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Peter M Richardson
PT301 - Held
6 March 2014
Message 1
Citizens United - Ephesians 2:19-22
# "Citizens United." For us, this term has a double signicance. First, as
Americans, it refers to the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding campaign nance. It
sparked the question, "are corporations people?" Second, the term "Citizens United"
has signicance to us as Christians in referring to the message of Ephesians. Although
it isn't necessarily an adequate summation of all that Paul's letter to the Ephesians has
to say, it plainly states a central theme in the epistle. Again, the phrase causes us to
consider, are corporations people? We cannot speak authoritatively about all
corporations being people, but one corporation certainly is; that corporation is the
body of Christ.
# Today we will see that Christ incorporates us into His church. That is to say that
Jesus builds people together into a structure, a body, an organization. This group is
called the church and we are those people. Christ incorporates us into His church.
There are three ways in which this idea is described by Paul. First, we will see that
Christ takes us in. Then, we will see that the church is founded on Christ. Finally, we
will see that God lives in the church. These three concepts come together in the idea
that Christ incorporates us into the church.$
# We will see all this in Ephesians 2:19-22. As you nd the passage, consider that
the entire book is about how the Father unites all creation in Christ, so Jews and
Gentiles are as one man: standing in faith to walk like Christ by the Holy Spirit. The
passage at hand states: "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are
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fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 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."
# So, verse nineteen states that Christ takes us in. It says, "so then you are no
longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of
the household of God". Because it is Christ who incorporates us into the church, the
rst point Paul makes is that Christ takes us in.
# Well, where does He take us in from? The rst half of the verse illustrates the
condition that those who are taken in come from. That condition is estrangement.
# We were born estranged. Apart from our own choosing, we have all been born
into a world that is at odds with its Creator. All of our ancestors and all of our children
alike have rebelled and will rebel against God because of the broken human condition.
# More so than this, we also have actively estranged ourselves. We choose again
and again to do the wrong thing, to hurt people, to worship and honor false gods, to
love and praise another savior. This, friends, is sin. Sin could be dened as "the willful
rebellion from God's blessing of friendship." Every explanation of God's work to make
us into anything has to start with estrangement and sin, because that's honestly where
we come from, but also because it underscores how sweet our redemption is, and how
precious our new status is.
# Moving into the second half of verse nineteen, there are two concepts of our
new position: citizenship and family. Just as nations have citizens, so this people of
God called "saints" has citizens. Citizens are loyal to the nation's cause, participants in
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the country's goals, proudly identied by a common ag. They also are given special
rights and privileges that aliens do not enjoy. Fair trial, land ownership, freedom to
travel, et cetera. We may be nationalistic here in America, but Iranians have a stronger
national identity than we do. For better or worse, they have strict di%erences between
citizen and alien, they have strong feeling about being Persian, and think little of those
who come from other ancestors. One doesn't simply receive Iranian citizenship; it is an
honor and special privilege. An alien who wanted into this group would be ecstatic to
be received as a fellow citizen with the Iranians. So we too have been taken from
estrangement to fellow citizenship with the saints.
# Second, Christ makes us full members in God's family. Full members in God's
family. Think of it: sinful, rebellious strangers have become true brothers and sisters
and sons and daughters.
# Paul's term "members" means "participant". The word is used elsewhere to
describe how the church, like a physical body, is made up of organs and parts. We are
so fully incorporated into the church that we are like body parts of one another. The
image is that we are members of God's body.
# So, this family of His - that is, God - is known as the church. It is the community
of Christ's people. There are seven metaphors in the Bible of what the church is like.
These metaphors invite us to explore "what does that look like? What does it mean?"
What is God's family like? The love owing between members of this family is electric!
The supportive relationships in that house are empowering unlike any other! The sense
of purpose and belonging bring diamond-strength security. And, the family business is
booming.
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# Imagine it with me: well, our dad loves His kids, and He'd do anything for us.
Our brother picks us up if we're stranded anywhere, and he'll defend our cause with all
he's got. Our sister works with us through tough issues that come up in our lives. All
this, and so on.
This isn't the end of what the church looks like in this passage, because just as the
church resembles a familial relationship, it also resembles a temple.
