Ephesians, 2:19-22

Okay, what I'd like to do today is, before we move into the topic for today, which is Ephesians 2, 19 through 22, entitled Christ the Cornerstone, is I'd like to kind of set the stage for what we're going to do today. And then next week, I believe Brad is going to move into the church as a mystery and lead us through that path as we traverse the book of Ephesians. So let's start at verse 11 today, and I'll read here for you.

Wherefore remember that ye, being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who once were afar off are made nigh or near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, to make in himself of two one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner, or cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye are also built together for the habitation of God through the Spirit.

Okay, so just as an introduction. So as an introduction, we learned last week that all are part of one body. And we kind of simplified that to the Jew and the Gentile. I mean, the oneness in the body, and if you think about it, that really represents the entire universe, doesn't it? the Jew and the non-Jew. The Gentile is lumped into the last group, like it or not. So that really encompasses all of us in one body.

And Ephesians 2.18, it says, through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father.

Remember what kind of message we left ourselves with last week with this verse? I mean, the Trinity truly proclaimed. We're going to see that again today in verse 22. So, I mean, there are a few verses in the Bible where each and every member of the Trinity are identified, and this is one particular area. Through Him, meaning Christ, we both have access by one Spirit, Holy Spirit, unto the Father. the Lord God Almighty. So we leave last week's passage identifying the Trinity and we move to today.

Now therefore you're no longer strangers and foreigners or according to the interlinear Greek aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. And just ask the question to the class, how is this positional truth? fellow citizens, but the saints and members of the household of God. I mean, we all have households, right? Those households are, you know, really containing our families, right? I mean, so this household is a heavenly one, and we're members like we are of a family here. So it's really positional truth.

I've got a note here about the household of God being interpreted as the distanciation I don't see anything that's really wrong with that. the dispensation of God. How much time do I spend dispensational truth is really unclear to me here today, although the dispensations are, no matter how complicated you make it, you can make it simple that there's law and grace, right? So this falls within the confines of grace. I mean that household could be viewed simply as the grace principle being members of his body. That fits, Jack, I think. Anybody have any concerns about that as an interpretation? I kind of look at it as a big living room myself, with lots of people. I kind of think this is God's hospitality to the body, all welcomed in one in Christ Jesus.

Now therefore, J. Vernon McGee says, if the verse begins with therefore, you have to ask why it's therefore. And here we have two inferential particles here. We have now therefore. So what's this relate to here? I mean, you could also translate it so then or accordingly therefore. More than a bit conclusive, isn't it? So what is this kind of now, therefore, so, then, or accordingly, therefore, relate to?

Access. What would be what? Those who have access. All right. So what's the principle that we're really looking at in more detail today in terms of this oneness? The rest of the sentence. It gets better and better as it progresses. All right, but now therefore would presumably relate to what preceded it, correct? So it's inferential, meaning it's looking at this in a conclusive manner.

That's where we began at verse 11 today, I think. Everything builds up to verse 19. Verse 11, wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles separated from the Jews. Now keep in mind the Jew, we're going to look at this, you know, a little bit more in detail. I mean, the Jew was also an alien, wasn't he or she? I mean, and let's go to Romans 11, 7 and 8 particularly here.

You know, the Jew is says in verse 12 in Ephesians 2 says, the Commonwealth of Israel that had the covenants of promise. I mean, so therefore, through the covenants of promise, the nation of Israel had hope, did they not? But how many lived by faith that these covenants of promise were really personally applied to them individually? I think few. I mean, we see examples of that throughout the Old Testament, but let's look at Romans 11, 7, and 8. Wayne, could you read that please? You can always find out who is not an opera singer. Just teasing you.

But then Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blind. According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear.

You know, there are many other examples where the nation as a whole, in fact, were not living according to the covenants of promise, right? I mean, these were people who, I mean, were going to the land where they wandered for 40 years, right? You know, there's just a lot of flesh there, a lot of lack of faith. So I think Israel, although bonded to God through the covenants, what was the response that was needed in the Old Testament to make these covenants real? If you were a member of the nation of Israel and were desert bound for the years with manna only to eat, what would be the basis by which your relationship to God was sustained.

Faith. Exactly. It's entirely that simple. The principle from Adam to today is faith. Is it not? I mean, we respond to God based on what he's given. And the question is, do we believe it or not? And the same principle is there for the nation of Israel. Did they, in fact, believe the promises God had given the prophets that came before, or the prophets of the time? And did they realize that the animal sacrifice was buying time until the ultimate sacrifice, which they clearly could not see in the future?

