Dwelling in God’s Heart – The Kitchen
Dwelling in God’s Heart – The Kitchen.
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8).
“I am inside My Father, and you are inside Me, and I am inside you.” (John 14:20).
Even though the phrase “accept Jesus into our heart” is not in Scripture, we get the picture. Accepting Jesus into our hearts means we receive Him into the very core of our being, into the centerpiece of who we are, affecting everything about us. When we receive Jesus into our heart-home, our identity becomes His, the essence of our personhood is intimately wrapped into the essence of Christ’s Personhood. When we make our home in His home, He miraculously become a resident inside each of us as well. And when we experience that Double Union with Jesus Christ, we discover that our spiritual location is inside of the very heart of God. In other words, if the Son is inside the Father, and we are inside the Son, then logically we are inside the Father! By dwelling in the Son’s heart, we dwell in the Father’s heart as well. By living inside the “Person after God’s own heart,” we find ourselves inside God’s heart! As Paul claims in Colossians 3:3, believers are “hidden within Christ, inside of God.”
Way back in 1954 there was a creative little evangelistic tract produced by Inter-Varsity Press, written by a pastor named Robert Boyd Munger. He entitled his brief tract, “My Heart – God’s Home.” I recommend it if you find it. Following up on Revelation 3:20, Pastor Munger imagined a believer opening his door and escorting Jesus through the home of his heart, now that Jesus has taken up residence in him. Now that Jesus dwells in him, and He has moved into his heart, what will Jesus see there? So the believer in the tract proceeds to give a tour of his heart-home with Jesus as he welcomes Christ into his heart. Together they tour the person’s study, dining room, living room, workroom, recreation room, bedroom and hall closet. I thought this was an engaging idea, but now I would like to give the other side of the story. Jesus lives within us, to be sure. But we also live within Jesus, hence inside the very heart of God. So if the Father was to give us a guided tour of His heart, what would we find? What will be waiting for us to discover in the many rooms of God’s heart? We could easily entitle this, “God’s Heart -My Home.”
Like anyone’s home, God’s heart will reflect His attitudes, motivations, personality, character traits, His heavenly “tastes” in interior décor. God’s deeply held convictions will be revealed in His heart-home, as they are in our own hearts. Using Scripture as our guide, we will explore God’s heart as we make ourselves at home and abide in Him. We will explore everything from the front porch to the front door, the living room to the dining room, from the kitchen to the study to the chapel. And many more rooms as well, like the bedroom, the bathroom, and the nursery. There may even be a sneak peek at the family room, the children’s playroom, and the school room.
THE KITCHEN. Conveniently located near the dining room, the warm and spacious kitchen is always ready to be of use. It is where the food is prepared and where the dishes are stored for immediate use. It has two other functions that are crucial… One, the kitchen is where the all-important bread basket is stored. And two, it is where people come and go all day to get a glass of water.
First, the life-saving need for water. The tap is constantly being used because water is one of those necessities for all of us. Actually, our souls need spiritual water in the same way. “Come!” say the Spirit and the Bride. Whoever hears, echo, “Come!” Is anyone thirsty? Come! All who will, come and drink, drink freely of the Water of Life! (Revelation 22:17, MSG).
“The Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,” proclaims the Nicene Creed, and all God’s people say Amen! Throughout Scripture, the Spirit is symbolized by fresh water, by the waters of life. Living water from running streams is a picture of the life-saving, soul-satisfying refreshment that can only be given by God through His Holy Spirit. In the Hebrew Bible, the connection between water and the Spirit is in Isaiah 44:3, “I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and my blessings on your offspring.” And In Isaiah 32:15, 20, “Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field… How blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters.” When Jesus had that momentous discussion with the woman at the well, He promised her the water that will become in her “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14). Lest anyone be confused about that water of life, John clarified the matter once and for all after Jesus shouted out His messianic invitation, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water!” (John 7:37-38). After which John added, “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.” (John 7:39). So when the Holy Spirit said ‘Come’ in Revelation 22:17, He is inviting those who are thirsty to come to Him and drink freely from His fountain of life. Only those who are thirsty, those who are “painfully conscious of his need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported and strengthened” (AMP), can receive the Spirit’s water of life. Only the thirsty can have their thirst quenched by the Spirit. The Bride of Christ, the Church, joins in the invitation, appealing to all who are spiritually thirsty to come and drink of the Spirit. Whoever drinks of the Spirit will have an ongoing stream of life flowing out of his heart. And this water is free of charge. “Ho! Everyone who thirsts come to the waters; you who have no money, come!” (Isaiah 55:1). John’s final appeal in Scripture is the divine invitation of the Holy Spirit to come to Him for life-giving water. As the Father made clear in Isaiah 41:17, “The afflicted and needy shall rejoice exceedingly, for when they shall seek water, but there is none, and their tongues are parched with thirst, I the Lord God, will hear them; As the God of Israel, I will not forsake them.” The Spirit’s invitation to come and drink is simply a profound gesture of God’s mercy.
