When we go to a new city or watch television programs that take place in other parts of the world, the architecture often fascinates me. The ancient buildings in Europe, thatched roofs, brick, intricate carvings, the stainless steel and glass of modern creation, the homes in cities like Vancouver and Montreal, all of it speaks to human creativity.
The architecture in NT times is used to speak to spiritual realities. Then, the culture centered on the Temple in Jerusalem. Peter used that reality to teach the first Christians that God no longer dwells in an earthly temple but in a spiritual house not made by hands. He refers to the church and to individual believers as the dwelling place of God. This is the great privilege Christians enjoy: union with Christ, and this make our faith unique. Buddhists are not said to be in Buddha nor Muslims in Muhammad, or even in Allah, nor is a Confucian in Confucius. Only Christians are united with and receive their spiritual life from the object of their worship. The NT teaches that we are “as living stones, being built up as a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). This is the most fascinating architecture I know!
When I came to Christ, the living stone, I became a living stone. I possess His resurrection life and draw from His spiritual resources. God “has granted to me His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them I might become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). I am part of His dwelling place along with millions of others who are joined together as living stones . . .
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19–22)
God did not build His household and abandon it. He says this:
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16–17)
This verse uses a plural ‘you’ which means that His temple, the church, is not self-ruled but in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) and set apart for God (2 Corinthians 7:1); holy, even to the point that God fiercely protects us. There will be severe justice for those who put any of God’s people to death.
I cannot turn a blind eye to this reality either. Parts of God’s household are being destroyed. Persecution is rampant in many countries. While others are beaten and killed for economic or ethnic hatred, those who follow Christ are attacked for no reason other than their attackers hate the Gospel. Jesus told a parable that has one line in it that explains their motivations. It implies ‘this man’ is Jesus:
But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ (Luke 19:14)
The child’s stance of hands on hips and words like, “I will do it myself” explain much of the attack on God’s people. We bear the message that Christ has done it all for us and that giving our lives to Him means letting Him continue to reign, to be our Savior and our guide. We stop trying to do it ourselves and this is a raging sore spot for human independence.
PRAY: Jesus, more and more am I realizing the power of sin. it attacks my ego, my pride, brings me to my knees in helplessness or pushes me to ‘try harder’ and stand tall, to be my own person, to not let anyone, including You, to rule over me. If I, a living stone with the Son of God dwelling in me by Your Spirit, have trouble with sin, how can those who resist You even begin to overcome it, even recognize it? My heart feels great grief for those caught in sin’s trap, even as it snaps at me all the time. Thank You for giving me confidence in Your care and always assuring me of Your presence. I cannot live without You.
PONDER: Read Acts 17:24-32 and think of ways to share with others the reality of God who created them and cares for them.
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