Psalm 127:1
Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman taketh but in vain.
The architect has the vision and the builder carries it out. It’s a partnership. God is the architect. He has the specific plans for our lives. Here are some things to know about Him:
1) The architect is specific.
Genesis 6:14-22
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Remember that up until this time, it had never rained on the earth before. Noah was probably thinking, “what is rain?” and maybe even, “what is an ark?” God didn’t show Noah the whole picture . He gave him very specific instructions, which Noah had to carry out in faith. Can you image the questions Noah must have had when he realized God’s instructions were to build a door in the ark with no closing mechanism? Or about the fact that the ark had no rudder or navigational system. Regardless of his inability to see how it would all work out, he didn’t allow that to hinder his obedience. We can’t allow logic to impede our obedience to God. If we are really trusting God by faith, we don’t have to know exactly where we are going. We must trust that God can see the big picture. We should follow His instructions exactly, by faith.
Jesus doesn’t want a compartmentalized relationship with us. He wants all of us… including our trust in Him.
Luke 5:1-11
And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
They had been fishing literally all night and caught nothing. Then Jesus asked them to go right back out. Because they listened to His instruction, their nets were so full they were tearing. And, when Peter saw how many fish they were catching , it caused him to repent. (It’s the goodness of God that leads us to repentance–Romans 2:4)
2) The architect’s patterns are important.
Exodus 25:9
According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
If you’re building according to a pattern, that means the thing you are building exists elsewhere. When God gives instruction to build a pattern in the earth, its based off something that already exists in heaven.
Hebrews 8: 1-5
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.
The earthly tabernacle that Moses built was from a blueprint of the heavenly tabernacle. It was as a type, or shadow, of the real one in heaven.
God’s patterns are important because He is trying to establish reflections on earth of the things in heaven.
The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed.
The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.
And it’s all about Jesus.
For example: There is a reason why Moses couldn’t go in the Promised land. It wasn’t because of his anger. Its was because he didn’t follow God’s instruction. God told Moses to strike the rock the first time (Exodus 17:6// A shadow or picture of Jesus, the cornerstone, who would be struck and crucified for our sins.) A short while later, God told Moses to speak to the rock (Numbers 20:8-12), but he didn’t. He struck it again-which was to present a lie on the revelation of the coming Jesus (who would not be crucified twice). There are certain things that are impermissible because they are not accurate representations of Jesus. Example: God intended marriage to be between one and one woman, because it represents Jesus relationship with His bride, the church . etc.
3) There are only two patterns:
Romans 12:1-2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
To “conform” mens to be shaped into a pattern or mold. There are only two patterns that anyone could be shaped into: demonic and Godly. We’ll either be shaped in the image of evil, or into the image of God. All of us are born into sin, but when we become saved, it is the Word of God that transforms us and molds us into the image of His son.
We must meet the Architect, and be shaped by His Word. This is how we become transformed into His image. It allows us to build our lives according to His will (which is never in vain!)