Scripture Reading: John 14:2-3; 2:16
The writings of John are books of signs. In John 14 through 17 there are ten great signs. Some of the signs in the earlier chapters of this Gospel are the tabernacle (1:14), the Lamb of God (v. 29), the door (10:7), and the pasture (v. 9). A sign is a symbol with spiritual significance. A traffic signal is a good illustration. In a traffic signal each color has a specific meaning: red means stop, and green means go. Both in the Gospel of John and in the book of Revelation there are many signs.
The first of the ten signs in chapters 14 through 17 of the Gospel of John is the sign of the Father’s house. We need to study the Gospel of John in order to see that the Father’s house signifies the mingling of the Triune God with His redeemed people to be a dwelling place for both God and His people.
Throughout the centuries many have held the concept that the Father’s house in John 14 refers to a heavenly mansion, a mansion in the heavens to which the believers go after they die. It is common for pastors at the funeral of a believer to comfort the relatives by saying that the one who has died has now gone to a heavenly mansion and that in this heavenly mansion he is happy. The pastor may go on to say that all believers will go to this mansion when they die.
Many believers think that there are three main reasons for becoming a Christian: first, to receive forgiveness of sins; second, to be saved from eternal perdition; and third, to go to a heavenly mansion when we die. This is the general thought held by many Christians. However, the concept of going to a heavenly mansion is superstitious and completely off the line of the revelation in the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John is not concerned with a heavenly mansion. The revelation in this Gospel concerns the Triune God dispensing Himself into us so that He may make us His dwelling place and so that this dwelling place may also become our dwelling place. This is the subject of John’s Gospel. In this book there is no thought about going to heaven.
The Gospel of John opens like this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). Then we are told that “the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality” (v. 14). John goes on to say in 1:16, “Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” What is the purpose of the Word’s becoming flesh, full of grace and reality? Is the purpose that we might go to heaven? This thought is illogical and far off the mark.
In the Gospel of John the Father’s house does not signify a heavenly mansion. The Father’s house signifies God mingling Himself with His redeemed people to make them His house, His dwelling place. Eventually, God’s dwelling place will also become the dwelling place of His redeemed people. Praise the Lord that in the universe there is such a wonderful entity as this mutual dwelling place for God and His redeemed people! God is dispensing Himself into His people and mingling Himself with them in order to produce such a mutual dwelling place.
In chapter 1 of the Gospel of John we have the tabernacle, and in chapter 2 we have the temple. Concerning the temple, the Lord Jesus said that it was His Father’s house: “Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise” (v. 16). By this we can see that the Father’s house in chapter 2 refers to the temple. That temple was on earth; it was not a mansion in the heavens. The same term that was used to refer to the temple on earth in 2:16 is used again in 14:2: “In My Father’s house are many abodes.” It is not logical to say that the Father’s house in chapter 2 is the temple on earth and that the Father’s house in chapter 14 is a heavenly mansion.
We need to be impressed with the fact that in the Gospel of John the expression My Father’s house is used twice. In 2:16 it clearly refers to the temple on earth. What, then, does it refer to in 14:2? Here it also refers to God’s house among His people on earth; it does not refer to a heavenly mansion.
If the Father’s house in chapter 14 refers to a mansion in the heavens that the Lord has gone to build, then God has two buildings going on in the universe at the same time. These two buildings would be the church and the mansion in the heavens. In Matthew 16 the Lord Jesus said clearly that He is building His church. If the house in John 14 is a heavenly mansion, then in addition to the church on earth, the Lord Jesus is building a house in the heavens. This would mean that He is building two houses, one in the heavens and the other on earth.
If the house in John 14 is a heavenly mansion, there would be no need for the Lord Jesus to build it. He could simply have created it. In creation, whenever God wanted something, He simply spoke, and that thing came into being. For instance, God needed the earth. Therefore, He spoke, and the earth came into being. The principle would be the same with a so-called heavenly mansion. If God needed a heavenly mansion as a dwelling place, there would be no need for Him to spend two thousand years to build it. Since such a dwelling place would be part of His creation, He would only need to speak, and His dwelling place would be produced.
When the Lord speaks of the Father’s house in John 14, He is not referring to a heavenly mansion. The house in this chapter is the church. The church is God’s house, the Father’s house. The Lord Jesus spoke these words shortly before His death. Then through His death and resurrection, He built the church. This concept fits the entire thought of the Gospel of John.
The Gospel of John reveals that the Triune God is dispensing Himself into us, working Himself into us, by way of the Son’s death and resurrection. The Lord Jesus indicated this in chapter 2 when He said to the Jewish leaders, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (v. 19). The phrase in three days means in resurrection. Thus, here the Lord was saying that He would build up the temple, the Father’s house, in resurrection. The Lord seemed to be telling the religious leaders, “You destroy this temple, My Father’s house, and I will build it up in resurrection.” By this we can see that chapters 2 and 14 of the Gospel of John correspond to each other.
In 14:2 the Lord said that He was going to prepare a place for us in the Father’s house. His going to prepare a place was His going by His death and resurrection. Apart from the death and resurrection of Christ, there is neither a way for us to enter into God nor a place for us in God. The Lord Jesus had to die in order to cut the way, prepare a way, for us to have a standing, a place, in God.
