We've been looking at Ephesians 2 as a summary of the gospel and the visual analogy we have been using is a building with a cross on the roof. The cross has a vertical beam representing our relationship with God and a horizontal beam representing our relationship with one another.
We've dealt with the vertical and horizontal beams of the cross and now we come to the building - the Church.
There are many who argue that you don't need the Church to be a Christian. It is very interesting to me that Paul pushes us very hard from an individualistic Christianity ("just me and Jesus" - only the vertical beam of the cross) to a faith that includes others and leads us toward the "household" of the church.
When I talk about the church, I don't mean Denominations - the New Testament pretty much worked with the local neighbourhood church being the real focus of attention.
The building (household) Paul describes here is built solidly:
- The cornerstone is Christ. The placing of cornerstone would always be the first act of building and was done by the Master Craftsman. It defined the start and orientation of the building. The less-skilled builders would be orientated by the Cornerstone.
- The foundation is the prophets and apostles: This reminds us of our heritage both Scriptural (Old Testament and New Testament) and Historical.
So Paul is pushing us from individual faith to community and from community to the Church. The Church _must_ be based, centred and orientated by Christ otherwise it is not the Church. It must also value its heritage and history and learn from them.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
