Psalm 127:1, ‘Unless YHWH builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.’
And what is the ‘house’ that YHWH builds? Ultimately, it is the House of the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is The House built by the Lord on the cross and from the tomb, raised up from the ashes and established for all time as the true dwelling place and Temple of God (Jn. 2:19-22, Rev.21:22), the unshakable House, established on Mt. Zion (Is.2:2), the Dwelling of God whose foundations were laid in His own love-spilt blood before time (Rev.13:8), whose presence fills all the earth (Dan.2:34-35) and from whose light the cosmos is illumined (Rev21:23-24). This—He—is the House YHWH builds.
But we can say more, because the Church is truly the Body of the Christ, truly living stones in this One True House (1 Pt.2:4-5), such that She—We, Christian—is the House that YHWH builds, the house that cannot fall because it is founded on the riven Rock of Christ. She is the House YHWH has built and is building, not by might, nor power, but by His Spirit (Zech.4:6). Like any house under construction, she will seem scattered and fragmentary and unable to provide the shelter she promises, but She is not yet finished, not yet fully conformed to the Anastasiform model of Her Master. The day is coming when she will be. Yes, she will be because she is inseparably united to the Risen House of Christ, the House that YHWH builds.
Finally, it is worthwhile to note that EVERY other ‘house,’ every other power or system or agenda or structure, every other entity that would claim enduring significance as ‘something’ in this world is a house built by human hands, and therefore a house built in vain, a house that will fall. In the end, there is only One House built by YHWH, the House of the slain and risen Jesus Christ. May we all be granted to dwell in this House all the days of our life (Ps.23:6).
