Where Is God in the Middle?

The past year has in some way been a quest for truth and falsehood when it comes to the work of the Spirit of God. The trace of that journey can be found in the archive of this blog. Things I may have known have become much clearer to me. Recently I was talking about this with someone and he was surprised: “Didn't you already know that for a long time?”. Probably yes, but making them your own only happens if you are allowed to discover them yourself in God's Word. Only then does it become part of your own thinking and reach your heart. Incidentally, the journey to the truth of the Word of God just continues.

New Wine

I was thinking about this when I got a message read about the New Wine conference to be held again this summer. The theme is 'God in our midst' and the organization reports the following about this:

'The church is not about a Jesus who walked the earth two thousand years ago and whose return we are now waiting for, in the meantime having to make do with a book and more or less patiently wait. The church is about the living Lord in our midst, who still speaks, works, heals and restores!'

“And that living Lord wants to fully involve us, His body on earth, in His healing and restorative work. We may learn to open ourselves to God's presence in our midst. In the Son and by the Spirit we are adopted as unconditionally beloved daughters and sons of the Father. From this privileged position as beloved children, we may associate with God in confidence, and allow ourselves to be filled with his love in that encounter. In that encounter God also wants to empower us through his Spirit, so that we as a church witness in the power of the Holy Spirit of the coming of God's Kingdom.'

You could say a lot about this piece of text, but I will limit myself to a few things.

Who is Jesus?

In the first place, I find it shocking to read how the Lord Jesus is spoken here: '(…) a Jesus who walked the earth two thousand years ago and whose return we now await'. It seems to me that the writer of the text has no idea Who the Lord Jesus is, why He became man and what the meaning of His life and death on the cross is. With words like this, the honor of the Lord Jesus is, as it were, thrown into the garbage.

In 1 Corinthians 12:3 it is said:. . . no one who speaks by the Spirit of God says: Jesus is accursed. Nor can anyone say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit”. The intent of this text is that when the glory of the Lord Jesus is affected, it has never been wrought by the Holy Spirit of God, but by another spirit. The Spirit of God, on the other hand, will always make the Lord Jesus greater for us.

If we apply this criterion to the New Wine text, you can only conclude that this comes from another spirit and not from the Spirit of God. This alone is more than enough to keep us from getting involved with New Wine and such movements.

A book?

After the contempt for the Lord Jesus, there is also no good word left for the Word of God, given the text: “(…) in which we have to make do with a book in the meantime and wait more or less patiently (…)”.

The Bible is not just 'a book', but it is

“(...) the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is divinely inspired and is profitable for teaching, refuting, correcting, and training in righteousness, that the man who belongs to God may be perfect, fully equipped for every work” (2 Timothy 3:15,16).

So that same Book instructs us not to'have to wait patiently', but rather it equips us to serve God in such a way that He can be pleased!

God in the middle?

Despite the dishonor done to the Lord Jesus and the contempt for the Word of God, people still think that God is present in the middle. That's the same as the leaders of Israel said while going down an apostate way: “(…) Is not the Lord in our midst? No harm will come to us” (Micah 3:11). The next verse makes it clear that they were deceiving themselves and that the judgment of God would come upon them (Micah 3:12).

Only when it comes to 'Christ the Crucified' and He is the object of the hearts of the believers, can God dwell in the midst.

You cannot just say that 'God is in our midst' and that you 'must learn to open yourself to Him'. If you go on that tour together, you will end up wrong. What people on New Wine experience of God as they reach out to an encounter with Him in this way does not come from God but from God's adversary, who masquerades as 'an angel of light'. Many will have beautiful experiences of 'love', but unfortunately it does not come from the Holy Spirit, but it is another spirit that is the source of this.

It is sad to see that 'experiencing God' is again the motive of such a conference and that many will be reaffirmed in this way that leads away from God.

By His people Israel

God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to serve Him. “Let My people go, that they may serve Me” (Exodus 10:3). It led to the building of the tabernacle, God's house in the wilderness, where He could dwell in the midst of His people, as He Himself says:

“I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell in the midst of them; I am the LORD their God.” (Exodus 29:45,46)

The reason the Lord could dwell with His people is before these verses: Every day two lambs one year old were to be offered as a burnt offering to the Lord.

“(…) It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you to speak with you there. There I will meet the children of Israel, and they will be sanctified by My glory. (…)” (Exodus 29:38-44).

God could dwell in their midst if they would obediently do what He asked them to do, which was to offer burnt offerings every day. That would remind Him of that great sacrifice His Son would one day make on the cross of Calvary.

In the community

For us who live after the cross in the time of the Church[1], it means that God dwells with His Spirit in the Church (see 1 Corinthians 3:16). This becomes visible everywhere where God's Spirit can work in the hearts of the believers and glorify the Lord Jesus. There the Spirit also works obedience to the Word of God. Then our God repeats to us the promise He made to His people Israel:

“Or what connection is there between the temple of God and the idols? For thou art the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in their midst, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore depart from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord. , The Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:16-18).

In eternity

It is remarkable that God's promise to dwell in the midst also applies in the eternal state.

“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tent of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe all tears from their eyes, and death shall be no more; neither will there be any more mourning, lamentation, or trouble. For the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

As we read through these last two chapters of the bible, we see that this is possible because it is about the Lamb. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is the center of everything! It is about Him for all eternity!

[1] There is undoubtedly much more to be said about the 'dwelling of God' in the Church than those few sentences in this message. But we'll come back to that later.