Ephesians 2:22

²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

 I find it interesting that Paul references that when we together, join ourselves, gather or create unity or a group we become a place where God is present. Indeed we have the indwelling Spirit of God in us individually but it is not until

Matthew 18:20
For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

There is something about the gathering, the group that forms something more powerful...

Matthew 16:18b
...I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.

For what is the church but a gathering of believers? Certainly it is not the building but the like minded group of people that come together in any way, building or not.

So the power of the church is not derived from the presence of a charasmatic leader who communicates to the gathering but it is in the gathering itself that brings about the presence of a Holy God who inhabits the praises of His people. PS. 22:3

APPLICATION
So in the day and age where we can dial in our favorite pastor and go to "virtual church" we need to be careful not to forsake the gathering of the believers, for therein is power, and the presence of God. Hebrews 10:25

Ephesians 2:21

²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

From the time of the liberation of the children of Israel from Egyptian captivity to the time of the great and beloved King David the tabernacle of God was in a tent, a temporary movable dwelling place, not so cool. Then King David put it into his heart to build a temple, a magnificent permanent building for God. He thought, "we all live in houses and yet God dwells in a tent...". His plans were thwarted and the task fell to his son Solomon to build. And build he did. It became the most magnificent building in the world at the time, one feature was that the wall coverings were pure gold, pretty flashy. The temple became a symbol of the greatness of the God of the Israelites. Their culture was dependent upon this symbol. So bear this in mind as we see Paul in these verses,  leading an offshoot of Judaism, teaching that the practice of animal sacrifice which took place in the temple was no longer necessary for fellowship with God. He constructs this premise of a living temple made up of God's holy people...

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1Peter 2:5

In some way Paul is saying that as Christ is the one who holds together this new spiritual temple it is more precious than pure gold as it is made up of us, the apple of God's eye the crowning glory of God's creative efforts the human being.


APPLICATION
To be mindful that my body is His holy dwelling place and that I need to treat it in a way that is honoring to the King who inhabits it.

Ephesians 2:20 - Jesus Alive in the Now

²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

The whole business of God interacting with the human race begins with the patriarchal prophet Abraham with the promise of creating a nation out of his family, and then the prophet Moses and the burning bush experience. The giving of the law and then the first coming of Christ, culminating eventually with His second coming. We now live in the age of grace, the time frame where God is not counting man's sin against him and our access to Him is through faith in the redeemer He sent on our behalf.  Through the apostles we have the New Testament wherein we find the new covenant, a new agreement between heaven and earth. Now in this age God is making His appeal to all of mankind to come and have fellowship with Him, for we are all His creation but until we agree with Him that we need a savior and accept His Christ, we are not His children. It began with the prophets then the apostles then finally Christ's work on the cross which enables us to do the work on His behalf as he makes his abode in our bodies. It is in light of this ancient ancestry and current indwelling Spirit that we understand the big picture of what God is doing today. He is inviting all who will come to receive His gift of fellowship with Himself, and along with that fellowship comes peace, purpose and an eternal posterity.

APPLICATION
To boldly walk in His presence today and be ready to speak and do on his behalf.

Ephesians 2:19 - Forget the Rules...What?

¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 

Make no mistake about it, in the ancient world the God of the Israelites was renowned for His amazing and mighty works. Remember, the whole Jewish population was at one time the slave class of the Egyptians. We in our 21st century mindset have a hard time getting our brain around that. Through the leverage of the horrific plagues and the leadership of Moses the entire nation was liberated and the captors vanquished with enormous fanfare of supernatural intervention. Believe me all the peoples of the earth heard about how the God of the Israelites cared for them.  Do you think some would be jealous and want to have been born into that family? So when Paul makes this declaration that henceforth by the blood of Christ anyone can now become adopted into the Israelite family, it was a really big deal. Remember the unique thing that God did for His chosen people was that He made a nation out of a family. Jacob's 12 sons each became the leader of a family that grew into a tribe and together they developed into a nation. No other people group can claim this, it is unique in all of history, yet we are given access to the blessings and privileges of being a part of this magnificent household.  All of this is usually lost on most people, they think we are inviting them to join a religion, NO it is a family, and the strength of a family is the relationship born out of love, care, concern for your best interest and mutual acceptance of one another and trust. Is it possible for you to you enjoy these things with a spiritual Father? Yes you can. Problem is most people think that we are inviting them to join us in keeping a set of rules to live by. I can understand how they get there, but the reality is that when there is a love relationship there is no need for rules, it is only in the lack of relationship where rules are employed. Example: I love my wife, I do not commit adultery. Not because of the rule against it, I will not because I love her, regardless of the rule.  In the same way when we love God we are led to live in a way that is pleasing  to Him and as we love others as our selves we fulfull all the rules without even thinking about them. 

