We have mentioned repeatedly that the Gospel of John shows us that God in His Son coming to be man’s life was for Him to build a temple, which is His house. The Lord’s becoming flesh was His tabernacling among men. His body of flesh was the tabernacle and also a temple. Later, Satan instigated the Jews to crucify Him on the cross, destroying this temple. Still, through resurrection, the Lord raised up the temple again in three days, thus enlarging it. When the Lord became flesh, He provided God with a tabernacle to dwell among men, yet this tabernacle was limited to only one individual. After the Lord resurrected and rebuilt the temple, it became boundless, no longer limited to one individual but including all those who have been regenerated in His resurrection and have received His life throughout the ages. Therefore, this building began with the Lord’s incarnation and was eventually completed in the Lord’s death and resurrection. The Lord completed this building, this temple, in resurrection.
When the temple was completed, heaven was opened to the temple. This was what the Lord referred to in John 1: “You shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (v. 51). We should realize that the Son of Man refers not only to the Lord Himself but also includes all those who are joined to Him in His resurrection. This Son of Man is a mysterious man in the universe. The angels of God ascending and descending on this man indicates that this man is joined to heaven and has reached the earth; heaven and earth are joined in Him; and God and man are mingled together in Him.
Brothers and sisters, if you will keep these points in mind and read John 14, 15, and 16—the chapters containing the Lord’s parting message—and John 17 containing the Lord’s concluding prayer, you will be able to understand the proper meaning. Simply speaking, the Lord was showing us that He would go through death and resurrection to accomplish the building of God.
As we did previously, we will now read from John 14. Verse 2 says, “In My Father’s house are many abodes; if it were not so, I would have told you.” We have already pointed out that the writings of John do not have the element of space or time. Therefore, when reading them, we need to go beyond the concept of space and time. When John mentions time, it refers, in principle, to eternity; the space he speaks of is simply God Himself. The matters he deals with are all in eternity and also in God. Therefore, do not assume that the Father’s house here refers to heaven or some other place. The Father’s house mentioned here and in chapter two both refer to the mutual dwelling place of God and man. In this dwelling place there are many abodes. Later, we shall see what these abodes refer to.
“For I go to prepare a place for you” (v. 2). In John 14 and 16 the Lord repeatedly speaks about His going. The Lord’s going does not refer to His leaving the earth to ascend to the heavens, but it refers to His going to die. I repeat: In the Gospel of John, we see that the Lord’s becoming flesh is not just His coming from heaven to earth but His coming from God to man. His coming and going are not a matter of place but a matter of person. In the Gospel of John, in principle, there is no mention of place, only of person. Therefore, His incarnation was to bring God into man, and His death and resurrection were to bring man into God. In other words, His incarnation was His coming, and His death and resurrection were His going.
Since the Lord’s going refers not to His leaving the earth to ascend to the heavens but to His death, His going to prepare a place for us must also not be His going to heaven but His going into God to prepare a place, that is, His going to God to open a way for us, solving the problems and removing the barriers between us and God so that we who were outside of God and separated from God can enter into God and be joined to God. This is what the Lord meant by His going to prepare a place.
Thus, you can see that the Lord’s word here has no thought of heaven at all. The Lord never meant to go to heaven to build a house for us, to prepare an abode for each of us, and having prepared it, to come again to receive us. This is altogether man’s concept, not the Lord’s intention. The Lord’s intention was that He would go to suffer death, redeem us from our sins, terminate the flesh, deal with Satan, deal with the world, deal with all of the barriers, problems, and difficulties between us and God, and pave a way that we may be joined to God, enter into God, and dwell in God as our abode. This is what the Lord meant by His going to prepare a place for us. This shows us that God’s salvation is not to save us into heaven but to save us into Himself in His Son. God is saving us not from earth to heaven but from ourselves into Himself.
Many times we do not preach the gospel accurately. In preaching the gospel to others, we often say, “Friends, do you know where you are going when you die? Where is your eternal home? If you do not believe in the Lord Jesus, you will go to hell. You can go to heaven only if you believe in Jesus.” It is absolutely right to say that a person who does not believe in Jesus will go to the lake of fire. However, it is questionable to say that a person who believes in Jesus will go to heaven.
One time I was in a certain place giving a message concerning the building of God’s house. I then asked the audience, “You are very familiar with the Bible and have received much light. Now I would challenge you and also challenge all of Christianity. Please tell me where the Bible says that those who believe in Jesus will go to heaven.” I went on to say, “I know you will say in your heart that in John 14 when the Lord Jesus said, ‘I go to prepare a place for you,’ the place He was going to prepare must be heaven.” Then I said, “We will temporarily put John 14 aside, saving it for a later time. But I would say that in the whole Bible you cannot find one place where it talks about people going to heaven.”
A few days later, one of those who listened to the message that day invited us for a meal and fellowship. After the meal an elderly sister who was very familiar with the Bible asked me, “Brother Lee, since we are not in a hurry, can you speak to us from John 14, which you saved a few days ago?” I said, “Yes, but I would rather not merely speak on it. It is best if we read it together.” So together we read over it briefly. When we came to “in My Father’s house,” I asked, “In the entire Bible, what does God’s house or the Father’s house refer to?” The sister said, “In the Old Testament it certainly refers to the temple of God, and in the New Testament it definitely refers to the church of God.” Then I asked, “So what does the Father’s house refer to in John 14?” She said, “Everyone believes that it refers to heaven.” I immediately went on to say, “You just said that in the Old Testament God’s house refers to God’s temple and in the New Testament it refers to the church. Why is it that the Father’s house in John 14 alone refers to heaven?” She said, “That is what everyone says, so I think it is probably so.” I said, “Why is your thought not according to the Old Testament and the New Testament? Neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament says that God’s house is heaven.”
When we read further, I asked her, “The Lord Jesus said, ‘For I go to prepare a place for you.’ What did the Lord mean by the word go?” She said, “That certainly means that the Lord would leave the earth to ascend to the heavens.” I asked, “What is meant by the phrase prepare a place?” She said, “Everyone says that it means that the Lord was going to heaven to build rooms for us.” Therefore, I had to read on further with her little by little. It took me a great deal of effort to help her see that the Lord’s going refers to His death, and His going to prepare a place was His going to solve the problems between us and God, to pave a way that we may be connected with God, joined to God, and dwell in God. Therefore, to be sure, the Lord’s going to prepare a place for us is not for us to go to heaven but for us to enter into God.