Introduction
Last Sunday, Mac explained what Jesus accomplished to bring us, the Gentiles we once were, near to God's people through his sacrifice on the cross. He set aside the law that condemned us, in order to create one new humanity out of Jews and Gentiles, and to establish his peace over all people. Today, Paul continues. In Ephesians 2:19-22, he unveils the concrete consequences of this work of reconciliation. Three images to tell you who you now are in Christ: a citizen of a city, a member of a family, a stone in a temple. Three ways of helping you understand that everything has changed, and that God now dwells among his people, in you.
Message outline
1. Citizen of God's city : you are no longer a stranger
- Paul writes: "So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19). Some translations also render it "immigrants" or "exiles."
- Everything changed with Jesus. You are now part of God's community, Jews and Gentiles together, all nations united.
- This city is no longer the national theocracy of a small country like Canaan in the Old Testament. Paul is speaking of a worldwide community that fills the earth.
- Whatever your background, Jesus places you on equal footing as a citizen alongside every other believer in this new city where God reigns.
- This city is the foretaste of the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21 · a perfectly inclusive community, a spiritual city that transforms every human boundary.
2. Member of God's household : a new brotherhood
- After the image of citizenship, Paul offers a more intimate one: "of the household of God."
- This image stands in direct contrast to what Paul mentioned in verse 14: hatred between Jews and Gentiles. God's household expresses a new brotherhood that unites those who cling to Jesus Christ.
- In verse 14, Paul explains that Jesus brought about reconciliation between Jews and Gentiles. In verse 16, he reconciled both groups together with God.
- His sacrifice opens the way for everyone, whatever their background, to enter as family into the household of God, God who is the Father of every believer in Jesus Christ.
3. Living stone of the holy temple : God dwells in you
- Paul reads on: "being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:20-22).
- For nearly a thousand years, God symbolically dwelt among his people: first in the tabernacle built by Moses 3,500 years ago, then in the temple in Jerusalem built by Solomon. His presence was marked by the cloud at the entrance of the tabernacle, then by the glory that filled the temple.
- This presence, the Shekinah in Hebrew, filled Solomon's temple so completely that no one could remain inside. But it left the temple about 600 years before Jesus, before Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of it, because God could no longer dwell in a temple defiled by his people's idolatry. Ezekiel describes this departure in a rather chilling passage in Ezekiel 10-11: the Shekinah leaves Jerusalem after resting above the Mount of Olives.
- The Talmud, which carries the Jewish tradition, teaches that the Shekinah was one of five things missing from the temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel after the Babylonian exile.
- When Jesus enters Jerusalem (on Palm Sunday), he arrives precisely by way of the Mount of Olives, the very place where God's glory had come to rest in Ezekiel's vision. His entrance into the temple marks God's return among us. Immanuel, God with us.
- Jesus will no longer dwell in a temple of stone: he dwells in you by his Spirit. He came to rebuild this spiritual temple where God lives among his own.
4. Foundations no one gets to change
- Paul begins by mentioning the foundations: "being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone" (verse 20).
- The apostles and prophets Paul refers to here are those of the New Testament. You can see this in Ephesians 3:5, where Paul writes that the mystery of Christ was revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.
- In plain terms: the church is built on the writings of the New Testament. And just as no one alters the foundation of a house, these writings are not up for revision, no matter what preachers or self-declared apostles and prophets today might want.
- Within these foundations stands a cornerstone. It sets the limits of the building and holds the walls firmly together. The stability of your church depends on how firmly you hold to Jesus Christ and his word.
5. A holy people, not a sacred building
- The temple in Jerusalem was an exclusively Jewish building, off-limits to anyone from another nation. Now Jews and Gentiles stand together, living stones of God's temple.
- This new temple is a spiritual building, an international community present in every country, wherever God's children are found.
- God has not bound himself to a sacred building, but to a holy people. Be careful not to make the walls or the objects of your church sacred. What is holy is the souls who gather, not the decor.
- God lives in each member individually and in his people collectively. The Shekinah that left Solomon's temple 2,600 years ago has returned.
- "In him you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit" (verse 22). The united Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), dwells in his church worldwide. God is among us this morning in every believer, every day, at every moment of your life.
6. A glorious picture still to come, and a counter-witness to correct
- This city will be completed when Jesus returns. It will come down from heaven, sent by God, and a loud voice will say: "Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away" (Revelation 21:1-4).
