You Are A Stone, Prepared Off Site, to Be God’s House
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19–22 ESV Read More
It’s one thing to be a royal part of God’s household, but we’re even more than that. We are the stones of the household in which God lives! We are pretty removed from the ideas of temples and cornerstones, so let’s dive into that and chew on it.
When Solomon built the temple, there weren’t just directions on the architectural side, but also on the method by which it would be built.
[7] When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. (ESV) 1 Kings 6:7
The stones were prepared in another place other than where the temple would be. Once they were made perfect and ready for the temple they were brought to Jerusalem and added to the building. As soon as the stones were pulled out of the quarry, they were considered stones for the temple. They might have been rough and unusable at first, but through the whole prep process they were still considered stones for the temple.
[11] Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, [12] “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. [13] And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.” (ESV) 1 Kings 6:11–13
God promised Solomon the He would be with His people. Under the old covenant, people expressed their faith by obeying the Law of Moses. If they believed in the God of Israel, He would live among them in the temple.
Jesus brought about a new and everlasting covenant in which we no longer are God’s servant/slaves but are God’s friends. God has purified us from all sin so that now we can express our faith by living in relationship with God via the Holy Spirit inside of us. We are being built into a temple in which God lives. That means we are the stones right now, but we are being prepared off-site to be assembled in Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Just because you’re rough doesn’t mean you aren’t part of God’s temple in which He lives. Just because your perfectly square doesn’t mean you’re complete. We need every stone, every person, built together in Christ to form the completed temple. That’s why we show mercy to our brothers at church. That’s why we do evangelism to reach people that aren’t with us yet.
Jesus promised “I will build my church” and as we live His life to others, He does it.
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