The Spiritual Architect

1 Corinthians 3:9-11

For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.  For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. NKJV

Paul the apostle is the one who penned this portion of scripture which provides keen insight into another aspect of the apostolic gift, its role and its order.  He describes himself as a “master builder.”  The Greek word translated “master builder” literally means chief architect.  Architects are the first ones to work on a project and design plans which move a structure from vision into reality.  These plans provide the pattern from which the general contractor and all of the sub-contractors work from. 

This is why in 1 Corinthians 12:28 apostles go first, prophets second and teachers third.  It is an order of function.  God has uniquely designed this gift with revelation and wisdom to build.  This gift working with the prophet lays the foundation for all of the rest of the gifts to successfully build their part while interacting with the rest of the team.

Plans by the Spirit
Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things; NKJV

God gave King David plans by the spirit of God.  The king served as an architect taking the vision for a house or dwelling place for the Lord and turning that into a set of plans from which his son and a very large team of builders could work from.  He built a structure that had never existed and its very design introduces some intriguing questions.

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How was he able to do this?

Why was there a need for treasuries?

How was David Able to Get These Plans by the Spirit?

Acts 15:16-17  

'After! this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.' NKJV

King David was a type of fore-runner to the apostolic gift.  He was from the tribe of Judah (praise) and he served as a king, acted like a prophet and interceded like a priest in his generation. Once he was set in as the king the first decision he and his leaders made was to bring back the presence of God to his city, the capitol of his kingdom.  Why? 

David’s kingdom was made up of people from every sphere of society.  His concern was not for his own well being but for the Lord’s glory, His will, and the well being and success of the people David was given responsibility for.  David was concerned about laying a good solid foundation for each of the tribes and families to be successful in their respective professions and callings.    

1 Kings 8:16-18

'Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there; but I chose David to be over My people Israel.'  Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.  NKJV

The vision for Solomon’s temple came out of David’s heart.  It was his vision.  He dreamed and working with our Lord he created.  This is a great way to build relationship.  Candidly I’ve found I get to know people better and faster when I work with them than I ever do fellowshipping just over a meal.  Think about how much the Lord loves to work with each of us on our assignments.  God created us in His image.  He created and that is why He gave us the ability to dream and envision.  He wants us to create too.  He just wants us to consult with Him because He loves us and wants to spend time with us.  He wants us to build together like David did.

David being a fore-runner to the apostolic gift was also an architect.  He got the plans by the spirit.  The plans He gave to Solomon were not his first plans by the spirit.  I believe the first plans were actually the pattern God showed David on how to welcome God’s abiding presence in the city of David.  It is referred to in Acts 15:16.  It is the restoration of David’s tabernacle. 

Jesus began his ministry preaching the gospel of the kingdom.  His bible of the day was what we call the Old Testament and King David provided the best example building the kingdom! We can learn much about God’s pattern for expanding the kingdom today by studying what David did when He began to build the kingdom.  But before we look at the pattern David set let’s look at why the spirit led David to design treasuries in the plans he gave to Solomon.    

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