In 14:2 the Lord Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many abodes.” An abode is a dwelling place. Therefore, the many abodes in verse 2 are many dwelling places. In verse 23 the Lord said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” In verses 2 and 23 the same Greek word is used for abode. The only difference is that in verse 2 this word is plural, and in verse 23 it is singular. Together, these two verses indicate that the many abodes of the Father’s house are the many believers. The Father’s house is actually the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ is composed of believers as members. Every member of Christ’s Body is an abode of the Father’s house.
Do you think that God does not have a complete dwelling place in the heavens and that it is necessary for the Lord Jesus to finish building Him one there? Do you believe that while the Lord is building the church on earth, He is also building a heavenly mansion for the Father? God’s creation was completed long ago. This means that the heavens also were completed and that there is no need for additional building in the heavens. However, it is still necessary for the church, God’s chosen people, to be built up. The Lord Jesus died for them and was raised up with them. Now based on His death and resurrection, He is working on them to build them up into one Body, and this Body is the church, the house of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15). Every member of the church is an abode for God to dwell in. When God abides in us, He becomes our dwelling place. How wonderful! Praise the Lord that we all are God’s abodes! We all are members of the Body of Christ, and this Body is God’s house.
In the New Testament we have the concept that our body is our tabernacle. Chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians indicates that our body is our dwelling place. In a similar way, Christ’s Body is God’s dwelling place. This means that the Father’s house in John 14:2 is Christ’s Body built up with the believers. Every believer in Christ is an abode of this house for God to dwell in.
The Father’s house is a mutual abode, an abode for both God and us. But if we would not be built up through Christ’s death and resurrection so that God can dwell in us, we will be short of the experience of God as our dwelling place. We need to be built up through Christ’s death and resurrection so that God can dwell in us. When we are built up in this way, we become an abode to God. When God dwells in us, He becomes our dwelling place. This is our abode. Furthermore, this means that we and God, God and we, are mingled together to become one abode, a mutual abode. God abides in us, and we abide in God — a mutual abiding. This is the thought of the Gospel of John. Therefore, the Father’s house is a sign signifying the mingling of God with His people.
In the Old Testament we have Bethel (Gen. 28:12-13a, 16-19a, 22a). What is the emphasis with Bethel? Bethel means “the house of God.” According to Genesis 28, at Bethel we see the stone with oil poured upon it. In this chapter Jacob poured oil upon the stone and called it Bethel. This indicates that Bethel, the house of God, is composed of stone and oil. Stone signifies God’s transformed people (John 1:42; Matt. 16:18; 1 Pet. 2:5), and the oil signifies God as the Spirit reaching His people. Here we see the mingling of God with His people.
With Bethel we also have the gate of heaven with the ladder set up on earth and reaching heaven (John 1:51). This ladder brings heaven to earth and joins earth to heaven. We experience this ladder in the church life. The church life is the gate of heaven, and in the church life we have the sense that heaven is brought down to earth and earth is joined to heaven. This is Bethel.
In Exodus 25 we have the tabernacle, a holy place for God’s dwelling (vv. 8-9). The tabernacle was built of acacia wood overlaid with gold (26:15, 29). Since acacia wood signifies proper humanity and gold signifies divinity, here we have humanity mingled with divinity.
Furthermore, the tabernacle was held by and covered with Christ’s redemption (38:27; 26:14). The tabernacle rested on one hundred silver sockets. Each socket was a talent of silver weighing over a hundred pounds. These hundred sockets were the foundation of the tabernacle. By this we see that the tabernacle was actually held by these sockets. Silver signifies the redemption of Christ. Hence, the tabernacle was held by Christ’s redemption. Moreover, the tabernacle was also covered with the redemption of Christ, as signified by the rams’ skins dyed red.
With the tabernacle we also have Christ as the offerings for God’s redeemed to enter in and the riches of Christ for the ones who have entered in to enjoy within the tabernacle. Through Christ as the offerings, God’s redeemed people can enter the tabernacle. Then once inside the tabernacle they can enjoy the riches of Christ signified by the table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, the Ark, and the incense altar.
In the Old Testament the temple was the house of God (1 Kings 6:1). As God’s house, the temple was the tabernacle enlarged (vv. 2, 20; see Exo. 26:15-16, 18, 20, 22). The temple was founded upon a foundation of stone (1 Kings 6:37), and it was built of stone, cedar, and fir overlaid with gold (vv. 7, 9, 15-16, 18, 20-22). Stone signifies transformed humanity; cedar, humanity in resurrection; and fir, humanity through death. As we have seen with the tabernacle, gold signifies divinity. Therefore, with the temple we once again see the mingling of divinity with humanity through death and in resurrection and transformation.
The temple was God’s rest. It satisfied His desire forever. It also was a place of rich provision for His people (Psa. 132:13-16).
