420. Lord will dwell in the Church
Zechariah 8:3 Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of Hosts the holy mountain.
The Lord will dwell in the midst of the Church. The Lord will dwell in the midst of the individual believer. The Lord will dwell among His people. The Lord will dwell among us as a group and with us separately. The Lord will make a home with us and live in us. There are many promises and many ways of saying the same thing: God is with us.
This is a simple truth we take for granted. It is not easy for us to imagine the Awesome, Almighty Creator of the universe living so close to us and dwelling in us. But God can be far off and distant and at the same time be close and intimate. This is the miracle of the Incarnation of Jesus, the Resurrection of Christ, and the Pouring Out of the Spirit. “I will be with you always.”
Jerusalem is the NT Church made up of all the believers in Christ. It is invisible to the human physical eye, but visible to God in the spirit. By faith we are living in two worlds, physical and spiritual. Jerusalem, the Church, is just as real and present to us as a physical church building of brick and mortar, for the Lord God is living in each of the believers assembled. Faith in the Word and Promise of God makes it real and alive. We know that where the gospel is preached there will be genuine born again believers present there. There, in Zion, in Jerusalem, in the city of truth, on the mountain of the Lord, the holy mountain, God is dwelling.
We go to meet with God every time we gather together in Jesus’ name. Because of this promise we may also go to meet with God alone in a quiet time of prayer and Bible study. In addition, He is still dwelling in us when we work or when we play or when we do whatever. The Lord is always there, here, dwelling in our midst, even though most of the time we are not conscious of His living presence. The more conscious and aware of this promise coming true in our daily lives the better our lives will be. So we pray: “Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.” We ask for His Name to be holy among us. We ask for His Kingdom to come to us also.