No offense meant to any of the speakers of past conferences, but on the last day of the Nortbrook Conference I made an observation based on my limited experiences with conferences in general. Most of them have had excellent speakers who present arguments to us that we all agree with and that we all understand. They merely phrase it a bit differently and place emphasis on aspects that are usually taken for granted. This conference was quite a bit different. While I didn’t hear anything that I would disagree with, I came away with my head filled with concepts that I had never thought to consider.
Through the presentations, Jim Hamilton developed his series in a format where each sermon built upon the one before. There were some people who were there on Saturday but who were not there Friday night and while they were built up with his lecture, they really lost out on the blocks that he built up to that second day. Building is a theme that was introduced Friday evening.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
How we build up the body of Christ is of paramount importance! We must take care to build with gold, silver and precious stones rather than the wood, hay and straw of the world. To understand this concept, you must think biblically, with the mind of Christ. What does God deem to be of value and what can pass away? What we need to build the church up with is a material that lines up well to the foundation, that being Christ crucified for our sins. If we try to build the church with anything that the world would see as wisdom it will be shown to be foolishness and if we build the church on the foolishness of the gospel, it will be shown to be the wisdom of God. Thus, it is not the size of the church or the seeker sensitive nature of some churches that will survive the fire, but the story of sin and redemption. That discussion is one that would fall into the category of something we understood but needed to hear from this angle, but the next one really blew me away.
I’d like you to consider for a moment the tabernacle. God designed it from the ground up, leaving no room for human interpretation. It was to be built His way. And when it was completed, God indwelt the tabernacle in a glorious display of His approval. This was now the place where God made His dwelling and was the place where sins were brought for atonement. The tabernacle was glorious, not for the artistry but because God was there.
Later in the Bible, we see that Solomon built the temple. God determined that this was a suitable place for Him and He indwelt that building as well, again with a very powerful manifestation of His glory. There was no doubt that this was the place where God was. And just as it was in the tabernacle, there was a physical aspect of the separation between God and man. I’m not referring to the curtain but to the layout of the tabernacle. The farthest place inside the tabernacle was the Most Holy Place with the Ark of the Covenant. Out from there was the Holy Place. Then the laver, the outer court and the brazen alter. Surrounding the complex was the Levities, those chosen as priests of the tabernacle. Then the tribes were further out from there. As you got closer to the center where God was, your requirement for holiness got greater and greater.
The dwelling place of God changed later in history when the Holy Spirit indwelt Jesus. He maintained His life as He lived without sin and always in the will of the Father. He is the example to us and we will be judged by His example on the last day. We are infinitely in debt to Him for His righteousness, which is the only thing that God will accept. Now the church is where God dwells. Each person who is bought with the price of His blood has received the Holy Spirit as a deposit of our inheritance. This indwelling is no less glorious than the original indwelling that Israel saw when God came to tabernacle with them. Likewise, we have just as much responsibility to keep our lives pure just as Israel had to maintain the tabernacle. Thus we are to flee from unrighteousness and keep our lives pure. In essence, the duties of those who lived in the presence of God in Israel are now our duties.
We have been given much, and because of this much will be required of us. Jim has written a book on this topic as well, and I have a copy. This will require quite a bit of study on my part, so I don’t know when I will be able to give you a review of the book. I am certain that this conference is only a taste of what the book has to offer us and am already pleased to recommend it to you as well. God’s indwelling presence is a topic that has not been discussed to the degree that it deserves in the past, and I have already seen a glimpse of the applications you can glean from such a truth. Like I said, this is not a lightweight book, but it is one I intend to study sooner rather than later. Jim has lit a fire under all who sat under his teaching, and I am extremely grateful to have attended The Northbrook Conference.
The Ministry of the Spirit in the Christian Life, Part 2: Spirit Empowered Hope for the Past, Present, and Future: Romans 5:1–11Northbrook Conference Recap We will be hustling to get the audio up on the conference website soon.
The Ministry of the Spirit in the Christian Life, Part 1: The Work of the Spirit in the Book of Acts The Ministry of the Spirit in the Christian Life, Part 2: Spirit Empowered Hope for the Past, Present, and Future: Romans 5:1–11 Northbrook Conference Recap
“The dwelling place of God changed later in history when the Holy Spirit indwelt Jesus.”
