A Journey Through Ephesians…2:17-22

He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s Holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. We are carefully jointed together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling were God lives by his Spirit. 2:17-22

I don’t think we, as modern, western Americans can fully grasp what this meant in the moment Paul was first writing this letter to the church at Ephesus. Although the analogy does VERY MUCH apply to us today… we indeed are the Gentiles who are now members of God’s family… this news was GROUND BREAKING at the time. Like what? Gentiles and Jews are EQUAL?

Read The Message translation of this same passage. I love this clarity….

That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home. The Message.

This word, citizen (sympolitēs) is used ONLY once in all of Scripture. And here it is. Cool huh? But here is the game changer…. insert my favorite question…

WHY WOULD GOD DO THIS? What’s the point? Did he make us fellowcitizens with one another for the sake of a peaceful meal? For the purpose of everyone just getting along? Not necessarily …..

God is using us, brick by brick, to build a holy temple where His Spirit dwells, for the foreigners to have a home. The CHRUCH. Think about the analogy as a whole….. The wandering foreigner (paroikos), a sojourner in a land not their own, can finally find a HOME HERE on earth – with His ultimate home now in Heaven.

I will never forget when I was in college and found a church home. I started teaching aerobics for these sweet older ladies in a church basement and they invited me to a Sunday service. At first, I really felt like a foreigner. A wandering exile. But there was something about that body of Christ – the Spirit of God in those women – that made me feel SAFE. AT HOME. They were stones in God’s Holy Temple… Inviting me in and saying, YOU BELONG HERE. And I stayed, later dedicating my life to Christ and becoming a “fellowcitizen” into the communion of the saints. Not only was I welcomed… God slapped some mortar on me and stacked me into the building.

Mind. Blown.

We are His Holy Temple… a home for the exile. SEE WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR THE HOSTILITY TO STOP? To get our act together relationally!? It’s not about us. It’s about God’s Holy Temple being a safe place for the lost aerobic instructor to find a seat and feel at home.

As Eugene Peterson says…. “That’s plain enough, isn’t it? ” 🙂

Have a blessed day!