So, although the Gentile in Ephesians 2.19 or back to 2.11 was clearly a foreigner and an alien, the nation of Israel, to a large extent, was also alienated because of a lack of faith. But God's principle is always the same.

He provides a message to man and the response is necessarily by faith. So today we're fortunate, aren't we? Because in Revelation it says there's nothing to be added to this book. We have a complete document. So our faith is real, not looking forward to anything but the rapture and eternity with Him.

Whereas for the nation of Israel, wandering in the wilderness, that faith really became very real time, didn't it, in terms of God's promises. So now we're seeing here the bonding of this nation of Israel, who in fact many were aliens, to the Gentile nations, which were aliens, into one body, the same body. You know, and I really reflect on this a lot, the cross is the ultimate equalizer, isn't it? No matter how rich, how poor, how lean, how obese, how frail, how ill, how well, how black, how white, how tan, how yellow, everything's equal at Calgary, isn't it? You ever think about that a little bit in terms of all the prejudices that exist in the society in which we live? The biases? the experiences people have had.

I was with a black woman in Portland on Thursday night. She is a very distinguished woman. She's an associate dean at a major medical school in this country. She was on the committee that I was part of to evaluate the Oregon Health Sciences University, one of their major NIH-given grants. Anyway, to cut to the chase, she never shops at Walmart. will have nothing to do with the Walton tradition or what the Walton stood for or what Walmart has accomplished and recited to me a story about one of the Walton family members and I'm not sure which one, you may know the Walton family better than I do, but apparently there was an accident where one of them was intoxicated legally and actually killed somebody and that person was not convicted of vehicular homicide and she holds that as a great grudge. And I'm sure as many African-Americans do, I mean, the race is an issue with them.

But isn't it great? I mean, we love them all in Christ, and that's because the cross is so perfect. We're all sinners saved by grace. And there will no longer, in heavenly places, be any of these earthly biases or prejudices that exist here. And we praise the Lord. And I think we see this in a very small way in this passage about how the earth becomes pale before the great grace and love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

All right, that was kind of tangential. Let's go ahead. So Roman citizenship was extremely important in biblical times, and perhaps even more so than our national citizenship today. I mean, Paul, remember, claimed his Roman citizenship a couple of times. and he used that to his benefit, not incorrectly, I presume, but justifiably. We all claim and honor our U.S. citizenship, don't we? In Roman times, presumably, it was as if not more important than it was today.

Notice who I'm quoting here. This is Brad Mastin, who's provided a nice series of notes of his extensive study of the book of Ephesians. You'll get more of Brad next week. Brad says, but God is just giving it away to believers, not earthly citizenship or national citizenship, but heavenly citizenship. So this is a free gift.

Of course, what do we do to work for our U.S. citizenship? How many have lost their citizenship? No, you're effectively just born into it, right? I mean, there's nothing anybody has to do, but someone coming as an emigrant from another country, as an immigrant to the United States, clearly there are some things they have to learn, don't they, become citizens.

And so perhaps that citizenship is even more valuable than what we claim is simply being born here. So it's a gift to us, our earthly citizenship. Being US citizens is a gift. But in fact, the principle of God is the same. It's a true gift. But there was a price. And I guess if we look back as US citizens, there was a price to pay here, too. That just happened a long time ago, 240 years at this point. All right. And I think as we think of our citizenship, we make a lot of assumptions, don't we?

I mean, I've been saved, so the penalty of sin has been removed. And when I'm out of here, I'm with the Lord eternally. But what about the walk? In 1 John 3 it says, For the whole of what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him. How true is that for each and every one of us as we walk the path of life down here? The world doesn't know us. Do you sense that in your day-to-day existence?

Yes. Because of your faith? Sometimes. Anybody have anything to share this week? Well, it's interesting that you picked that one verse out of all the other verses in the Bible because When I visited Helmut and Heidi, I happened to pick up a Luther Bible and I wrote down what it was saying in German and said various things. So just then started to do it. I think. OK, I plan. Go ahead, Tom. OK.

Now, the reason I cite this verse simply, we're called the children of God, right? We're all part of this body, this household, this warm, huge living room, and we're included with the Jew, with other Gentiles, and we're blessed eternally by God's great grace and love for us. So, we're citizens here of a different kingdom, right? We talked about that before.

