June 18
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit,” Ephesians 2:19-22.
Prior to the text quoted above, the apostle Paul spoke of the time when the Ephesians were strangers and foreigners to the family of God. That was their spiritual situation before they became Christians. However, by the grace of God, their spiritual condition had changed, and Paul writes, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” Now they were in full fellowship with other Christians scattered throughout the world.
How did it happen that they were no longer strangers and foreigners to the family of God? Their faith had a firm foundation. It was “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone.” The teachings of the Old and New Testament, of the prophets and the apostles, are the fundamental teachings of the holy Christian Church, which is comprised of all and only believers in Christ, the Chief Cornerstone.
Jesus Christ, God and Man in one Person, is the central teaching of all of Holy Scripture. Referring to the Old Testament, the apostle Peter said, “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins,” Acts 10:43. Speaking through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the Lord said, “Behold, I lay in Zion a Stone for a foundation, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone, a sure Foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily,” Isaiah 28:16. In his First Epistle, the apostle Peter quotes Isaiah: “Behold, I lay in Zion a Chief Cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame,” 1 Peter 2:6.
The Old Testament Scripture also foretold that the Chief Cornerstone would be the rejected Jesus, who would be captured, condemned, and crucified, and then rise again on the third day. A thousand years before His crucifixion, the Savior spoke through the psalmist: “They pierced My hands and My feet,” Psalm 22:16. The psalmist also spoke of the coming Christ as the Cornerstone of Christianity: “The Stone which the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone,” Psalm 118:22. Speaking to the multitude assembled in the temple at Jerusalem, Peter quoted the psalmist: “This is the ‘Stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the Chief Cornerstone,’” Acts 4:11.
By faith in the Chief Cornerstone, we become a part of the temple of God, the holy Christian Church. We are stones “fitted together” in God’s temple. Peter wrote, “Coming to Him as to a living Stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ,” 1 Peter 2:4-5. God the Holy Spirit dwells in us. We belong to Him. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16.
Our faith rests upon a sure Foundation. Paul wrote, “No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 3:11. To Timothy, Paul wrote, “The solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: the Lord knows those who are His,” 2 Timothy 2:19. Remember God’s promise through the prophet Isaiah: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine,” Isaiah 43:1.
“Christ, Thou art the sure Foundation,
Thou the Head and Cornerstone;
Chosen of the Lord and precious,
Binding all the Church in one;
Thou Thy Zion’s Help forever,
And her Confidence alone.” Amen.