The Father’s house—what pleasant thoughts that phrase brings to our minds. For the believer, it reminds us that earth is not our home. One day we will go home to our Father’s house. Our Savior has gone before us to make things ready. What a wonderful Savior we have! What a grand homecoming that will be! We are waiting for Him and He is waiting for us. In the meantime, we should be busy about His work on earth, knowing that He is still very active in the affairs of man, while bodily in heaven.
WHAT IS THE FATHER’S HOUSE?
The phrase the Father’s house, as found in Scripture, may need a point of clarification as we take up this subject. We can see four different uses of the phrase. It can refer to a literal house on earth (Gen. 24:23), a family unit or lineage (Neh. 7:61), the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (Jn. 2:16), or, as is our focus in this article, the eternal dwelling place of God, the third heaven (Jn. 14:2; 2 Cor. 12:2).
Some of these other uses offer a noteworthy comment. Like the Lord Jesus, Abraham left his father’s house to do the will of God and, as a “sojourner in a strange country,” he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. The temple in Jerusalem had been built and defiled by man, yet the Father’s house above remains forever pure and undefiled (Rev. 21:27).
In communicating with mankind, God must present His message in terms that we can understand. As a spirit being, God doesn’t need a physical house to live in, and neither will we in glory. The term house here is metaphorical in nature and communicates the place of God’s dwelling. Eye has not seen nor have our minds conceived what God has prepared for us above! The apostle Paul tells us words don’t exist to fully describe it, but the Bible gives us a glimpse. Isaiah speaks prophetically of Christ in his Father’s house, as a “nail in a sure place” with a glorious throne (Isa. 22:22-23).
The apostle John, invited to “come up hither,” shares with us his view of that glorious throne (Rev. 4:1-2). Stephen gives us another view of the ascended Christ and His place in the Father’s house, standing at the Father’s right hand (Acts 7:55-56).
WHAT IS JESUS DOING THERE?
Even though Christ’s body physically entered heaven (Heb. 4:14; 9:24) and is only in one location, as the omnipresent second Person of the Godhead, He Himself is not contained to a geographical position. We rightfully claim the promise of His presence in our midst spiritually (Mt. 18:20) and His commitment to never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5).
What then is His continuing ministry today from the Father’s house? This subject is vast in its scope. His macro-work sustains the atomic structure of our material universe (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:17) and His micro-work weighs the thoughts of our hearts (Mt. 12:36-37). We can only imagine what is in between this wide expanse of divine responsibility. The book of Hebrews clearly confirms His place of authority and power in the Father’s house. Five times the writer of Hebrews records His exalted seated position at the right hand of God (Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).
From Scripture, we can glean some of the heavenly activities of our Lord in the Father’s house. We will briefly cover seven things our Lord is now occupied with in glory.
1. As the Lord of Hosts, He is still mighty in battle as He continues to defeat the forces of evil and subdue all His enemies (Ps. 24:8; 1 Cor. 15:24-28).
2. As the Head of the Church, He directs and disciplines His Body from a place of preeminence (Col. 1:18-20), while preparing His Bride for her glorious entrance to the Father’s house (Eph. 5:26-27).
3. As the Savior of sinners, He offers His gift of salvation by grace through faith to as many as will receive Him, and so shall bring many sons to glory (Heb. 2:9-13; 7:24-25).
4. As the Advocate of the saints, He continues to intercede on our behalf in the courtroom of heaven against the accuser of the brethren by refuting Satan’s claims with the power of His shed blood and maintains fellowship with us upon our confession of sin (1 Jn. 1:9-2:2).
5. As the Recipient of our prayers, He hears and responds to each petition in accordance with the will of God (Jn. 14:12-14; Heb. 4:14-16).
6. As King of kings and Lord of lords, He governs the world and the affairs of man, bringing about the program of God for this age and the ages to come (Mt. 24:29-30; Rev. 19:11-15).
7. As the Mediator of the new covenant, He administers all the promises of God as the executor of His own inheritance in the saints (Eph. 1:18-23; Heb. 9:15-24).
MANY SONS TO GLORY
Our Savior is at home in the Father’s house, yet He must be longing with great anticipation for His blood-bought Bride, the Church. In the Jewish wedding ceremony, the bridegroom leaves the father’s house, finds his bride, and brings her back to the place he has prepared for their dwelling, in, or attached to, the father’s house. Such a picture points to the day the Lord of Glory will once again leave the Father’s house. The first time He left, it was to procure His Bride as a chaste virgin to Himself (2 Cor. 11:2). The next time He leaves, it will be to bring His Bride back to the Father’s house for the marriage supper of the Lamb. He will have fully prepared the place, the supper, and us for such a grand occasion (Rev. 19:7-9). It can happen anytime. We are called to “watch and be ready” for our redemption draws near.
As we said at the beginning, being at home is such a pleasant thought—the place where you know you belong and where you are loved. It is also the place where you are with the ones you love. But as Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer put it, “I want to see my Savior first of all.” As we wrote this article, my father-in-law, David Thomas, who lived with us, went home to the Father’s house. At almost 97 years old, his earthly body failed him, but, in the perfect timing of the Lord, his spirit entered heaven and the place prepared by his Savior.
As young parents, we would eagerly look forward to our annual Christmas trip to Grampy’s home in Pennsylvania—we were going home to our father’s house. Grampy is now home—his real home—in the Father’s house, united with Christ for all eternity. The joy and anticipation of this heavenly home should far surpass all the pleasant memories of our journeys here below.
Some of us will go in spirit before the rest of us join them in resurrection to meet the Lord in the air. By way of the grave or the collective home-call of the saints, the promise of Christ will be fulfilled: “I will come again and receive you unto Myself.” What a grand finale: “that where I am there ye may be also.” Even so, come, Lord Jesus!