But yet I think, I'll speak for myself, so often we just kind of merge ourselves into the world system and kind of, you know, we're supposed to be in the world but not of it, right? And so I guess what's that life look like? What's a life that comes from above and that we walk in grace and truth, what's that look like? Tom, that's profound. I'm not sure we want to go there. Other thoughts about this?

I mean keep in mind we're the three verb tenses of being saved. I was saved, I'm being saved day in day out, and I will be saved. I mean so the salvation message which we covered here in Ephesians 2 seven through ten, probably a month ago, is really a principle that we live out in our daily walk. It's all part of the kingdom in which we've been placed. And that is, again, that one citizenship we have in Christ. Okay, let's turn to verse 20 then.

Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, So, better translated, I think, having been built up upon. Why is that a better translation here? It's by the way, the inner linear Greek is built upon, up upon, rather than having been built on. Because that, I think, signifies better a foundation, as opposed to just built on, or up on.

I mean, because the foundation is Christ himself. And without that foundation being in Christ, we don't have anything. Okay, but it's built up upon what? What's the foundation? Well, the apostles and the prophets. Okay. Alright, so... It's everything from the beginning that the Lord has revealed. Okay, so would this foundation exist in the absence of the prophets and the apostles? Not likely. I'm sorry? Not likely. Well, Christ could have come and died on the cross with no previous message of any kind, right? Yes.

But I think the prophets really were absolutely necessary. as were the apostles for different reasons to really lay out the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and who he was, correct? I mean, if Christ had just come and died a sacrificial death and nobody had any idea what this was all about, it would have no purpose, would it not? So the foundation is really the message that had been carried from the point of creation forward. And that was a necessary foundation. And obviously Christ is essential because he's the chief cornerstone.

Yes? So it sounds like it's not just a boom, there it is. It's a kind of a gradual process. Right. Built up upon really makes me think that foundation is really, really solid already. And now we're going to build up on top of what's already been laid down.

They were examples too. They were the heroes of faith. They were very maligned. because physically and emotionally and mentally because of their faith and their willingness to proclaim God's truth. I really like that. They are pillars of the faith. And remember we just talked about faith and how essential it is in terms of God's principles and truth being lived out from time eternity past to the present.

And the written word. I don't think we have a written word for it, not for Paul. When you think of Paul and the time he spent in the wilderness with the Lord Jesus, that was for a reason. To have him being taught. So true. So what foundation? I think we've pretty much kind of covered this. It's the truth the Word of God is projected by acts of faith throughout time. And the prophets and the apostles both exemplified this. So let's look at examples of both of these.

In Revelation, near the end of the Bible, it says, now the wall of the city had 12 foundations. Think about this building now, where Christ is the chief cornerstone. And on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. So securely placed is the relevance and the importance of the role of the apostles in establishing the body which we're all part of today.

And the prophets, 1 Peter 1, 10, 11, of this salvation, the prophets have inquired and searched carefully. Look at that. I think we sometimes go over verses a little too quickly. The prophets have inquired and searched carefully. That's a process, isn't it?

Who prophesied, look at this, they prophesied of the grace. Now, the principle of grace may not have been known to them at all. But they obviously through the power of the spirit in their lives prophesied a principle that they understood very little about that would come to you. Searching what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ who was in them, look at that, there's again foundational truth. The prophets throughout time up through John the Baptist were spirit led and spirit informed and spirit astounding. So the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified before him. Who's testifying? Who's testifying here? Well, the Spirit of Christ is testifying, isn't he? Isn't that who's working through the prophets to espouse the truth?

The sufferings of Christ and the glories that would come. Are we talking about the earthly sufferings here? of Lord Jesus Christ? I don't think so. They're saying he testified of the suffering of Christ and that Christ is someone else. I think it's the Father. When he testified beforehand. Well, he could be, you know, Christ. I mean, these prophets didn't have the new nature in them, right? You think he, the Father, could be the one testifying through the prophets?

I like it as the spirit of Christ but I don't think we have to really be absolutely certain here. We're looking at the working out of the principle of the Trinity and the prophets really to make clear the grace and ultimate knowledge of the sufferings of Christ that were forthcoming. I mean I think we're looking here at a couple of verses that really I think exemplify extremely convincingly that the prophets were spirit led. But don't we think that Christ appeared to some of these prophets in the form of angels?

Was Melchizedek before Abraham? Was that an epiphany? I mean, we think that that might have been Christ. I mean, it appears that it could have been debated. But yes, the suffering of Christ certainly was in Isaiah 53. Absolutely. I mean, these aren't a bunch of guys who are just hanging out trying to make up stories here. I mean, the Bible is absolutely clear.