Could you confirm that you meant this statement? I’ve never heard anyone suggest that Jesus was indwelt by the Holy Spirit, as I take it you are saying, in the sense that we are today as believers. Conceived yes. Led by, yes. Empowered, yes. But indwelt is a new one to me.
The Old Testament conceives of God as being present with the people by dwelling in the tabernacle and later the temple. This concept is foundational to the teaching that believers in Jesus are the new temple. Those two statements will not generate many questions.
The place to worship God is where He is to be found. Though God is not restrained by any factor of location, His manifest presence is the place where He has revealed Himself, and this is to be the approved place of worship.
The temple is the temple because God is there, not because man has declared it so. In the book of John, we see that the word became flesh and tabernacled with us (John 1:14). What does it mean that He tabernacled with us? It means that He became the place where the glory of God was to be found. This is true, not just because Jesus is God, but because the spirit of God dwelled in Him. This was not a short term manifestation of the spirit of God, but a lifelong infillment. I’ll use some of the material from an earlier post as I continue this response.
In the clearing of the temple, Jesus drove out animals that were necessary for sacrifice. This is quite telling as later He would become the sacrifice. The Bible doesn’t say what exactly the trouble was with the sale of sacrificial animals in the temple. Some people would sell their animals before the pilgrimage to Jerusalem then use that money to purchase another animal, for example. In John 2:17-21, we see this:
What is this temple that Jesus was speaking of? What was the significance of the temple to the Jews? It was the place where God was at, the place to worship and the place where sins could be covered.
There was a historical shift taking place here. The presence of God was being removed from the temple and placed into the Body of Jesus, who is God. This is also seen during the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well. See John 4:21.
The Jews said that God was to be found in Jerusalem. The Samaritans said that the proper place to worship was in their temple. In essence, there was a disagreement of where God was to be encountered.
Jesus was the dwelling place of the Spirit, who later would resurrect Him following His crucifixion. The spirit was then given to the apostles after the resurrection, as seen in John 20:22
Does this clear things up or does it muddy the waters more?
I think I follow your argument but I’ll be straightforward and say I think it’s false.
The evidence presented for the Holy Spirit actually indwelling Jesus is circumstantial and sketchy at best.
Secondly, the emphasis in moving from OT to NT is not from one location to another but from location to Spirit (which of course focuses our attention and worship toward Jesus).
You wrote, “What does it mean that He tabernacled with us? It means that He became the place where the glory of God was to be found. This is true, not just because Jesus is God, but because the spirit of God dwelled in Him. This was not a short term manifestation of the spirit of God, but a lifelong infillment.”
This to me is a huge leap with no (adequate) supporting evidence presented.
Did you encounter this theology for the first time at this conference or have you always believed this?
I can appreciate what you’re saying. The conference went beyond my understanding at times, and right now I am just puppetting what I understood from the conference. I may not be totally accurate here, but there will be mp3’s made available before too long. I encourage you to give them a hearing so you can see if Jim said what I wrote and if his arguments are stronger than mine.
I have come to understand that most of what Jesus did was by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by His own power. There are exceptions to this, such as the stilling of the wind and waves, but if we are called to walk as Jesus walked, that must include a reliance on the Holy Spirit to a greater degree than we will usually admit.
The indwelling of Jesus was a surprise to me as well, and again I am not the best representative of this view. For a time, I believed the mostly dispensational view that the Holy Spirit was largely absent on the Earth before He was sent on the day of Pentecost. Later, I began to look for indwelling in the Old Testament and was stymied.
If I misunderstood this aspect of the conference it will show itself, and I will still come away with a clearer understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in redemptive history for having attended.
Maybe I came across too harshly. I’m more curious than anything. And I think maybe we’re using the word “indwell” differently. I ran the idea past a friend of mine and though he wasn’t able to adequately explain it to me (though he’s looking for something on it that he has tucked away), he told me that he thinks you might be right–in fact, he thinks it’s the view held by Edwards and Owen. Again, I need to learn more about it.
And I agree with your statements above about Jesus living by the Spirit more than many evangelicals admit or recognize.
Thanks for being my friend in this and challenging my thinking!
We’re just two irons. You know that. Let me know what your friend finds!
I ran this question by Jim Hamilton and here is his response:
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