Eternal Communion In Prospect

by J.L. Ferguson | Category: Great Spiritual Treasures | Oct 1991

God has made many precious treasures available to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this article we shall think about the glorious truth that one day for certain all the redeemed will be gathered home, and each one will find his or her own place in the eternal city and in the service of God associated with it. That will be the consummation of all our faith and longings, and it will be to God the fulfilment of all His purposes regarding the human family.

This is how it is described for us in the book of Revelation:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God: and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed

away (21:1-4).

What a marvellous prospect for faith to feast upon! It describes the ultimate, the eternal. The desire of God to have His dwelling among men and women, so often attempted by Him and frustrated by men throughout the centuries, will have been achieved at last in a rest never to he broken, in a communion never again to be shattered.

That communion had its beginnings in Eden, where God met for a time with our first parents. But the entrance of Satan and consequent sin shattered all that: He then waited His time, letting centuries pass, during which time He was content with communion with individual men and women of faith. But His deeper longings to have a sanctuary among men where He could dwell in their midst were always before His mind. At last they were realized in the days of Moses and Aaron. His covenant people Israel built for Him a tabernacle of curtains, and in that He was pleased to dwell for several centuries. But again He could not rest there because of the sin of His people. Then, after many years, the heart of David was drawn to the Lord, and God permitted Solomon his son to build Him a beautiful temple of stone, covered within and without with gold. In this temple God was pleased again to dwell in the midst of Israel, His people. But their relationship with Him deteriorated with the passing of years until there was no remedy. Firstly God sent ten of the twelve tribes into captivity, then later, the remaining two; and He permitted the captors of the latter to bum the beautiful temple to the ground. Once again sin had severed communion.

Some seventy years later a comparatively small company of repentant Jews returned from their captivity. Once again God welcomed their desire to build Him a house, though much less costly than the former one, so that He could dwell among them. His great desire was still that they should love Him and keep His Word so that He could find rest among them. With the passage of time they multiplied in number, but failed completely in intent.

One day to that temple the Son of God came; indeed not only once, but the moral glory had gone from the nation. Finally He had to say to them,

"Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" (Mat. 23:38). Once again God was disappointed; His communion with the nation was gone.

The desire to rest among men lies deep in the heart of God. So following the resurrection of the Lord Jesus God again allowed men to build a dwelling place for Him on earth. This time it was a spiritual house, not made of curtain or stone, but composed of born-again believers, baptized by immersion and brought together in churches of God, all united in a known Fellowship. It was a lovely house of rest for God, one in which His will was carried out by obedient disciples. Sadly, unbelief came in and destroyed that house also. Then, about 100 years ago there was a revival of the spiritual house, churches of God fitly framed together, growing into a holy temple in the Lord, a habitation of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:20-22).

One day, however, the glorious eternal arrangement will come in a new earth, when God will at last dwell with redeemed men and women. They will be His peoples and He will be at rest with them for ever. Maranatha: our Lord cometh.

J.L. Ferguson | Oct 1991
Great Spiritual Treasures