- This new society founded by Jesus at the cross is the beginning of a new creation marked by brotherhood and peace in communion, where God dwells in the unity of the Trinity.
- And yet, for 2,000 years, the church's witness has often told a very different story. As soon as Christianity gained a certain standing, it compromised itself with worldly power and added violence to the gospel, the brutality of religious wars, the blessing of armies and cannons.
- John Stott, in his commentary on Ephesians, writes with anger: "By what right have we rebuilt walls between churches which Jesus Christ had demolished?" He adds that there is little Christian honesty in proclaiming that by his death Jesus abolished the old divisions and created a new humanity of love, while we contradict that message by tolerating racial, social, or other forms of segregation within our own community.
- Catholic historian Jean Delumeau writes, for his part: "The dechristianization of today is, to a large extent, the bill coming due for that tremendous aberration which lasted a millennium and a half. It is the punishment for a heavy collective sin that, sadly, accompanied evangelization across space and time."
7. Loving our enemies : the strength that makes our faith unique
- Your responsibility is all the greater today: to stay attached to Jesus Christ so that you carry the witness of the gospel, not the witness of Christians in the world.
- Martin Luther King took Paul's vision to the Ephesians seriously. He refused the injustice of his country without ever giving in to violence. To those who fought alongside him against injustice, he said: "Never let anyone bring you so low as to hate them."
- He added: "We must use the weapon of love. We must have compassion and understanding for those who hate us." His book Strength to Love explains how Jesus inspired his social and political action against injustice.
- King wrote: "From the cross, Jesus proclaimed a higher law. He knew that the old philosophy of an eye for an eye would leave everybody blind. He did not seek to overcome evil with evil. He overcame evil with good. Crucified by hate, he answered with love."
- Loving our enemies is not an ideal, it is the Lord's command. And it is precisely this love for our enemies that makes your faith so unique. Martin Luther King is among the Christians who, throughout the history of the church, have made people want to believe in Jesus Christ.
Key takeaways
- You are no longer a stranger or a foreigner: Jesus has made you a fellow citizen with the saints, equal to every other believer, in a city that fills the earth.
- You have entered God's household, not because of your own worth, but through the sacrifice of Jesus, who reconciled Jews and Gentiles, and both groups with God.
- God has not bound himself to a sacred building, but to a holy people. What is holy in your church is the souls who gather there, not the walls, not the decor.
- The church's foundations are the writings of the New Testament, and the cornerstone is Jesus Christ. No one has the right to touch them, whatever their title.
- The Shekinah has returned. God lives in you personally and in his people collectively, every day, at every moment of your life.
- The church's historical witness has often contradicted the gospel. Your responsibility today: stay attached to Christ and refuse to rebuild the walls he tore down.
Personal application
- Where this week did you feel like a "stranger" or a "foreigner," when Paul tells you that you are a full citizen of God's city, and what would you do differently if you truly lived out of that identity?
- Is there a brother or sister in your church you keep at a distance because of their background, class, or history, even though Jesus tore down the wall between you?
- Are you tempted to treat a place, a decor, or a tradition in your church as sacred, rather than the people God has gathered there?
- What is your faith resting on right now: the words of contemporary preachers, or the writings of the New Testament and the person of Jesus Christ?
- Who in your life is putting you down or hurting you right now, and what concretely changes when Christ calls you to answer with love instead of hatred or indifference?
Verses cited
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
What does "fellow citizens with the saints" mean in Ephesians 2:19?
Paul says that in Christ you are no longer a stranger or a foreigner, but a full citizen of God's city. Jews and Gentiles are placed on equal footing as citizens within a community no longer tied to the small land of Canaan, but one that fills the whole earth, a foretaste of the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21.
How did the Shekinah, the presence of God, return in Jesus?
The Shekinah, the visible presence of God, left the temple in Jerusalem about 600 years before Jesus, as Ezekiel 10-11 describes. It came to rest above the Mount of Olives. When Jesus enters Jerusalem by that same Mount of Olives, he brings that presence back, Immanuel, God with us. Today, God no longer dwells in a temple of stone but in his people, by his Spirit.
Why does Paul emphasize the cornerstone and the foundations?
The foundations are the writings of the New Testament apostles and prophets (Ephesians 3:5). They are not to be altered, no matter what contemporary preachers might want. The cornerstone is Jesus himself: he sets the limits and holds the walls together. The stability of the church depends on how firmly it holds to Christ and his word.
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