Bible Reading
He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:17-22
Ephesians 2:17-22
Devotional
One of the ongoing stories in Israel today, which is followed around the world, is the plans and preparations to build the third temple. This building would have great significance to the Jewish people as well as any who follow biblical prophecy. In yesterday's passage and devotional, Paul kept a focus on the physical New Testament Jewish temple and the idea that even within the Jewish temple of the early church, there were physical barriers and walls of separation that divided certain classes of people. But then Paul begins to shift his focus to a new and very different kind of temple. Verse 22 refers again to the people of God and how we are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. There is a shift in seeing the temple of God as a physical structure someone would travel to, towards this new idea that the temple of God is now within a person who has accepted Christ. We as Christians are the new temple of God. How amazing and mind-blowing is that! We no longer need to approach a certain place and offer sacrifices and rituals to come into the presence of God. The presence of God, through the Holy Spirit, is already dwelling within us if we have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. We are a spiritual temple. Our mind is a holy temple. Our heart is a holy temple. This means that everywhere we go, we are in the presence of God, because the presence of God is always within us, in the holy of holies of our hearts.
Many people pursue false spirituality and attempt to create a counterfeit spiritual inner temple without Christ as the cornerstone. We see this prevalent in our world through belief systems like Hinduism, Buddhism, and countless cults and spiritual practices. But without building this spiritual temple to include Christ, eventually the whole thing will always crumble. The word cornerstone in today's passage contains a very interesting and profound idea. This cornerstone literally means 'at the tip of the angle'. It refers to the capstone or binding stone placed at the extreme corner that holds and binds the whole structure together. In those days, there was usually a royal name inscribed on the cornerstone based on who was ruling when the building was completed. The cornerstone was considered to be even more important than the individual foundation stones or any other part of the structure because without the cornerstone, the whole building was incomplete, and whatever was incomplete would soon crumble. The same is true in a spiritual sense. Without Jesus, the whole structure is incomplete and will crumble. Even within us, without Christ the cornerstone, the temple can never be complete. We need the cornerstone, with the authentic name of Jesus written on it, to complete the temple within us. Any temple, whether physical or spiritual, without Jesus, is nothing but a pagan temple. This includes the third temple that will one day be built in Jerusalem because the name of Jesus is not written on it. And no one can even approach God, except through Jesus. (John 14:6) This is what makes the local church so powerful and beautiful. We are temple stones, with the name of Jesus written on our hearts, all coming together to make up the full representation of the temple of God. Peter would later echo this idea Paul presents in verse 22 by declaring that we are like living stones, being built into a spiritual house. (1 Peter 2:5) On our own, we are incomplete, but when we come together, that is when the fullness and glorious beauty of God's Temple can be seen by all. Nothing in all the world compares to the Spiritual Temple of God that dwells within us. One theologian put it like this: "There is nothing as noble as the Church, seeing that it is the temple of God. There is nothing so worthy of reverence, seeing that it is God who dwells in it. There is nothing so ancient since the patriarchs and prophets worked to build it. There is nothing so solid since Jesus Christ is the foundation of it. There is nothing so high since it reaches as high as the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. There is nothing so perfect and well-proportioned since the Holy Spirit is the architect. There is nothing more beautiful because it is adorned with building stones of every age, every place, every people; from the highest kings to the lowest peasants. There is nothing more spacious, since it is spread over the whole earth, and takes in all who have been washed and cleaned in the blood of the Lamb. There is nothing so Divine since it is a living building, animated and inhabited by the Holy Spirit."
Many people pursue false spirituality and attempt to create a counterfeit spiritual inner temple without Christ as the cornerstone. We see this prevalent in our world through belief systems like Hinduism, Buddhism, and countless cults and spiritual practices. But without building this spiritual temple to include Christ, eventually the whole thing will always crumble. The word cornerstone in today's passage contains a very interesting and profound idea. This cornerstone literally means 'at the tip of the angle'. It refers to the capstone or binding stone placed at the extreme corner that holds and binds the whole structure together. In those days, there was usually a royal name inscribed on the cornerstone based on who was ruling when the building was completed. The cornerstone was considered to be even more important than the individual foundation stones or any other part of the structure because without the cornerstone, the whole building was incomplete, and whatever was incomplete would soon crumble. The same is true in a spiritual sense. Without Jesus, the whole structure is incomplete and will crumble. Even within us, without Christ the cornerstone, the temple can never be complete. We need the cornerstone, with the authentic name of Jesus written on it, to complete the temple within us. Any temple, whether physical or spiritual, without Jesus, is nothing but a pagan temple. This includes the third temple that will one day be built in Jerusalem because the name of Jesus is not written on it. And no one can even approach God, except through Jesus. (John 14:6) This is what makes the local church so powerful and beautiful. We are temple stones, with the name of Jesus written on our hearts, all coming together to make up the full representation of the temple of God. Peter would later echo this idea Paul presents in verse 22 by declaring that we are like living stones, being built into a spiritual house. (1 Peter 2:5) On our own, we are incomplete, but when we come together, that is when the fullness and glorious beauty of God's Temple can be seen by all. Nothing in all the world compares to the Spiritual Temple of God that dwells within us. One theologian put it like this: "There is nothing as noble as the Church, seeing that it is the temple of God. There is nothing so worthy of reverence, seeing that it is God who dwells in it. There is nothing so ancient since the patriarchs and prophets worked to build it. There is nothing so solid since Jesus Christ is the foundation of it. There is nothing so high since it reaches as high as the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. There is nothing so perfect and well-proportioned since the Holy Spirit is the architect. There is nothing more beautiful because it is adorned with building stones of every age, every place, every people; from the highest kings to the lowest peasants. There is nothing more spacious, since it is spread over the whole earth, and takes in all who have been washed and cleaned in the blood of the Lamb. There is nothing so Divine since it is a living building, animated and inhabited by the Holy Spirit."