We Are God’s Dwelling Place

We Are God’s Dwelling Place

Ephesians 2:22

It’s Ephesians 2:22 and I know that part of our task is to kind of help each other to catch up on where we are at present, but verse 22 you can see there is the last verse of that chapter, “In whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” but so that you get the context of that. It surprises you in a way when you reflect how Christianity is shared in our society, because if you think about it it’s shared primarily as a way in which you can live a happier life, or in a way – a way in which you can get God to solve your problems.

It does seem if you reflect upon it, that that is the thrust of most presentations of Christianity that you come across either in books, or on television, or on radio today. It’s presented primarily as a method by which we ourselves can live a happier life, or a more fulfilled life, or a way in which we can get our problems solved. And of course when you think about that, it’s ridiculous, it’s utterly ridiculous. If this is really the God who made us all, if this is really our creator, then it’s very unlikely that we ought to be treating him as a kind of servant, or as a kind of solution to our problems.

It’s obvious that if he is the God and the Creator of the whole universe then we ought to be finding out what he wants, and what he is about rather than asking him to come in and help us with our difficulties. And I think that’s probably the biggest difference between the light that God now seems to be giving us, and the light that probably we had for years. Because I think we’re all beginning to realize that Jesus is not just kind of another prophet of God, he’s not just someone who saves us from our problems and our difficulties, but he is, believe it or not, the one in whom we were created. He is the one inside whom we were made. And you know that we’ve got that from all kinds of verses but certainly the Ephesians 2, the verses there at the beginning and especially Verse 10 are very clear, “You are we all are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” But there are many other verses such as, “In him all things were made, and without him was not anything made that was made.” Or, the verse in Colossians where it says you remember, “That Jesus was the first-born of all creation, and that all things were made in him even before the earth was made.” And so we’re beginning to see, yeah far from Jesus just being a solution to our problems or a helper for us as we try to make life successful, Jesus is the one in whom we were actually created. We were made inside him and all that we have comes from his own life.

Now that’s the heart, you remember, of what is spoken about by Paul here in Ephesians, because in Ephesians 2:19 for instance, he says, “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” Why? Because you have been brought near in Christ by his blood. And you can see in Verse 13, that’s what Paul says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ.”

In other words we were put into Jesus, created in him, crucified in him, and resurrected in him, and raised in him to God’s right hand and so now you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. And that is something that has happened to us, and I suppose that’s what you have to get and I have to get clearly in our minds that we’re not in the old position that we used to feel we were in, that we have to somehow get near to God by mysticism or by prayer, or even by obedience. It’s not that situation, but we have actually been brought near in Jesus to God. God has looked down upon us and has put us into his Son, and raised us up with his Son, and made us sit beside him, and God has done that. We’ve been brought near and, you know, it is – it does take a lot of strain off us if we really realize, “You mean God has looked upon all that I am and has nevertheless set me beside him?” Yes that’s right, God has done that, and God has made you part of his Son, and you are part of his Son that’s just a fact.

And that’s what Paul is saying, “All of us who felt we were far from God, we have actually been brought near to God, because he has put us into Jesus himself.” As opposed to our own feeling that somehow we have to get into Jesus by meditation, or by obedience, or by our faith. No, God has made us in Jesus and has brought us right next to himself. And that’s why he says, “So then you yourselves are actually fellow citizens with the saints,” in Verse 19, “And members of the household of God,” you’re actually part of God’s household, “Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,” the foundation that they laid when they told us about Christ. “Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,” and so Paul is saying this is like a building, your part of the household of God in that you’re part of a building first of all. A building that he has created for himself and Jesus is the cornerstone of that building.

So a cornerstone, you know, is kind of here, it determines the alignment of that wall, and the alignment of that wall, and it determines the vertical nature of the building. The cornerstone is the key one that lines up everything else and Jesus is that cornerstone. And then he says, “Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” And verse 21, “In whom the whole structure is joined together.” So the whole structure is joined by that cornerstone, and it’s the foundation of the whole mighty structure that God has built. And the suggestion there is that God has created a whole beautiful universe, which Paul refers to here as a structure, and it has all kinds of things in it that we cannot imagine.

Presumably all kinds of plants that we have never seen before, all kinds of trees, or similar things like that. I have said to Irene at times that Shu will be there because I think – oh, Shu is the little Yorkshire terrier, but God has put here shadows of the true things that exist eternally in his presence. And I don’t know if many of you have read, Plato’s Republic, but Plato actually gets very close to that. Plato talks about a perfect table, there’s a perfect table in heaven and all other tables are just forms of that perfect table. So he has that – oh I don’t know how he got hold of that, but he got hold of the idea that there is an ideal of everything in heaven and what we have here are only shadows or forms of that. And that’s the case, God has a whole structure of which Jesus is the cornerstone and it is built probably of universes. Probably of universes, certainly of many planets, but probably of whole universes, He has a whole structure that is built upon Jesus, and in Jesus we are part of that structure.

