Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV)
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Paul addresses the insecurity that many of the gentile believers in the early Church seemed to have. Part of this insecurity came from the pressure of Jewish Christians, who frequently taught that gentiles had to convert to Judaism before they could truly be saved, putting doubt into the minds of the gentiles as to their actual status before God. It was also affected by a legitimate feeling of being unworthy of salvation because of their history of sinfulness and rebellion, and of being deeply humbled by the love of God and the sacrifice of Jesus.
Paul uses two vivid word pictures to help the Ephesian Christians, and all other Christians who would later read this letter, to understand their true status. The first picture ties into the previous paragraph. The gentiles were no longer foreigners and strangers, far off from the love of God. They had been brought near and were now fellow citizens of the kingdom of God, and had, in fact, been grafted into the tree of God’s chosen people (Romans 11:24).
Next, Paul paints the picture of a building, a holy temple of God, made not with stone and bricks, but composed entirely of people. This temple has as its foundation the apostles and prophets, the predecessors in the faith of the Ephesians and of all other gentile Christians, fully sold-out and obedient people of God. The chief cornerstone, laid first and determining the orientation of the whole rest of the building, is Jesus Himself.
The stones composing this new temple are the people of God, Jewish Christians and gentile Christians alike, all held together by the mortar of love – all-encompassing agape love for God, and self-sacrificing love for others (Matthew 22:37-40). And, like the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 40:34-35) and Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:10-11), this new temple of the Church, the people of God’s kingdom, united and working together, is the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit on earth. No longer confined to a single location or structure, God’s Spirit now dwells in His people collectively and individually, purifying them, guiding them, and empowering them so that they can effectively manifest His presence throughout the world, and so that they can draw people everywhere into and intimate, saving relationship with Him.
Father, these word pictures are amazing, and should serve to provide powerful backpressure against our natural fleshly tendencies of division and self-interest in the Church. If we are all equal citizens of Your kingdom, then we should be able to work together without strife, and without spending time and energy trying to determine who is the greatest (Matthew 18:1). If we are all vital parts of Your living temple, oriented by Jesus and held together by Your agape love, then we must realize that we all have the same purpose that we need to pursue together, as a single body, for Your glory and Yours alone. Help us to really internalize these truths, so that they can guide us effectively as we move Your kingdom agenda forward, today and every day. Amen.