# Moving on to verses 20 through 21, we see that the church is founded on Christ.
It says that we are "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." We will work backwards through these two
verses.
# Verse 21 tells us that the church is a corporation similar to a holy temple.
Remember how Christ incorporates us into the church? Well here we'll see how he
"incorporates" us, because Paul's image of a religious building leads us to a new
understanding of church life.
# An important word to note in the "how" of our incorporation is that we grow.
Now, a temple is a physical building made of inanimate stones and metals, but the
people of God "grow" into a community with a purpose. Just as a builder is needed if
you want a temple, so Jesus is needed if you want the church.
# In other letters of Paul, the metaphor of holy temple is used to describe the
church. In one passage, the idea is that Christian leaders add stones - which are
people - to the building in ministry. In another passage, believers are called to personal
moral purity because they are a holy temple.
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# Yet, here in Ephesians, the focus is on Christ's work and our sure foundation.
While elsewhere the image calls us to do something with God, here we are reassured
of one thing that He has already done and is currently doing.
# Next, in the second half of verse 20, we see that Christ is like the cornerstone of
this corporation. The cornerstone is the rst and most important part of a building
project. If you see a modern cornerstone, you'll read the date of construction, as it
publicly displays its origin.
# So, if Christ is the cornerstone of the church, it means three things: that Christ
goes before us; he is the rst. Christ makes a way for us; we follow after his design.
Christ supports us; we rest on his strength. All these say in di%erent ways that Jesus
leads us.
# We often do not like this part; we do not let Christ go before us, make a way for
us, or support us. If Christ is our cornerstone, which he is, we should honor him.
# Continuing backwards, verse 20 starts with the idea that the apostles and
prophets are like the foundation of this corporation. The foundation comes in after the
cornerstone and, on the foundation's support the entire building lays.
# So, if the the apostles and prophets are the foundation of the church, it's
meaning is twofold: they refer to Christ the cornerstone in their teaching and example,
which we study and obey. Paul was an apostle, so we closely read what he has to say,
we comply to his directives in Scripture, we pay attention to his way of life. Yet Paul
merely followed the teaching and example of Jesus Christ! He, like the other apostles
and prophets, is a lens through which we understand how to follow Christ.
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Moving forward, this temple of saints actually serves the same purpose as the Temple
of old. We'll see this in the nal verse of the passage.
# Ephesians 2:22 shows that God lives in the church. "In him you also are being
built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."
# The second half of the verse reminds us of the way in which God once in-dwelt
the temple, a physical building. At one time, you could go to God, you could point to
his general direction, you could walk near to His presence. God's glorious and
fearsome cloud lled the Holy of Holies, the center of the Israelite temple in Jerusalem.
The ark of the covenant sat in that room, and it was closed o% with a great curtain.
Temple access was a privilege, and people could only get as close as they were clean.
Through a meticulous ceremonial regimen you could get up to a certain distance away,
but speaking to His glory or beholding Him in your sight was a reserved privilege.
# Yet it is not that way anymore! The rst half of verse 22 tells us that by His Spirit,
God now embodies us, His church. The same glorious, fearsome God has made His
home inside of us, by pouring His Holy Spirit into our hearts. The level of gracious
privilege surpasses all that came before it. Becoming a fellow citizen with the saints?
This is bigger. Entering into full membership of God's household? This is more
amazing.
# But, what does it mean that God in-dwells the church? Having God's presence
means that He directly guides, speaks truth, heals, ministers to His people individually
as we are a corporate temple. This is why citizenship and membership pale in
comparison. God almighty lives in us!
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Christ incorporates us into His church. Taking into account all that has been
said, how does this a%ect our church life, our mission, our hearts? Consider that as the
costly, grand, gold-laden temple once housed God's glory, now He lives in a far more
costly abode. The church cost Jesus his life. Furthermore, we have the double privilege
of both receiving forgiveness in Jesus' name and housing God Himself through the
Holy Spirit. So, let us praise Jesus forever as the house He has chosen to live in! Let us
join with all the saints and worship our indwelling God! Let us live worthy of the gift
graciously given, and honor our amazing and glorious God!