The prophets and the apostles both share this intricate part of the foundation that's built upon now to make us one in the body today. And I think sometimes we kind of, maybe I speak for myself, but don't really credit the apostles and the prophets as much as we should. I mean, I think we do, but I think these verses really suggest the importance of the prophets because the foundation is really built up upon them. In their absence, we really don't have a foundation.

Cornerstone. What do you think of when you think of a cornerstone? Well, if it's a cornerstone, there's got to be four of them. They tell about the building, why it was built, who it was built by, when it was built, that kind of thing. Okay, often imprinted with some date of some sort, or perhaps the architect. It was a point at which the rest of the building was built on. Correct. And I think if you look at one of many definitions of it, it's a part of both walls and it joins them together. So the cornerstone is an essential part of the building so that the structure is sound beneath it and above it. All right.

So Christ himself is the chief cornerstone and I think in context here in this verse we're looking at again the verses that preceded it but we're looking at that oneness of the Jew and the Gentile really being part of this foundation we call the church and the one body by grace. So this is a self-declaration. He himself is declaring himself as the chief cornerstone.

Let's look at some other evidence for that. Matthew 21, 42 says, Jesus said to them, have you never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone? This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. So who's the chief cornerstone there? Self-declaration, right? I'm the one to be rejected. And that is exemplifying his role and ultimate role as the chief cornerstone. Back to Isaiah, Doug. Now I want to go back and dissect that though. What's interesting?

I don't know how many of you have been in Israel, but if you've traveled the wall, underneath the wall, you go along the old foundation, the wailing wall, you'll find a, they've made a path there so that you can see the wall that's underneath the foundation.

And as you're traveling along, you run into this rock, this huge stone, that's just sticking out, and the guide told us, he says that there's a possibility that the reference, that the stone that was rejected, that was the stone that was rejected. Because it has no, it was set aside, and they can't figure out why it's there. It's huge. And it's next to the foundation. And so the stones, here you have this reference that says, the stone that was rejected. How interesting. Yeah, it was very interesting, because it could be, it could not be, It was interesting because they can't explain why this stone was rejected. And it's right next to the foundation. Margaret, we didn't pick that up when we were there, did we?

I don't think we went below. Oh, you got to go below that. You have to go below. On the back side, on the outside of the city? The western wall. OK, well, we were at the wall, but we didn't go underneath it. No, it's outside. The wall's here and technically it would be outside of the wall.

It's incredible. It's really incredible that that was there. We were up on the Mount of Olives and actually looked down at the wall from the other side, so that would have been the side we would have needed to go to to see this thing, because once we went into the old city, then we wouldn't have been exposed to that there. That was so interesting that the guy commented, he said, foundation of the wall. Well, that could be that stone laid in Zion.

You know, it's not absolute. No, but that's an interesting story. It really is. And the last verse to kind of just proclaim Christ and his identification as that cornerstone. Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Well, that verse is profound, isn't it? I mean, we could spend the rest of the hour simply looking at that verse and looking at the interpretation, both for the believer and the non-believer. And that last clause refers to, I think, the disobedient. It does. In context, that's what it relates to. And it's still working on them. And what's the principle? lack of faith. Who would you say was the builders? Who are the builders? Builders rejected. Okay, who are the builders? I'm asking you. All those who rejected, but in this case I would say actually they were the Jews who built the temple. That's my interpretation too.

Any other thoughts on that? Yeah, you know what's interesting is the sad thing about the Romans is that Israel had everything necessary to believe in God. They really did. They had everything given to them to point to the One, their Savior, their Messiah, and they rejected Him throughout their entirety because of unbelief. That's right. Unbelief characterized them. And it was so sad.

So Brad, even before you came in, we kind of reflect on the fact that all the Gentiles here are called the aliens and foreigners. In fact, the nation of Israel, in effect, was an alien and foreigner too. I mean, there were the few that were saved by faith, because they believed in the promises the covenants had laid out before them, but many, of course, in the nation were not. So, in a sense, they, as the builders, actually rejected the cornerstone, the nation of Israel. All right, verse 21, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple of God.

It's interesting, in the original Greek, there's no article before the building. and in whom the whole building is what it reads. What do you think about the absence of the article here? Does that have any implications at all, do you think? Are we trying to read too much into this?

There's a comment. I agree with that for sure. There's another place, and I thought this was kind of interesting, where the article is left out of something that relates to an act of God, and that's in Colossians 115. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over not all of the creation, but all creation. So I guess it just centralizes the thought. I think it relates to the importance and significance of this event. The weakens the statement a bit, and perhaps reading a little bit too much into this. In whom?

