical presentation of God's "House of Prayer for All Nations" is altogether more encompassing. The following article is a brief New Testament foundation for God's House of Prayer for all Nations.
The Dwelling Place of God
Under the New Covenant, God's dwelling presence moved out of the innermost Tabernacle of the Temple and into those who place their faith in Jesus as Lord. Through the propitiating sacrificial work of Christ on the cross, the dwelling place of God moved out of a building and into His people. It was on the cross, that He who knew no sin became sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God - 2 Corinthians 5:21. Because Jesus absorbed the wrath of God for our sin, God credited us with the righteousness of Christ and now sees those in him as he sees his Son - perfectly holy, blameless and without fault in his eyes. As a result, God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within the believer. The evidence of his presence serves as a supernatural seal of His redemptive promise. The Holy Spirit's indwelling presence is the deposit guaranteeing we have been forgiven and are seen as righteous by God.
Paul puts it this way:
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"In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:13-14
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"And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." - 2 Corinthians 2:21-22
Because of Christ, God moved his dwelling place on earth out of the Old Covenant Holy of Holies and into the New Covenant holy of holies, his people -- made holy by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. God's people are the dwelling place of His holy presence on earth.
His Temple of Living Stones
When Jesus' substitutionary sacrificial offering for the sin of the world on the cross was complete, the bible says the earth shook and rocks were split! In that moment God tore the curtain of the temple in two, signaling an event that would forever change the world. As the curtain ripped, God stepped out of a building crafted by human hands, and into one established by the miraculous working of His (Matthew 16:18). In that instant, God moved out of the old and into the new. He began erecting a new temple, one not constructed of the materials, methods or wisdom of this world, but one constructed of living stones erected upon Jesus, the chief Cornerstone himself!
Jesus' Temple of Living Stones:
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"As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: 'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” - 1 Peter 2:4-6
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"You are...members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." - Ephesians 2:20-22
Jesus, the Master Builder, plans to build His temple of living stones in all nations, in all places and through all peoples to display the glory of His own holy name (Genesis 12:3, Psalm 66:4, Habakkuk 2:14, Isaiah 6:3, Ezekiel 43:2, Malachi 1:11, Matthew 24:14, Revelation 5:9). God's house is one constructed of people being built together into a dwelling place for God. Each living stone is crafted and assembled by Christ, and set in biblical order to bring Jesus glory through obeying all of His commands.
It is important to note that God's temple of living stones, as revealed through the New Covenant, is never referenced or revealed to be a physical building. Jesus did not die for buildings, the budgets required to maintain them, or the name brands they carry. Jesus died for people. It is people, not mortar or mortgages, who make up the Temple of the New Covenant.
God's Wisdom for the Salvation of all Nations
The Lamb who was slain, died to ransom people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. In 1 Kings 8:60 Solomon dedicated the first Temple with these words, "That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other." God chose Solomon to prophecy his plan to use his holy temple to reveal himself to all the peoples of the earth. Through the revelation of the New Testament, God displays his wisdom in Christ for salvation to be revealed through his temple of living stones to all nations (Matthew 24:14). As both Solomon and Peter state,"there is no other;' 'there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
God's house is one constructed of people. Each stone is crafted and assembled by Christ, set in divine order to bring him glory, through obeying his commands.
From every nation and peoples on earth, the new covenant establishes a new people -- a holy nation, united under the leadership of Jesus. The New Testament refers to this people as the Body of Christ, a Temple of Living Stones, and as the Church. His Holy Nation is much larger than any one church, denomination or ministry. Through the manifold wisdom of God, this single holy nation transcends ethnicities, borders, cultures, and languages. It transcends all time, all ages, all kingdoms, all empires, all governments and will extend into eternity. Due to Jesus' preeminent position of power and wisdom, his nation will know no end (1 Corinthians 1:24-25; Luke 1:33).
The New Covenant Creates New Communities of Christ
The New Covenant instructs God's holy nation to assemble into local communities, or smaller expressions of his body. The author of Hebrews writes, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some." - Hebrews 10:22.
In various regions and cities throughout the New Testament, we see the people of God regularly gathered for prayer, worship, fellowship and equipping. Despite being born into a totalitarian society that aggressively persecuted all who confessed Jesus as Lord, they did not give up meeting together. Local gatherings of disciples usually met in homes. These smaller expressions of Christ's larger Body formed the first-century gatherings of the local church.
Simple Biblical Communities
As presented in the New Covenant, local expressions of Christ's body, i.e local churches, are nothing more than simple, biblically organized communities gathered to worship Jesus.
The local churches we read about in the Bible never gathered around buildings, budgets, commercialized brands or professional pastors. Instead, they gathered around Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. They lived in simple, powerful, intimate community and were led by Christ-qualified leaders of strong character (1Timothy 3; Titus 1:5-16). The power of God not only held these communities together, but multiplied them exponentially throughout the known world and beyond.
New Testament Communities regularly gathered to pray in His name, and then scattered to proclaim the power of His name from their neighborhoods to the nations. It is through these smaller assemblies of his body, God advances the gospel of his Kingdom. Almost everywhere Paul journeyed to proclaim the Gospel, he left these simple, biblically organized local expressions behind.
Recalibrate the Scales
As revealed in the Scriptures, when we see the church through the eyes of Christ, we will not see it as something we do or a place we go, but rather as who we are; a ransomed people, with a renewed identity and purpose called into community by Christ.
Scripturally, the church is never an organization, a building or an institution. No matter our context or justification, Jesus' church must never be treated as one.
A great and possibly final reformation of the church is on the horizon. As members of the Body of Christ may we return to Him before everything that can be shaken is shaken (Hebrews 12:26-28). Through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, may we recalibrate our scales of measure and weigh our works in light of the life of Christ alone. In the Kingdom of God, bigger is rarely better and size is never a measure of success. May we remember that what glitters in the eyes of the world, does not glitter to God. Everything must pass through the fire on the great day, and only what is done in him, by him and through him will remain (1 Corinthians 3:13).
The Whip of God's Wisdom Displayed
When Jesus cleared the Old Testament temple with the lashes of his hand crafted whip, he declared, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it into a den of robbers and a house of thieves." Out of his own mouth, the same mouth he used to bring all of creation into existence, he said, "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations" (Mark 11:17). God desires his house to operate like a family, not a business. The days of organising and running Jesus' church on business principles and self serving consumeristic interests must come to an end. May the fear of the Lord and passion for His name, once again return to his house of God.
His House of Prayer for All Nations
Jesus is again making his church a house of prayer for all nations. A place where his presence trumps performance, and his name is glorified above all others. A place where all nations can drink freely from the riches and soul satisfying wealth found in Christ alone. He desires for his temple of living stones to be multiplied to all nations, tribes and peoples. His house will be a house of prayer and it is through this house that the manifold wisdom of Christ will be made known to all nations (Ephesians 3:10).