Secondly, there is the matter of the kitchen as the busy site for fulfilling the need for bread, the stuff of life. Soon after Jesus’ astounding feeding of the 5,000 and His walking on the turbulent Sea, He was surrounded in the synagogue by a few of the people who had been fed so miraculously earlier. Jesus saw this as a teachable moment for His audience, especially after someone in His audience said to Him, We’ll believe you if you can show us another miracle, another sign. After all, (this person continued), Moses fed our ancestors with manna in the wilderness all those years (Exodus 16). If you’re the long-awaited Prophet to replace Him, what sign can you do for us? Jesus couldn’t wait to dignify this awkward question with a self-revelation that is profound and puzzling. Jesus decided to mix the spiritual and the physical in an interesting way. He told them, Are you looking for bread from heaven? Are you seeking a sign like manna in the desert? Didn’t you just get fed out in the middle of nowhere? Well, think of this, then. I AM the Bread of Life. Think about that manna with Moses. I am like that, only I AM the living bread that came down from heaven to give His life to feed the world. Come to me and you will never be spiritually hungry again. Come to me, take me into your innermost being, into your deepest self, and you will live forever. The living Bread I give you is myself, my own body, which I will offer as a sacrifice so that all may live. My body is real food for the soul, and my blood is real drink. Unless you eat my body and take me into yourself, and drink my blood while you’re at it, you will not have eternal life. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him. I am the Bread, the living Manna, that comes from heaven to feed you unto eternal life. Think of me as spiritual manna for your souls. (read John 6:26-58).
Jesus talked about bread in the context of manna. He even compared Himself a little to that food provided in the desert. He came down from heaven, just like manna. He is to be eaten, just like manna. And He like manna was a gift from the hand of God. Manna was eaten in order to be sustained physically. Jesus is Bread that is eaten to be sustained spiritually. Manna is a bread of mystery that appeared every morning, the word manna meaning “What is it?” Jesus is another bread of mystery to many who misunderstood and rejected Him. Wilderness manna was openly revealed for all to see every day. Likewise, Jesus was walking and teaching and healing for all to see, out in the open. All who wanted manna had free and easy access. All who sought Jesus could easily find Him. All who ate manna had their hunger satisfied. All who partake of Jesus have their spiritual hunger satisfied, forever. Jesus gives the soul true nourishment, and only those with faith can truly receive it. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Ps. 34:8).
When Jesus talked about offering hidden manna in Rev. 2:17, He was no doubt offering Himself as the Bread from heaven, His own body and blood. Unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we don’t have His life in us. In John 6, Jesus seemed to be foreshadowing His Last Supper. He is referring to the Eucharist in both John 6 and Rev. 2:17. The manna comes down from heaven in the sacramental Communion in which Jesus is, in a sense, hiding. Christ is spiritually hidden in the physical bread and wine. His Holy Spirit is intimately interconnected within the bread and wine. The elements are fused with the Spirit. The Hidden Manna is offered to believers as the living Bread to be spiritually consumed and digested in the innermost being. The mystical Presence, the Real Presence, within the Hidden Manna. The Eucharist is spiritual food available to all who believe in the Living Bread. To receive the power of God and the life of Christ, His flesh and blood must be accepted as spiritual nourishment hidden in the physical elements. Jesus Christ, the Hidden Manna, for the life of the world.
Because of the meals being prepared, the bread, and the water, the kitchen in the house of God’s heart is central to the flourishing of all who live here.