We are continuing discussing what the church is designed to
do. Exodus 25 describes the making of
the tabernacle. The word for sanctuary
here is Holy place. God allowed man to
make a holy place, thus the very clear instructions. The word dwell (dwell among them) means to
settle down, abide or reside. In Genesis
2:8 we see where the design began. God
makes a garden in the east in Eden. In the garden were two trees (the tree of
knowledge and the tree of life). Eden also had lots of
trees from which they could eat. Eden is the church. Within the church is the garden with the two
trees. When man sinned, there was a
separation where man could not enter the garden again. There should be food in the church, like in Eden. Back then people would bring the tithe, which
was often food, and they would eat together. There should be food coming into
your spirit in God’s house. Genesis also
says God “planted” Adam in the garden.
He wanted us planted in God’s presence and to dwell where God was going
to dwell.
There was also a river that divided into 4 rivers. There is a river that should flow out of the
church and branch into 4 branches—Shan, Gihan, Tigris, and Euphrates. Each river represents 4 different parts of
the Gospel that should flow out of the church and draw people into the
church. One represents salvation and
forgiveness of sin. One represents the
idea of prosperity (remember this is health, wealth, joy, peace and being
highly favored). One represents success
in all things. Tigris
means rapid and active. Euphrates means fruitfulness. Gihan means bursting forth like giving
birth. These things should be happening
through the church. There should be
power flowing out of the church.
God put man in the garden to work it and take care of
it. To work in the garden is to perform
the work of the church. What is the work
of the church? It is to remind people
that God has blessed us, that He is their strength and shield and is there for
them. It is to challenge people with the
idea of grace and help them learn to say no to ungodliness. Remember that the picture of Adam here is
Jesus. We are really a picture of Eve,
the bride of Christ, and the helper. When
Eve is created, note that the word for rib actually means “half of.”
After the fall, there was no way for man to go back into God’s
presence. John 19:31 is the account of
the death and crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus
had no bones broken to fulfill prophecy.
They pierced him, fulfilling another prophecy, and there was a flow of
blood and water. This establishes the birth
of the church age. The flow of blood and
water in birth of children. The blood
comes first to wash our sins away and allow us to have God dwell with us. The water is the washing of the water of the
Word. Matthew 16 says that the rock on
which the church is built is hearing the truth about who Jesus is. Ephesians 2 and Exodus 30 establish a way for
the priest to be made holy (anointing with oil), and that what was touched by
what was holy was made holy. The church
is to be like that. The church is not
holy until the people come together and set foot in the church in order to make
it holy.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on
online media. To learn more about Living
Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/
