I used to hear people talk about how
religion puts “God in box,” that is, how religious people put
restrictions on God: God can't, God won't, God doesn't do certain
things, or He doesn't do things in a certain way. In reality, they
just put restrictions on what they believe God will do, and thus
restrict what they can receive from Him.
Now, I am sure that the Scriptures
are clear that God doesn't lie, that He cannot lie, He doesn't change
His Word, and He never does anything contrary to His Word. How can
someone who is Truth lie?
But sadly, many people do pass up
God's blessings because of these restrictions they put on God.
Another name for these restrictions is 'unbelief.'
Now where did this 'God in a box'
concept come from in the first place?
Surprisingly, the answer is: GOD!
Ever hear of the Ark of the Covenant?
Ever wonder what that was all about?
The short answer is that God wanted a
way to be with His people, the Israelites. He couldn't manifest His
presence all the time among them, for no man at that time could stand
to be around such a holy being. So, he gave them a plan for a
tabernacle (tent) that would house the Ark of the Covenant, a special
gold-plated box that would represent God's presence. Along with the
Tabernacle and the Ark, God instituted a priesthood and a sacrificial
system to allow people to come before Him, and He could then dwell
among them. [Exodus 25 - 30]
[A preacher name Judson Cornwall
wrote a book years ago about the construction of the Tabernacle of
Moses and the Ark of the Covenant, and all the symbolism involved
that points to Jesus and the New Covenant. The title of the book is
Let Us Draw Near. If you
want to know more about the Tabernacle and the Ark, I highly
recommend that book.]
Now, God is
not limited by space or distance. You do not have to be
geographically close to a special box or structure for God to hear
and answer your prayers. Even after the construction of the Ark and
the Tabernacle, the Old Testament contains many stories of God
working miracles in places not close to the Ark.
By the time
Jesus appeared, three things dominated Jewish thought: the Law of
Moses, the Jerusalem Temple, and the coming Messiah.
They focused
on the Law because they saw their neglect of, and disobedience to,
the Law as the cause of the Babylonian Captivity and the destruction
of Jerusalem and the Temple.
They focused
on the Temple because it was the successor to the Tabernacle of
Moses, the Law spoke so much about the Tabernacle and the priesthood,
and they had fought so hard to maintain the sanctity of the Temple.
They focused
on the Messiah because they wanted a Deliverer to rise up and lead
them out from under the Roman Empire.
Because of
their focus on these things, when the true Messiah, Jesus, arrived,
they could not see that God was manifesting Himself through this
carpenter's son, this itinerant rabbi, Who did astounding miracles,
and said things that were even more astounding than His miracles.
They could not see that He was God in the flesh. [John 1:14; Matthew
1:23]
So, now the
“box” that held God's presence was the body of Jesus of Nazareth!
After the
Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the New Birth became possible.
Anyone who now believes in Jesus is born again into God's Kingdom.
[John 3:1 – 8, 13 - 17]
Jesus also
promised he would never leave us or forsake us, that He would not
leave us as orphans. He is in US! [Matthew 28:20; John 14:18;
Colossians 1:26 - 27]
Now, God is
not just in one “box,” He is in many “boxes!” [2 Corinthians
4:7; 1 Corinthians 6:19 -20]
So, the “God
in a box” concept is not a bad thing, as long as each born again
believer sees himself as a “box” where God dwells.
Now, I see
many believers trapped by the Old Testament style “God in a box”
mentality – that God dwells in church buildings, that you can only
experience His Presence in a church building, etc.
How did this
mentality enter into the Church?
A
little study on the English word, “church” gives us a clue. That
word comes from a Greek word, “kyriakos.” That
word comes from two other Greek words that mean “lord” and
“house.” It literally means “Lord's house.”
Is
this the same word used in the Greek New Testament? No. As far as I
know, it never appears in the GNT.
Greek
was the predominate language of the Early Church for the first
several centuries. However, the Church never owned any buildings for
the first 200 years or so. Christians would meet in homes, schools,
amphitheaters, lecture halls, or anywhere they found a place that was
suitable. When the Church began to buy or erect their own buildings,
they called them "kyriakos",
the Lord's Houses.
Over
time, because of the origin of the word, “church” became
associated more with buildings than with people. Church leaders
began to teach that God dwelt only in those buildings. So, that's
how the OT style “God in a box” mentality came into the Church.
After all, isn't a house or building just a big box?
But
this association of “church” with buildings does not line up with
what the New Testament really teaches.
The
Greek word that is translated as “church” in English is
“ekklesia.”
It means “a called out assembly.” An assembly of what?
Building materials? After all, aren't buildings assembled out of
boards, bricks, blocks, pipe, wire, etc. But these materials are not
called out. You would question the competence of a carpenter who
called out, “Here boards! Come here so I can cut you into the
right length, and nail you into place.”
So,
what is being assembled? People!
In
Acts 19, Luke uses the word “ekklesia”
to refer to the crowd in Ephesus that demonstrated against Paul's
ministry. This word occurs in verses 32, 39 and 41. In verses 30
and 33, Luke uses the word “demos”
to refer to the same group. This word means “people.” We use it
in the prefix of the words “demographic” and “democracy.”
Why
would Luke use the word “ekklesia”
to refer to this crowd of people? They were called
out by
the guild of coppersmiths that made household shrines to Diana (or
Artemis), the goddess worshiped by the Ephesians. The coppersmiths
called out this assembly of people to protest the preaching of Paul,
because he was leading people away from Diana to Jesus. As people
turned from Diana to Jesus, they stopped buying shrines, and that
hurt the coppersmiths' business. They wanted to let it be known they
didn't like this, and they wanted help in expressing their
displeasure, so they called
out an
assembly of those still faithful to Diana.
I
could say more about the “ekklesia”
of Jesus, but that is for another time. My point in bringing this up
now is that when the New Testament uses the word “church,” it is
not talking about a building. The NT never, never, never, never, and
I mean not ever, not at any time whatsoever, and I am absolutely,
positively certain that the NT never uses the word “church” to
refer to a building. It ALWAYS refers to people!
Now,
like I said earlier, the “God in a box” concept is not
necessarily bad as long as we change the concept. We hear a lot
today about thinking outside the box. I say, “Let's rethink the
box!”
Not
only is each born again believer a “God-box,” but we
collectively, as the Church, are the “God-box!” [2 Corinthians
6:14 – 18; Ephesians 2: 19 – 22; Revelation 21:1 - 3]