Whole building, not the whole. The whole building, you start thinking about the parts and everything, but if you look at Christ himself, it's really whole building. I think it enhances the interpretation of the significance of his relationship to the body of Christ. Whole building, not the whole building. I don't know, if you say the whole house, I start thinking about the upstairs and the downstairs, the driveway and the garage. But house is, I think, stronger. It encompasses oneness and wholeness. And maybe that's reading a little bit too much between the lines, but forgive me.

But creation is the same kind of message here. It's not all of the creation, all this and that and everything else. No. Christ really, in fact, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over creation. One event, one time, one act of God. And Christ himself we look at as the source of creation. Not the creation, but creation.

Anyway, we'll leave it there. You can discard that if you want. As a chief cornerstone, he actually, what's better, I think, fitly frames He's being fitted together, but fitly frames the whole building, and I use the article here, together, and grows it as a holy temple. Now this growing, how would you interpret this? If you look at the Greek, the term grow could be either in size or in maturity. So what are your thoughts here? Are we free to interpret that either way?

So let's look at Ephesians 4.16 which I think reflects a little bit on this.

From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effect of working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself and love. Now is that growth in numbers? or is that growth in spiritual maturity? Sounds like spiritual maturity more than... Spiritual maturity I think is clearly, in terms of edifying itself in love, is clearly a maturation in the truth of the spirit working out in the body, but I get a sense that the whole body joined and knit together by every joint supplies.

I'm thinking about maybe there's numbers here too, and we know it's numbers. It has to be in numbers in part as to where we're at today. There are clearly more believers in the year 2009 than there were in 60 AD, correct? Well, you don't measure each age individually. You stack them on top of each other, right? It's not as if the believers who died are no longer part of the building. But rather, even if only two people became a believer in every generation, there'd be that many who were all said and done. So it's grown. Correct. That's right. And the house is not being expanded, meaning the structure itself, right? It's a big living room we have here.

We all live in the house of the God. And with life, and I think 1 Peter again is a good section for this type of truth, you also as living stones, remember Christ is the cornerstone, but we're all stones as part of this structure. As living stones being built up in a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. What are those spiritual sacrifices, by the way, that we're to be offering up? Is that the tithe? The praise. Okay. Other thoughts? Is it stamping out Adam? Never mind.

Alright, so the purpose here is that God, which is Kyrios, or the supreme authority, is the workman not only of the foundation but also of the whole building. In whom the whole building being fitted together or fitly framed grows into a holy temple under the Lord. And it is holy.

What do you think of here? This is not holy in the sense of sanctification, by the way. This is a different term. This is Hagios. And so I've defined that for you there. This is a term that implies sacred, blameless, consecrated. A little bit more formal use of the term holy than we think of when we think of holy being separated or sanctified. In a sense that's implied here with this description, but in fact this is a more formal interpretation of holiness.

Alright, the application. So we read all this, we're clearly by grace established in the principles of one body in Christ Jesus, the chief cornerstone, and we're amongst the structure called the building. And the application is reflected here in 2 Corinthians 6.16.

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? I mean, that's kind of taking you a little bit of field there. Back to who we are. But you're the temple of the living God. and I will dwell in them and walk among them and I'll be their God and they will be my people. So that kind of is that in the world but not of it concept that we alluded to a bit earlier. So that's the application here that we're in fact members of this holy temple of God and that will ultimately, by faith, allow His Spirit and the power of the new man walk through us and that we will reflect who we are by our walk.

So let's finish up now in Ephesians 2.22 where it says, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The Trinity again, right? So we've seen it twice in the last two weeks. We saw it in verse 18, which began our class today, and then we've seen it today in verse 22, in whom you also are being built together, meaning in whom in Christ being built together for a dwelling place of God, the supreme authority in the power of the Spirit.

All right. So being built together is present passive. Is that let go, let God? present tense, that means it's happening to each and every one of us today, presumably tomorrow, and the next day. So we're being saved, this kind of ongoing principle of our salvation, of the life in Christ that we lead. Passive means it's being done, right?

I think it probably relates to both, but in terms of the body, certainly, the corporate life, right. But what's, I mean, its past is being done unto us, but you know, ultimately, that I may know Him. I mean, the issue is, us as believers, how do we respond to this being acted upon by God and His Spirit? What's...