In addition to being God’s rest, the temple was also the saints’ enjoyment. This enjoyment is portrayed in the Psalms. The saints enjoyed God’s riches in the temple. This indicates that the house of God was not only God’s dwelling place but was also the dwelling place of the saints. The saints longed and yearned to dwell in it (84:1-2, 4, 10; 43:3; 122:1; 23:6). In the temple they found a home for themselves and also a nest for their young (84:3). This indicates that in the church life we find a home for ourselves and also a nest for the young ones we bring in. Furthermore, in the temple the saints enjoyed the Lord as the sun and shield with grace and glory (v. 11). In the temple they beheld the beauty of the Lord and inquired in it (27:4). They were also saturated with the fatness of God’s house, drinking of the river of God’s pleasures, enjoying the fountain of life, and receiving the divine light (36:8-9). This is a picture of the divine riches we enjoy in the church life, the house of God.
In the temple the saints flourish like an olive tree, full of sap and fruit (52:8; 92:13-14). In the temple they also receive God’s revelation concerning the destiny of the ungodly and the godly under His dealing (73:13-25). This indicates that in the church life we receive God’s revelation concerning situations that we are not able to understand. If you enter into the church life, you will see God’s revelation concerning the godly and the ungodly.
We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that the Father’s house in John 14:2 is not a heavenly mansion. To bring the thought of a heavenly mansion into the Gospel of John can be compared to adding a foreign element to our physical body. Every part of our body is organic, but a foreign element added to it will not be an organic part of the Body. To bring the thought of a heavenly mansion into the Gospel of John is to inject into it something that is not of life. This is basically against John’s principle.
As we have indicated, if the Father’s house in 14:2 refers to a heavenly mansion, this means that today the Lord Jesus is carrying on two kinds of building work. According to Matthew 16, the Lord is building the church. Do you think that, on the one hand, the Lord is building the church on earth and that, on the other hand, He is building a mansion in the heavens? This thought is not logical, and it is also against the divine principle.
The Bible clearly reveals that God has two creations: the old creation and the new creation. In God’s old creation God did everything by speaking. He simply had to speak, and item after item came into being. If God had needed a heavenly mansion, it would already have been created. It is not correct to say that after God’s creation it was necessary for Him to add something to His creation or to remodel it.
God’s second creation, the new creation, does not take place by His speaking. Rather, the new creation is accomplished by Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. In this way He works Himself into God’s chosen people. By such a process He makes His creation divine.
The old creation was not divine. Although it was created by God, it did not have anything of God’s nature in it. The new creation is different, for it is an entity saturated with God’s being. God works Himself into this entity not through speaking it into being but through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. We may also add transformation and glorification. This is the building of God in this universe. This is not the building of a heavenly mansion in a material sense. On the contrary, it is the building up of the Body of Christ organically, and this Body is the Father’s house.
Like the vine in John 15, the Father’s house is an organism, not an organization. Also, the Father’s house is the oneness for which the Lord Jesus prayed in John 17. In this chapter the Lord prayed that the Father would make all the believers one in the Triune God. Hence, in chapter 17 we have the oneness of the believers in the Triune God. This is the mingling of the Triune God with His people, and this oneness is organic. It is a divine organism, an organism that is Christ’s Body, the Father’s house, and also a mutual dwelling place. In this age this dwelling place is the church life, and in eternity it will be the New Jerusalem. This is the proper understanding of John 14:2.
According to Kittel’s Theological Word Book of the New Testament, it was the Gnostics who used the Greek word for house (oikia) to refer to a heavenly mansion. By this we see that the thought of a heavenly mansion is pagan. This thought is also heretical.
Because of the Gnostic concept of a heavenly mansion, some expositors have thought that John was under Gnostic influence when he wrote his Gospel. According to these expositors, in chapter 14 John was following the Gnostics to speak of a heavenly mansion. However, John certainly was not a Gnostic, and he did not use the word oikia to denote a heavenly mansion. He did not use this word with a Gnostic denotation. Actually, it was not John who used this word as recorded in the Gospel of John; it was the Lord Jesus who spoke of the Father’s house, and He surely was not a Gnostic. Neither did the Lord use any other word with a Gnostic denotation.
The word of the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of John concerning the Father’s house does not refer to a mansion in the heavens; it refers to Christ’s mystical Body, that is, to a divine organism composed of the Triune God mingled with His chosen people. To say that John 14:2 refers to a heavenly mansion is to take in a concept that is Gnostic, pagan, heathen, and heretical. We surely must utterly abandon such a concept. This thought is leaven brought in from a pagan source.
Although the truth has been leavened, I believe that the Lord Jesus will recover the pure truth. As part of this recovery, we must purge out the leaven of a heavenly mansion. The thought of going to a heavenly mansion after we die is superstitious, superficial, and false. It is also deceitful, for believers are cheated when they are told that their departed loved ones are now in a heavenly mansion. This leaven must be altogether cleared away.
I encourage you to pray over these matters and to have fellowship concerning them. Then we will see that, truthfully speaking, there is no such thing as a heavenly mansion. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is not building a heavenly mansion. On the contrary, by the Spirit and through His death and resurrection, He is building an organism, the church, which is His Body and the Father’s house. This house is composed of the mingling of the Triune God with His chosen and redeemed people. May we all be nourished with the truth concerning the mingling of God with us to produce a mutual dwelling place.
