Ephesians 2.19-22 (7)
Pray Psalm 132.13-18.
For the LORD has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling place:
“This is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
I will abundantly bless her provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
I will also clothe her priests with salvation,
And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
There I will make the horn of David grow;
I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed.
His enemies I will clothe with shame,
But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”
Sing Psalm 132.13-18.
(Finlandia: Be Still, My Soul)
God dwells among us, and He will forever,
to meet our needs and clothe us with His grace.
He has to us sent Jesus Christ, our Savior—
Beloved, eternal light and resting place.
His foes are banished from His Presence ever,
but we shall reign with Him before His face.
Read Ephesians 2.19-22; meditate on verse 22.
How many different things does the word “together” suggest?
Preparation
1. Ηow should we who believe in Jesus think about ourselves?
2. What is the Lord doing with us?
Meditation
Jesus gave His followers two guiding commandments: seek the Kingdom and righteousness of God (Matt. 6.33) and make disciples (Matt. 28.18-20). These are part and parcel of one another. The Kingdom of God—the rule of King Jesus unto righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit—is populated by Kingdom citizens, all who have believed in Him (“saints”, v. 19). Those citizens seek to realize more of the Kingdom in their own lives and to advance its presence on earth as it is in heaven, thus adding Kingdom citizens (“disciples”) to their City’s rolls and to the household of the Lord (v. 19).
The Church is central to this. Jesus is building His Church as His dwelling place on earth (v. 22), to signal to the world that He and His Kingdom have come and to advance His rule over all the earth, brick by brick, citizen by citizen (v. 20). On the sure foundation of His Word (v. 20), Jesus builds His Church into His own likeness, and each individual citizen/saint/household member/brick is being shaped to be like Jesus by the Spirit of God (v. 22).
Seek the Kingdom, make disciples, and, in the hands of the Lord Jesus, fit together with other believers to make one another and your local church a glorious dwelling place for the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
The holy temple we, as bricks, are building is not one made with hands.
It is not an actual church building—only metaphorically so.
A great mistake the people of God make is to conflate the Church with an actual address.
If a church building burns down or is blown away by tornadic activity, the church has not ceased to exist.
If the same happens to a house, the family is still intact. It does not exist, or cease to exist, dependent upon a building.
A building cannot wage war against evil. Our battle is against “the rulers of the darkness” and not against “flesh and blood”; therefore, we need people to fight the good fight against “the spiritual hosts of wickedness” (Eph. 6.12). The bricks and mortar of a building are just that…bricks and mortar. Solid but ineffectual.
God’s Plan involves His people, yes, gathered together as one, to be “a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2.22); and built around the Chief Cornerstone which is Christ Jesus (Eph. 2.20).
While still on earth, Jesus was praying for us, that we would understand His teaching on the Church:
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You;
that they also may be one in Us,
that the world may believe that You sent Me.
And the glory which You gave Me I have given them,
that they may be one just as We are One:
I in them, and You in Me;
that they may be made perfect in one,
and that the world may know that You have sent Me,
and have loved them as You have loved Me” (Jn. 17.20-23).
There is indeed majesty, and glory, and praise, and many good works, when God’s people join together as one, with one goal, and one purpose, to serve the Lord our God and to share His goodness with others.
“Indeed it came to pass,
when the trumpeters and singers were as one,
to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD,
and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music,
and praised the LORD, saying: ‘For He is good, for His mercy endures forever,’
that the house, the house of the LORD,
was filled with a cloud,
so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud;
for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God” (2 Chron. 5.13, 14).
Granted, that scene took place in the temple Solomon had built; but as we know, that temple was destroyed and rebuilt, and then fell into disrepair, and now is no more. But God’s people have survived; and we still must make one sound, with one voice, praising God in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.
Neither Jesus, nor the disciples who fostered the growth of the New Testament Church, were wed to the idea of brick-and-mortar buildings. What they did focus on was what is believed—and that is what builds the Church that hell cannot overcome. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”! (Matt. 16.16).
Wherever we are, regardless of the circumstances, let us build Christ’s Church, brick by brick, and build so well that “the glory of the LORD” will fill it, as we “fit together with other believers to make one another and our local church a glorious dwelling place for the King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Reflection
1. Do you think your church would still exist if it didn’t have a building? Explain.
2. Why are buildings “ineffectual”? Why do we have them? Could we do without them?
3. What are you doing to help the other bricks like you become truly effectual in building the temple of the Lord?
Individual believers are at other times called “temples of the Holy Ghost,” (1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16,) but here all are said to constitute one temple. In both cases the metaphor is just and appropriate. When God dwells in each of us, it is his will that we should embrace all in holy unity, and that thus he should form one temple out of many. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Ephesians 2.19-22
Pray Psalm 132.8-10.
Pray that God will continue to do His work in you, building you into a glorious temple and dwelling place. Pray the same for your church.
Sing Psalm 132.8-10.
(Finlandia: Be Still, My Soul)
Arise, O LORD, come to Your resting place;
Your holy Presence meet with us in might.
Clothe us with righteousness in Jesus’ grace,
and we will shout to Your divine delight!
For David’s sake, turn not away Your face,
but look upon us in Your holy light.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we are looking at ways the Law of God applies to our lives. This week our Read Moore podcast continues addressing the question raised by our book, What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? This week our Crosfigell teaching letter began a study of the life of Brigit, a contemporary of Brendan. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
