Who Is the Owner of Our House?

A house fully reflects its owner’s dignity or taste. When you visit the homes of other people, some of them present a warm and friendly atmosphere, but others present a cold and unfriendly atmosphere. Just by staying inside their homes for a few minutes, you can easily discern what kind of people they are. You can discover whether they are lazy or diligent, whether they are easygoing or strict about everything. A house is a place that reflects the owner’s inner self, just as it is.

Then, let’s think about who the owner of our house is. Each of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit, where God dwells (1 Co 6:19). We need to ensure that God is the owner of our souls, the owner of our house, and the owner of our church. If we do not have conviction about who the owner of our house is, we will fall into various forms of temptation throughout our life of faith. On the contrary, when we correctly understand who the owner of our house is, we can see that God has been holding our hands and leading us to develop an unwavering faith. Keeping this fact in mind, we should take powerful steps toward the eternal Kingdom of Heaven with an unbreakable faith, as the people of Zion.

God-Centered Faith

God said, “Honor your father and your mother” (Ex 20:12). He taught us to honor our spiritual Parents as well as our physical parents, and asked us to live a gracious life by revering God.

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them . . . he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” Dt 4:9–10

God is the Lord and Owner of the whole universe. To revere God means to show spiritual filial piety toward God, because God is both a Father and a Mother to us. When you visit a house where there is a well-behaved child, you can feel the family tradition of filial piety. In the same way, we need to help people feel and realize the atmosphere of reverence toward God whenever they visit our church and our home, as well as whenever they see us.

From the perspective of the universe, the earth is nothing more than a single grain of sand on a beach. Do you think that God has told us to honor Him because He wants to be respected by people living in such a small place? Certainly not! Every command of God contains His profound will to bless us in the end. Understanding this fact, we ought to revere God as His children throughout our lives.

The church is a place where God’s people come together to learn to revere God. In the church, we should always worship God with reverence and keep God’s teachings alive. If the owner changes, problems will arise. As workers for God’s house, we just need to carry out the ministry God has entrusted to us. The owner of this house [church] is God. The house of God should be operated according to God’s ways and according to God’s pleasing will. All we have to do is meditate on God’s word day and night and put it into practice, without adding to or subtracting from it.

In ancient Israel, Joseph worked faithfully as a steward of Potiphar’s house, and Potiphar was very pleased with him. Due to Joseph’s diligence, Potiphar’s entire fortune increased and he was able to concentrate more on his work outside of his home, without being concerned about anything. Joseph took care of all the household affairs in a manner that was worthy enough to please his owner. We, too, should work in a manner that is worthy in the eyes of God and fully pleasing to Him. Knowing what pleases God, our owner, let us achieve everything according to God’s will.

Love, One of God’s Attributes

Those who love paintings put art on the walls of their houses, and those who love calligraphy hang their own handmade calligraphy works or the works of other calligraphers on their walls. Those who love music place pianos or other musical instruments in their houses, and those who are in the automobile industry or car enthusiasts decorate their houses with miniature car models. Then, what fills the house of God?

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love . . . Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 Jn 4:7–11

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing . . . When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 1 Co 13:1–11

We ought to love one another. It is because the owner of our house is God, who is love. I believe we should ensure that everyone is always able to feel the presence of God who is love, whenever they visit our house and our church as well as whenever they meet us.

Until now, God has been leading all of the heavenly family members with love. Previously, we just wanted to receive love like little children; however, now we need to give love to one another as God-pleasing children. We have now reached the age of spiritual maturity. Therefore, we should think, speak, and behave like spiritually mature adults. In the past, we thought, talked, and acted like children, just wanting to receive love. It is time for us to put those childish ways behind us and to perform the role of giving and sharing love with others.

God’s Children Taught by God

God is the owner of our house, and love is one of God’s attributes. We should serve others instead of wanting to be served and exalted. We also need to approach and speak to them first, greeting them without waiting to be greeted first. Only when we do this will everyone be able to see that God is the owner of our house.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Jn 13:34–35

A new command also refers to a new covenant. The Passover of the New Covenant includes the commandment to “love one another.” The Passover is not simply a ceremony where we eat bread and drink wine. It contains the great love and sacrifice of God who gave His children eternal life through the shedding of His precious blood as well as the tearing of His flesh, the bread of life. That is why God said, “Love one another as I have loved you.”

