Scripture: Ephesians 2:19-22
I. Your church is amazing because it is the family of God.
A. In verse 19 Paul begins to describe the status of the people of the Ephesian church by saying that you are no longer strangers and aliens but you are fellow citizens. He is using the language of citizenship. Now through Jesus’ blood they are citizens of God’s Kingdom. They belong as fellow citizens with the rest of the believers in the heavenly nation ruled by God. Philippians 3:20: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” The people in the church were no longer on the outside looking in.
B. In the last part of vs. 19 Paul changes the imagery for the Gentile Ephesians from the imagery of citizenship to an amazing image of family. It’s one thing to be a citizen. It’s a whole other thing to be family. You can’t get any closer to God than being part of His family. Because you are part of God’s family, God will love you, God will protect you, and God will give you an identity as His child. That is amazing, but those are the amazing privileges that come with being in the church. We are part of God’s family no matter what our past difficulties or our failures.
II. Your church is amazing because it is secure in God’s love.
A. Paul changes from speaking about the church as a family in vs. 19 to the church as a building in vs. 20. The change in image is not as great as you might think. He calls the church the household of God in vs. 19, and then he talks of the church as a house in vs. 20. The church then is an unfinished building. The foundation has been set. The cornerstone has been laid. But new bricks, new people, are being added to the building every day. Paul is saying that his work as an apostle of Jesus and the work of the other apostles is foundational for the church.
B. The work of the apostles was to proclaim the foundational Gospel for the church. The whole church is built on Christ, supported by Christ, and determined by Christ the cornerstone. And how secure is your heart-home in the church? Matthew 7:24-25: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
III. Your church is amazing because it is God’s home.
A. The final thing that makes this church and every Bible-believing church amazing is who lives inside of us together. We read in vs. 21 that in Jesus, the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Before Jesus, people used to go to the temple in Jerusalem when they wanted to meet with God. They met with God in a building. But where does God live now according to vs. 21? God lives in His people. According to vs. 22 all three members of the Trinity are living in us: “In him (Jesus) you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit make their home in us. In this verse Paul gives assurance especially to the Gentiles, the newcomers to God’s people, that God also lives in them. Paul says “you also” have God living in you.
Application:
Be amazed by the church of which God has made you a part.
Sources:
The letter to the Ephesians
Commentaries on Ephesians by Peter O’Brien, Bryan Chapell, and Richard Coekin