We ended last week’s Word for the Week with a brief on the distinction between the church man has built and the one God is building. There is a continuously unfolding message in Revelation about both of these, what they will each become, and how we can recognize them. Since much of the book of Revelation is about the true and false churches, it is very important for us to understand them so we can be part of the right one.

      Man was created to be a friend of God who would walk with Him and have a special relationship with Him. That is still our most basic purpose. However, after the fall, the Lord resolved that He would not only redeem this tragedy but turn it into something even better for man than the original plan: a new creation. He now does not just walk with man; He lives in us. This is so superior to the original plan that Jesus told His disciples that it was better for them that He go away so that the Holy Spirit could come and abide in them. We are told in the New Testament that for God to live in His people is but a foretaste, or a down payment, of what is to come for His people.

      God loved the world, too, not just man. So, He redeemed the world as well and has also promised to restore it as the paradise it was originally created to be. Then, He is going to come to the earth and dwell among men. This is the marvel of the creation.

      The physical universe is estimated to be nearly 15 billion light-years across, with trillions and trillions of stars like our sun or bigger. Still, we’re told that the physical is but “a shadow” of the spiritual realm! The earth hardly qualifies as a speck of dust among creation, but God has chosen to dwell on it with men! This will make the earth the center of the universe, both physically and spiritually. This gives man and the earth unfathomable weight and value in creation.

      Yet, the earth and mankind are in meltdown and chaos! Why would God choose to live here with us? Because He loves us in spite of how crazy we have been. He knows His strength is made perfect in weakness, and something redeemed and restored by Him will always be stronger and better than before it was broken. Where man failed, He made a way for us to rise above it and become a part of a new creation that is much better than the original!

      This may be too much for us to comprehend now, but as the great revivalist Vance Havner once remarked, “We don’t have to understand all there is to know about electricity to turn the switch on.” Neither do we have to understand everything about salvation to have it; we just have to turn the switch on by believing Him. Then, with the light this provides, our understanding grows.

      For now, let us consider the prize that it is to be our ultimate calling: to be His dwelling place, His house that is built by Him and is in unity with Him. No organization or institution built by men can ever be this. Mankind is the building material for His house. Can building materials build themselves into what they’re supposed to be? No. So, how do we quit trying to build His house and let Him build us? There is a lot about this in Revelation.

      If we grow up in Christ, we will mature beyond the place where we just seek the blessings of God, and we will begin to seek His presence. We can see the distinction—and the clash between man’s church and God’s church—in Revelation, which is history told in advance. Most of what was foretold in Revelation has already happened. Some very important things are yet to be fulfilled, but once we see the historic unfolding of what has happened, what is yet to come to pass will become clear.

      The time is coming when He will call His people out of the church mankind has built. Many moves of God stop moving when they are taken over by men. When they start putting their interests above God’s—which got Peter called “Satan”—they often start acting like Satan, resisting and becoming the worst enemies of the next move of God. But Jesus will be the Head of His church, and He will soon return as the Head of His church. Together, they will rule over and restore this earth He so loves.