If you enter a house whose owner is love, you can feel the fragrance of love that fills the entire house, right? When we understand the characteristics of the owner of our house, we can also understand what we need to change about ourselves.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Mt 11:28–30

We need to correctly understand and learn the true nature of God who is the owner of our house. God has been treating us with gentleness and humility. He has silently carried our sins without blaming us or saying, “I suffer because of you.”

What will we naturally learn when we come to the One who is gentle and humble in heart? Zion is a place where those who are weary and burdened can come and rest in peace, laying down all of their heavy yokes. Zion should be a place for visitors to feel gentleness, humility, and love. Treating the brothers and sisters coldly or hurting them in the house of God is something that God hates. Zion, whose owner is God, must become a place where only those who are gentle and humble like God gather together. It must become a place where the souls who have been wounded from wandering aimlessly in the world can lay down their heavy burdens and find rest, where singing never ceases and where the sounds of joy and gladness are always heard. Only then will our brothers and sisters return to Zion one after another.

Zion Full of Joy and Gladness

World evangelism can be accomplished when we preach the gospel with the mind of Christ, the mind of Heavenly Father and Mother (Php 2:5). First, we need to accomplish the gospel inwardly, in order for it to be accomplished outwardly. God’s attributes such as love, gentleness, and humility should be found in us as well as in our home and in our church. When we preach the gospel with the mind of Father and Mother, then all of our heavenly family members around the world will come back to Zion.

For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it—I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will ever sing for joy.” Ps 132:13–16

Zion is God’s house, which God has chosen as His dwelling place. We all need to put forth effort to make Zion a place pleasing to God, the owner of Zion. What if Zion does not emit the fragrance of God, even though it is God’s house? All of God’s children will leave it. Only when the house of God is filled with the fragrance of Christ can God’s children come to visit it.

“The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.” Isa 51:3

God’s house is always filled with the sounds of joy, gladness, thanksgiving, and singing. The sounds of joy and gladness never cease. This is the atmosphere of God’s house.

“The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Isa 51:11

The above verse says that those redeemed by God will enter Zion, a place where everlasting joy and gladness overtake them while sorrow and sighing flee away. The house of a wicked person, such as a robber, can never be filled with a warm and loving atmosphere. It is because Zion is the house of God where the sounds of joy, gladness, thanksgiving, and singing never cease.

We have come to Zion, God’s own house, where we have received the mission to be workers of the New Covenant. As God’s workers, we must not spoil the atmosphere of our house by doing something wrong. We should bring the atmosphere of God into Zion, instead of creating an atmosphere based on our own likes or personal taste.

The Gospel Work Can Be Completed Through Rebirth Into God’s Divine Nature

While living in this world, we sometimes encounter things that do not go as we may have expected or do not fit our stereotypical views. Whenever this happens, we should not express our anger or other negative emotions, but instead make efforts to change our nature, remembering the great principle of love which God has given us to live by. God is the owner of our house and the owner of our souls. We need to consider how God instructs us.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Eph 4:29–32

God, our owner, asked us to always speak good words. This is the teaching of our Father and Mother: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, and always live in a righteous, upright manner. Be kind to one another.”

God’s house should be a place where the teachings of Heavenly Father and Mother are always reflected in our everyday lives. Therefore, we must be born again to be clothed with gentleness, humility, and love. Our home, our church and we ourselves must reflect the attributes of God. Zion will have an atmosphere filled with the warmth of God’s love, where the sounds of our joy and singing never cease, as we hold onto the hope that Father and Mother have given us. Zion should also be a place overflowing with the truth that leads to eternal life. All who are spiritually thirsty should be able to come to Zion and receive God’s word, the water of life, freely and fully. This is what pleases Heavenly Father and Mother the most, right?

God is the owner of our house. God is the owner of our church. God is the owner of our souls. Let’s see what blessings will come upon us when we believe that God is our owner.

“Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you. Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways . . .” Job 22:21–30

The house of God cannot take its true shape if we have our own treasure. This is because we try to use the wrong treasure to decorate God’s house, which should be filled with the dignity of God and reflect God’s characteristics.

When God is our owner, our faces will shine with joy and our souls will always be filled with gladness. We must have God as the owner of our house, the owner of our church, and the owner of our souls. Only then can our plans for the gospel be fulfilled without fail. I believe that the eternal Kingdom of Heaven will come when all of our brothers and sisters in Zion become perfect, as God’s house. I hope that all of us, the members of the heavenly family, will give glory to God as the workers of the New Covenant, who are more faithful than Joseph, until the gospel is preached to Samaria and even to the ends of the earth. By doing so, we will be complimented by God and hear the words, “Well done!” when we return to our heavenly home.