May 25, 2022 (Wednesday)
The church is God’s house.
“Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope” (Heb. 3:6).
“I am writing these things to you so that . . . you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-15).
“It is time for judgment to begin at the household of God” (1 Pet. 4:17).
The church is the temple of God, built with living stones, with Christ as the foundation and cornerstone, and the Holy Spirit indwelling it. (1 Peter 2:4-5).
“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11).
“The household of God [is] 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” (Eph. 2:19-22).
“‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ . . . ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’” (1 Pet. 2:6-7 [Isa. 28:16; Ps. 118:22).
“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5).
“Do you not know that you [plural] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Cor. 3:16-17).
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19).
Let’s utilize 1 Peter 2:4-5 (ESV) and think about the words in those verses: “The church is the temple of God, built with living stones, with Christ as the foundation and cornerstone, and the Holy Spirit indwelling it.”
First, take a look at the word, “church.” The word comes from two Greek words which together mean “called out.” We, saved people, are the church. Buildings serve us well, giving a place to get together for worship, the people themselves are the church — not the building. The next word in the sentence is “temple.” It is the “temple of God,” literally, “spiritual house.” We Christians have been called out from a lost world to glorify God as “living stones” in this temple. The building of God is being built with living stones (Christians), because the temple is built upon a “living stone,” who is Jesus Christ. Jesus promised to “build His church,” and that is what this verse is all about. Christ is the foundation and cornerstone of this spiritual building (the church) in which the Holy Spirit lives. They are “living stones” because the Holy Spirit gives them life.
The Holy Spirit lives within each believer and within the church. Each believer is a temple and the church is a temple. And it’s all spiritual in nature.
Three houses have recently been built near our house. It was fun watching the progress. A time lapse movie would be interesting. First it was a collection of three lots of land. Then the soil was prepared and the foundation was laid. Then little by little more was added until now there are three houses where there were none, not very long ago. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ has been built this way. First, the world was prepared, as the Scripture says, “in the fullness of time.” Then the foundation was laid: Jesus was born, lived, died for our sins, buried, raised for our justification and appeared many times before ascending to Heaven. He sent His Spirit to “living stones,” which joined “Christ, the living stone” and built the church. The church exists because it has been built by God. It is a spiritual building, growing larger every day as more people become “living stones” and are placed into the building.
If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are part of this spiritual building known as the church, which is a word we use to describe the family of God that shall one day gather around the throne of God in Heaven.
A 250-voice choir (part of the church) in India:
THE CHURCH’S ONE FOUNDATION
Samuel J. Stone, pub.1866
Andrew L. Byers, 1907
The church’s one foundation,
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation,
By Spirit and the word.
From heav’n He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation—
One Lord, one faith, one birth.
One holy name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food;
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
Long with a scornful wonder
Men saw her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed.
Yet saints their watch were keeping
To hail a brighter day,
When God should stop their weeping,
Take their reproach away.
The evening sun is shining,
The cloudy day is past;
The time of their repining
Is at an end at last.
The voice of God is calling
To unity again;
Division walls are falling,
With all the creeds of men.
Back to the one foundation,
From sects and creeds made free,
Come saints of every nation
To blessed unity.
Once more the ancient glory
Shines as in days of old,
And tells the wondrous story—
One God, one faith, one fold.
Theme for this week: What Is the Church Like?
1. Monday May 23 The church is like a bride
2. Tuesday May 24 The church is like a family
3. Wednesday May 25 The church is like a building
4. Thursday May 26 The church is like an organism
5. Friday May 27 The church is like an organized organism