The Scaffolding of The City Of God

Eden was never God's plan...

It was a taster for us..

God is a city-builder - His goal is the heavenly Jerusalem on Mount Zion

In preparation for His City
He builds the scaffolding (the tent) of the current creation

The scaffolding is necessary - it shadows the design, it gives some semblance of the product
Yet the scaffolding is like a mere seed compared with an oak tree - it pales in comparison

The scaffolding is flimsy and temporary
(much like the OT law & covenant)
The finished city is eternal and powerful
(think CS Lewis on the strength of the blade of grass in the new creation that can pierce through the old body's feet)

This creation is the scaffolding for the new creation
The flesh is built to be the vessel for the Spirit

However in having efficient construction - the scaffolding is consumed in the creation
The Flesh is infused with the Spirit (cf Irenaeus)

Jesus came and was built in the scaffolding of the flesh
then filled the flesh with the substance of the Spirit
(man shall not live by bread alone...)

The Spirit then infuses the flesh
and now needs the final process - the kiln/furnace - the fires of judgement

the testing that completely fuses flesh with Spirit - to create a spiritual body
the dross or the remnant of the scaffolding is then burned away

leaving the new creation
Here then in Christ in His eternal resurrection form
Here is our destiny - now we are still being infused, some are waiting for the permanent fusing
All creation will follow suit

Then is Zion built in glory, and the Father joins in His Creative work finished

Precursor of Pentecost

Studying the Hebrew Bible thoroughly one is struck by how all the events of the NT, all the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels are foretold in the OT - how the Law, the Prophets and the Scriptures really were and are the blueprint for how things were going to be. One exciting thing to check out is Elisa’s movements around Israel and how it corresponds in strikingly much to how Jesus walked around.

On another note, as I was working my way through 1 Kings 18 in Hebrew I was struck by verse 24: "Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire-- he is God. Then all the people said, 'What you say is good.'" (NIV) האלהים אשר יענה באש הוא האלהים As we will know – the true God answers Elijah with fire from Heaven. And as if to emphasize that there was no ‘natural’ explanation (like lightning) for this miracle, it is made clear that there was not a single cloud in the sky and Elijah had drenched the alter and the wood with water.

Now, what is the ultimate 'proof' of the LORD being God? Just as in the time of Elijah, the one true God proves Himself the only One by fire from heaven. On the day of Pentecost: "They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them." Acts 2:3 (NIV) And He put this 'fire', this Holy "...Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 1 Cor. 1.22 (NIV) and later Paul writes again that He "...has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 1 Cor. 5.5 (NIV)

Feeling the presence of God in our lives is no mere sensation of feelings – it is this ‘fire from Heaven’ with which we have been baptised to life. And as Paul writes, it is a comforting token of what is to come – it gives us certainty of what we believe in! The world is so full of false ‘gods’, inspired by the devil to divert attention from the true God. But the test today just as in the days of Elijah is simple: will there come fire from heaven? Only from the only true God. Only from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in whom is our salvation through Jesus.