APPLICATION
To be led by the Spirit today, to care deeply for others and to walk humbly with my God.

Ephesians 2:18 - Willing To Learn

¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 

We are a tri-une being, body soul and spirit. Our bodies are the tangible flesh and blood, our soul is the part of us that makes up our personality, our emotions, intellect and our decision making process, our will. Then there is the part of us that is dormant or dead unless we are born again, our spirit. Our spirit when aligned with The Holy Spirit has access to God. Others who refuse to know God can have a spiritual experience but run the risk of being influenced by the spirit of, well...who knows what? You see it all comes down to influence. We all have our own free will, we decide for ourselves all manner of issues. Our spirit informs our will or stated another way influences our decisions. For example in the Bible it states that the evil one has come to kill steal and destroy. His minions are spirit and they influence people to accomplish his agenda, killing, stealing, destroying. So who do you think is influencing the mind of a person that is determined to commit suicide? Certainly not the Holy Spirit. The hallmark of the Holy Spirit is to reveal where we are "off" in our thinking and then will always reveal the way out of the situation. The enemy of our soul will condemn us and leave us there to seethe, wither and eventually become confused, all the while tempting us toward destruction. The Holy Spirit's agenda is abundant life, by way of humility, sacrifice, and others centeredness. His route to life will seem more difficult but in the end it is the right way for us and for those around us. He lives to guide us toward the mutual benefit of all.

APPLICATION
To be ready for the guidance of the Holy Spirit today, to be one who is led by the eye and willing. Like the old saying goes "in order to be taught you must be willing to learn".

Ephesians 2:17 - I Wanna Be Like HIM

¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

Though many times the premise of Christ creates a whirlwind of division and strife between family members and others even between husband and wife. However Jesus is the Prince of Peace when it comes to the relationship between God and man. He is our only advocate our go-between.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.   1Tim. 2:5

The good news is that when we are reconciled to God we begin to walk in His grace and have the Spirit of Him to guide us into patience and self control and the like, so that we can begin to become Christlike and live an irrestistable life to those around us. At least that is the game plan. Unfortunately there are many jerks for Jesus who are hell bent on judging others and cannot figure out how Jesus spent his time with notorious sinners and yet remained attractive to them. Likewise we need to learn to attract people toward our abundant life while not demanding that they "clean up their act" before we are willing to befriend them. But to exude all of the fruit of the Spirit in such a way that they would desire that for themselves.

APPLICATION
To remember that Christ Jesus came into this world to save it and not to condemn it. I want to be like Him.

Ephesians 2:16 - God is into the New Thing

¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 

We do not readily experience the hostility spoke of here in this verse as vividly as it was displayed in the first century. Indeed there are barriers between Jews and non Jews here in America but it is not that big of a deal, since we are united by our American culture. The bigger picture here is that God divided humankind into two groups, the Jew and everyone else. The point that Paul is making here in this verse is that up to this point in time God was in relationship with the Jews and now He was making a way for everyone else to enjoin in that coveted relationship. At this time this was an upheaval of their system like nothing they had ever experienced. Many embraced the new "way" yet others were unwilling to see what indeed God was doing.

APPLICATION
To be open to a new thing that God may bring into my life, to remember that He is always creative, and that His ways are higher than mine so I should be ready to lean not on my own understanding.