Still by faith. I mean, we have to believe what He's told us. Yeah, the principle always, I think, falls back to faith, doesn't it? I mean, we're recipients of His great grace and love, but unless our response is plugged into the wall by faith, we ultimately dismiss the relevance and importance and don't sense the power of God that works in us individually or as a body of Christ. So either way, this is a Believing God for what he's revealed. That's the best definition of faith that's ever been given. Believing God by what he's revealed. That simple. So again, that same principle exists from the beginning of time till now.

So, my question then, we've just been dealing with, what role do we play? We respond by faith, that he's created us in oneness in the body, and that that body fitly working together really reflects his glory by the lives which are living out that position by faith. This, by the way, this being built together, this is the only time this is used in the Bible. This working together is really never used in any other circumstance. Now, for eternity, or both? You're being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Is that for more heavenly ribbons? Awards? It certainly has, I think, eternal relevance for sure, but what about today too, right? I mean, I think, to go back to one of Hal's lessons in 2 Corinthians where this whole issue of appearing before God and having our works judged and kind of the heavenly rewards, I sense that The way we view awards down here is going to be very, very different from the way the Lord deals with us in terms of what things have brought glory to his name.

I don't even want to conceptualize what principles he may use, but I think it's probably not things we're going to be reminding him of when we're up there. So this life of the body really is one that's reflected by a walk in faith that really is not one which we're patting ourselves on the back for.

Is the building, is that talking about the church or is it talking about a place, I mean it's talking about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I'm looking at all the believers, Jew and Gentile, that are bonded together as a walking body. In fact, that's really the togetherness that we're looking for. But that building together for a dwelling place of God reflects each of the roles we have in the body, and I think ultimately that has individual applications. So it's building together the body. It's a dwelling place for God in the spirit, but yet that has to happen through the individual members of the body. That can't be isolated away from the individuals that are part. Remember Chief Cornerstone, we're all stones, living stones. I mean, we're all part of this building that's called the church. into eternity?

I never thought of it going into eternity. Well, that's why I ask a question. I thought you kind of had implied that it did. Well, Brad suggested it could, and I have no reason to think that it wouldn't have eternal relevance. I just don't, I mean, I see perhaps, I mean, when we're not in this world anymore, that we're basically just face to face. I mean, I don't see the togetherness, but maybe it's there.

Holly Hills gets a special place. I'm not going to say what kind of special place. I think that thinking about the body of Christ, we're in fact already positionally in Him to begin with, right? So we're fully acceptable to Him in terms of the bonding of Jew and Gentile together in this new principle of oneness. But within the body there ultimately are individuals who walk the life within the body. So it's clearly working through the members of the body to build together a dwelling place of God in the spirit. And it says here that we're effectively his habitation.

1 Corinthians 6.19 says, or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God and you are not your own.

That's true individually, but I think that also relates to the relationship we have as one in Christ Jesus in the body in which we're called. So in closing, I had a couple of verses that I thought might really be relevant in terms of these principles. In John, in the Lord's heavenly prayer, that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, Trinity, that the world may believe that you sent me, and the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. I think you could look at that both as a body and individually, that Christ's message to the father in his heavenly prayer about what our relationship is to him personally and to the Lord God himself and ultimately to the body of believers.

Romans 8, 9, 11, but ye are not in the flesh, this is more individually applied, but the spirit of, if so be that the spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his, and if Christ be in you, the body is dead. That's the physical body, not the church. because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the spirit that dwells in you.

So I think Romans 8, 9 through 11 really is more individually applied, whereas John 17, 21 through 23 can be interpreted as related both to us individually and to the body of believers that we exist. within here at Holly Hills and far beyond. So, both of these verses speak to more identification, which is the source of the truth of the body of Christ. And I'm asking us each and everyone to reflect on how well, by faith, we reflect this oneness both here and in our individual lives that extend past the body just here at Holly Hills. Keep in mind, God doesn't see the body as Holly Hills, he sees it as the entire body of Lord Jesus Christ, which extends globally, not just here in South Denver.

Any other comments before we close today? Okay, Brad, you're up next week, right? The mystery, right? Brad, you want to close this in prayer, please? Heavenly Father, we praise you and thank you for with a wonderful encouragement and joy found in your word.

Thank you that you built us into a new body and fitly framed us. Lord, and it's your doing that you put us all together in your body for your purpose, for your glory. Praise you. Praise you for this message. Praise you for the time that Bob put in. Lord, and thank you for aligning us with your Holy Spirit. Please let us pursue you this week and abide in you. Jesus, amen. Amen.