THE LIFE OF THE CHRISTIAN BELIEVER

E. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE: SIX PICTURES OF THE CHURCH

-- { Ephesians 2:19-22 } ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, ²⁰ built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; ²² in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. -- NRSV

Breath Prayer For The Week (A "breath prayer" is a brief sentence or simple phrase that can be repeated often to Jesus in one breath.)

Jesus, control my life.

Dear Friend, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ.  Amen.

In this portion of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he gives an excellent description of the Church.  He paints six pictures.

Picture 1: A new nation (2:19)  “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,…”

Paul pictures the Church as a new nation or society.  Paul says “fellow citizens.”  We, the Gentiles, non-Jews, are no longer strangers and foreigners to God.  We are now fellow citizens with all the saints of God throughout the ages.  

1. We were foreigners and aliens.  The word “foreigner” (xenoi) means a stranger, an outsider, an unknown person, a person who does not belong.  The word “alien” (paroikoi) means a migrant, an exile.

2. We were not “God’s people.”  We were not set apart or separated to God.  But now the picture is that of a people who are fellow citizens in a nation being created by God.  We are “saints” – set apart to God.

Picture 2: God’s family (2:19b)  “…fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,…”

Paul pictures the Church as the family of God.  Jesus has made this possible.  This involves two privileges.

1. The privilege of adoption.  We have been adopted as God’s children in our baptism.  We are His sons and daughters by faith in Jesus.  All the experiences of God’s family are to be ours: love, care, concern, help, provision, protection, shelter, clothing, food, discipline, training, direction, fellowship, companionship, intimacy.

2. The privilege of responsibility and service.  The term “household” is significant.  Everyone in a household has duties to perform, some service to render for the good of the family.  So it is with the Church.  We have a purpose.  We are to love and care for one another – building each other up in faith and service.

Picture 3: God’s building (2:20)  “…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”

Here Paul pictures the Church as God’s building.  Followers of Jesus are pictured as the building stones, which are being used to construct a building for God.  There are two points to note.

1. Jesus Himself is the “chief cornerstone.”  There is significant symbolism here.

   1. The cornerstone is the first stone laid.  All other stones are placed after it.  It is the preeminent stone.  Jesus is the first of God’s new movement.  Interestingly, I have observed cornerstones in the Holy Land and they are in the shape of a heart.

      1. Jesus is the captain of our salvation and all others are crewmembers who follow Him.

      2. Jesus is the author of eternal salvation and of our faith.  All others are the readers of the story.

      3. Jesus is the beginning and the end.  All others come within Him.

      4. Jesus is the forerunner into the very presence of God.  All others enter God’s presence after Him.

   2. The cornerstone is the supportive stone.  All other stones are held by it.  They all lean on the cornerstone - as we all lean on Jesus.  He is our head and chief.

   3. The cornerstone is the directional stone.  It is used to line up the whole building and all the other stones.  It can be called the “instructional stone” – upon it all the lines and instructions of the building are based.  So it is with Jesus, the Christ.  

2. We, the church, are built upon the foundation laid by the testimonies of the apostles and prophets.  They surround Jesus Himself.  Their testimony of the good news of God is the foundation upon which the Church is built.

Picture 4: A growing organism (2:21)  “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.”

The word “rises” means growing and is a biological word, the idea of a living organism.  The Church is pictured as a living and growing organism.  Each person added to the Church makes is grow.  This growth is all due to God’s drawing power upon lives.  His amazing grace draws them in.  This puts two great challenges before the Church.

1. The Church must grow.  It must bring in new stones (believers) and fit them into Christ’s Body.  The Churches structure is never finished but always being added too.

2. Every believer within the building is a part of the building and expected to grow to fulfill its function.  Every believer is a laborer for the Lord Jesus.  We are to bring new stones into the Church.

Picture 5: A world-wide temple – the universal church (2:21b) “…and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.”

Paul pictures the Church as catholic, with a small “c” meaning “universal.”  All believers in Jesus around the world make up the true, invisible Church.  As the song goes, “Red and yellow, back and white, they are precious in His sight.”  

All believers from every generation who are being called from all across the world are being fitted into God’s universal building for eternity.  The gospel of Jesus is open to all people everywhere.

Picture 6: A local temple – the local church (2:22)  “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Paul now uses the word “you” referring to the Ephesian church in particular.  Each local church, like ours, is pictured as a building structured for God’s presence.  And each member is seen as an integral and essential stone being placed and fitted into the building by God Himself.

The local church exists for the purpose of providing a home for the presence of God to work, through the Holy Spirit.  An assembly of believers, the church, is to allow the Spirit of God to live out His life in that fellowship.  The Spirit of God dwells in a church fellowship to help one another when they are…

Paul knows that the Holy Spirit of God dwells within a church fellowship to conform it to the image of God’s will.  The effectiveness of any local church body depends upon how much it allows the Spirit of God to dwell within and control its body of members.  

Heavenly Father, help us remember whose and who we are.  You have built us into a local congregation through Your gift of baptism and saving faith in Jesus, the Christ.  Dwell within us as Your people with power.  Control our lives and ministry to Your glory.