A Diverse Temple

-


Scripture

Ephesians 2:21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;  22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

Observation

In the past God had inhabited his temple in Jerusalem. He was there among the Israelites, but when Christ came and died on the cross everything changed. The kingdom of God had come to the earth and no longer was God to dwell in the temple made by human hands, but through the Spirit, to live within his people.

The beauty of this new temple was that it was made up of lovely and diverse members. On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out the many nations of the world heard the word, responded and their lives were transformed. Now, the Apostle Paul was affirming the way in which the entire structure of the new and living temple, the “already” of the kingdom of God was being built and held together in the world.

Application

We are to be a continual and on-going reflection of that new temple. The beauty of the kingdom is the diversity. Our churches our places of worship should also be filled with the diversity of the kingdom. The kingdom makes us new citizens in God’s kingdom which is counter-cultural to the world and unites us together as brothers and sisters. We should not be seeking places to worship which make us comfortable with our own personal culture. We experience the already of the kingdom when we are a diverse temple. This is heaven on earth, when the kingdom breaks in and breaks down our normal human barriers and unites us in culture, language, customs and traditions and we are knit together “into a holy temple in the Lord.”

God’s people are encouraged to embrace diversity in the kingdom for here we experience a bit of heaven on earth. Fear is but a barrier that keeps us from enjoying all that God would have for his children. The people of Ephesus and the known world of Paul’s day struggled with the newness of this kingdom which shattered so many of their traditional understandings but as they embraced what God had for them, they experienced God in ways which were transformational. May we do the same today!

Prayer

Lord, thank you for the joy of your diverse kingdom.  Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a time when we try to carry
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her
Read more

The Advantage of Sanctification

-
Scripture: Rom. 6:22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Observation: Two sides of life are presented here in great contrast.  One is a life of sin and enslavement to evil.  The other side of life is freedom which provides the advantage of sanctification (or holiness as some translate the word) that leads to eternal life.  The options here are a life of sin, slavery and death; or freedom, holiness and eternal life.  The advantage of holiness or sanctification is the benefit of the life of freedom.  Jesus died so that we might be made holy like him and this is something that is offered as a “fruit” or “advantage” right now.  The end is eternal life — but the living of life is that it can be lived out in holiness.  The next verse is really just an affirmation of the verse 22.  Sin will lead
Read more