“built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”
with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”
Ephesians 2:20 (NIV)
If I asked you what the difference is between the universal church and a local church – what would you tell me?
In these 4 verses (19 thru 2) Paul describes both, as he explains to us the wonderful work of Christ Jesus on our behalf.
Church is an English word for the Greek word ecclesia which simply means assembly, or called out assembly - that is called by God to assemble as righteous individuals before God.
To get an OT glimpse of this assembly – simply type assembly into Bible Gateway and read through the Psalm references that appear - starting with Psalm 1.
What Paul teaches us here in Ephesians 2 is that all the righteous throughout all the ages (OT age and NT age both) are joined together in one structure through the work of Christ.
This structure is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets (that is on their teaching as contained in the Word of God – our Bible).
That Christ Jesus Himself is the cornerstone on which this foundation of teaching is based and held together. It is Christ Jesus Himself that is the cornerstone, for it is the Person and work of Christ himself that all of the teaching of the apostles and prophets expose us to, and it is faith in the Person and work of Christ Jesus Himself (as presented to us in the bible through the writings of the apostles and prophets) that brings us into a state of righteousness before God, by the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This structure Paul tells us is a holy temple in the Lord.
After giving us these wonderful truths, Paul turns to Parkdale and tells us that we also are being built into a temple in which God lives by His Spirit.
And so Paul teaches us here that the local church (in a specific time, in a specific place, with specific people) is a manifestation of the church universal.
And we make the mistake of thinking we are a social club! Or a group of like minded people! Or great place for kids to learn morals!
We are so much more than that!
O Lord open our eyes to see what Parkdale is in your eyes - the place where your Spirit dwells, the household of God!
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