Built for something bigger

We’re experiencing more and more isolation and loneliness due to urbanisation, technology and social change. We all want to belong, to be part of something special, but what is the greatest thing we can ever be part of? The first half of the book of Ephesians takes us through how blessed we are for what God has done for us through Jesus. It then makes it clear that God has always planned to use the Jewish Nation to reconcile all Nations to Him. God has always been building, and continues to build, His Family. Being part of God’s Eternal Family is far bigger than anything else we can ever be part of.

Scripture

Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22] In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Bible Study Questions

Solomon’s Temple

Solomon’s Temple was amazing, but what was the most important aspect of that Temple?

1 Kings 8:10-11 ESV And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

Temple for the Nations

During the dedication of the Temple, Solomon prayed for the nations. What did He pray would happen with those nations that came looking for God?

1 Kings 8:41-43 ESV “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name's sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

The Household of God

Jews and Gentiles of the Church at the time Paul wrote Ephesians were being added to God’s household or family. What is the household of God, and how is God joining His people together?

Ephesians 2:19 ESV So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

1 Timothy 3:15 ESV if I delay, 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.

The Foundation

The foundation of the Church is solid and unchanging what is this foundation, and how are the Prophets and Apostles connected by Jesus Christ?

Ephesians 2:20 ESV built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

Isaiah 28:16 ESV therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’

The growing Temple

The Church may have a solid and unchanging foundation, but what is it about the Church that is dynamic or ever-changing?

Ephesians 2:21 ESV in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV 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, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Built together

Every member of the Church, all who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died for our sins and was raised from the dead for our righteousness, is not only being added to the Church that lived before us, but are also being joined or built together in another way. What way is this?

Ephesians 2:22 ESV In him you also are being built together

1 Peter 2:4-7 ESV As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 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. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

The dwelling place of God

What is the Church, the living Temple of God for?

Ephesians 2:22 ESV into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

John 14:15-17 ESV “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:23 ESV Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.