And that’s what the next verse says, “In whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord,” and the Greek word “joined together” means joined together just like that, you know. I don’t know if you – I may not be using the right terminology but a mortar’s joint in woodwork means that you cut one piece of wood in such a way that it fits in the mortise and the tenon fit in exactly, and they fit closely together, and this one is cut just the right shape for this one to go into it, and that’s what the verb means, everything is fitly joined together. And now I think you begin to see why you are here and why we are here together, because we’re fitly joined together in Jesus.

That is Joe has certain abilities and Jesus will beget at him other abilities and other insights that will fit exactly with abilities and insights that he gives to Trish, and those will fit together exactly with other insights and abilities that he gives to Marty or to Greg. And so the whole structure is fitted together from eternity exactly in the right way. That’s why our method of vocational guidance is so crude, “Oh you seem to be good at math so you should be an accountant. Oh, you seem to be good with your hands so you should be a carpenter.” It’s such a hit and miss approach we have, so crude and coarse taking little into consideration of the fact that Jesus is working inside each one of us today, and bringing new light to us and new insights. And that I think is the exciting part of what the whole web ministry, because it seems to me that Jesus has planned for each one of us to be here together, and he will fitly join us together in a way that is far more precise and far more detailed than you can ever imagine.

I mean at the moment I talk about, well Joe seems to be good on how to structure a website, or how to manipulate the program Meva, and Martha seems to be good text and on writing, and Joanne seems to be good on presentation and design, but really that’s just my crude insight into it. The fact is that Jesus is doing all kinds of invisible things in each one of you. And he has things to bring about in you, and to bring out through you, that even you yourself do not know at this moment and that’s what these verses are saying, that we are the structure that God is building inside his Son here on earth, and it is a structure where every – each one of us is carefully designed to work with the other. So it’s not chance at all that we are here together, and it does not even depend in a sense, on what our natural abilities are because there are all kinds of inner natural abilities, supernatural really but natural in Jesus, abilities that God is bringing forth.

Now if you look you can see how it goes on, “In whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” And the word grow – of course here you see Paul moving from the whole idea of a building to when he uses grow, a building doesn’t grow a plant grows, the vine grows, he moves into the idea of an organic, really a body of Jesus, and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In other words there is within each one of us, the life of Jesus, and that life is growing and beginning to develop in new ways and that I think is what’s exciting.

If that weren’t the case, you’d run down. The second law of thermodynamics would take into effect, and the gray hair would always mean that you’re running down. The system is running down, it’s wearing out, but because of Jesus within us there’s a growing that is taking place more and more and as the outward body is decaying the inward being is being renewed more and more until eventually, at the moment of death, it will burst out and as on the mount of transfiguration, it will overcome the weakness of the old outward nature. And that it what is taking place, we’re growing all the time, inside you Jesus is developing more and more the abilities that he has given to you. And so really we should just as we really do see from time-to-time in an Einstein, because in certain ordinary characters God has manifested this, as you see in Einstein, or you see in a Rubinstein, you see a development and a refining of their talent and abilities. So that’s what will take place, that is God’s plan for us here, we will grow and develop in our ability to do what he has brought us together to bring about.

So that’s part of what that verse means, “And grows into a holy temple in the Lord,” and then of course the last verse, “In whom you also,” because it’s in Jesus, “In whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” And that’s the overwhelming reality. Why are you here in this world? For a dwelling place of God in the Spirit, that’s really why you and I exist, so that God can dwell in us here on this earth. And what’s come home to me more and more is the only way that can come about is because of the last three words. He is the only one who can bring this about in us. The Spirit is Jesus within us it’s only in the Spirit that we can come into this.

Now I don’t know how dear the Holy Spirit, has become to you, but it’s only – he’s the only one who can bring about this in us. I don’t know how preoccupied you are with what I think of you, or what Joanne thinks of you, or what Marty thinks of you, or what Joe thinks of you, or what Greg thinks you should do, or what Myron thinks you should do, but that’s all irrelevant. There’s only one who knows what you should do, and that’s the Spirit of Jesus within you, and everything depends on your attitude to him. What surprised me a few days ago was, to what extent is the Spirit, the Lord God to me? To what extent is the Spirit, the Lord God to me? And to what extent is he a kind of helper, little helper? To what extent do I yearn to hear what he’s saying and do I utterly respect and obey what he says? And it seems to me that’s the key to this growing in Jesus, and this becoming what he has made us for, our respect and honoring and obedience to the Holy Spirit who is Jesus. And I wonder to what extent maybe we’ve thought of the Spirit as helper and aide, and kind of a messenger from Jesus, but not really Jesus himself, but it seems to me he is the Lord himself within us.

Let’s us pray.