The Church: Citizens, Siblings & Temple
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
This morning we are going to be looking at
Our Collective Identity
Our Collective Identity
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. 1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. 7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
We are just finishing a weekend of celebrating our national citizenship and Independence. In case your wondering, that is why we call it Independence Day. The day when 56 delegates from the Second Constitutional Congress gathered together to declare their independence from Great Britain, thereby committing treason of the highest order. And thankfully the colonies won the Revolutionary War. Our story and this world would look much differently had they not.
And as United States Citizen’s each year we celebrate our national independence from Britain and also a sense of patriotism, and unity around our national identity. Last night, my family had the priviledge to watch the Fireworks show in Austin. It was a beautiful show and it never fails, each year they either start or end the show by blasting Lee Greenwoods, “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free, and I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me, and I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today, cuz there ain’t no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA.”
That right…that right that we call freedom. That right that was etched into our constitutional law by the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Our Collective Identity as American Citizens was fought for, and bought with the sacrifice of brave men and women who believed so deeply in these ideals that they gave their lives to that end.
And this got me thinking…as American Citizens, do we know our rights? Not our privileges, our rights as defined by the Articles of our Constitution, more specifically the Bill of Rights, which we know as the first 10 Amendments…
So church, what are some of our rights as American Citizens?
Bill of Rights - The Really Brief Version
Bill of Rights - The Really Brief Version
The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are summarized below.
1 Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
2 Right to keep and bear arms in order to maintain a well regulated militia.
3 No quartering of soldiers.
4 Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.
5 Right to due process of law, freedom from self-incrimination, double jeopardy.
6 Rights of accused persons, e.g., right to a speedy and public trial.
7 Right of trial by jury in civil cases.
8 Freedom from excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishments.
9 Other rights of the people.
10 Powers reserved to the states.
What about our duties as American Citizens…
To Freely Practice our Faith
To practice free speech
by VOTING
by protest if need be
To uphold and defend the constitution if called upon to do so (Selective Service)
To Pay our Taxes, and protest if need be, but understand the consequence of those actions
Jury Duty
So we have pretty good understanding of our rights and our duties as US Citizens, good…
Let’s get back to the Word of God…Ephesians 2:19
Citizen’s in God’s Kingdom (Nationality, Citizenship)
Citizen’s in God’s Kingdom (Nationality, Citizenship)
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
We used to be foreigners and strangers, but now there is a new identity that we have that gives us a collective identity and brings us together in unity. Regardless of what earthly place you come from. If you have died to yourself, if you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in Your heart that God has raised him from the dead then you are a new creation. And therefore you now have a new citizenship. You are a citizen of the kingdom of Heaven. You are anchored in heaven. You are a new creation in Christ and that new Creation has access to the Spirit of God because you are a citizen of Heaven. That is your heavenly birthright. By being born again, your citizenship now has given you new rights.
Rights to eternal life.
Right to every spiritual blessing in Christ….
Being chosen in Christ
Redemption through his blood
Forgiveness of sins
Glorious grace
Knowing the mystery of God's will
Election to holiness
Predestination to adoption
The privilege of being God's heritage
Possession of the Spirit as a seal and guarantee of final redemption
And the right to become an ambassador for Christ.
Because that’s Pauls imagery here, and as you look throughout Pauls teachings and you look at his life as an example, you will notice that he appeals to his Roman citizenship while living out his Kingdom Citizenship. He uses the benefits and privileges and rights he has as a Roman Citizen to advance the Kingdom of Christ.
I do not believe Paul is telling us that we are citizens of heaven therefore we long to be home in Heaven. No I think he is saying, because we have heavenly citizenship, we live as heavenly ambassadors in the places where God has planted us.
Jesus taught this (and if you’ve been coming out on Sunday nights you’ll remember) this is the parable of the wheat and the tares. That Jesus has planted his kingdom agents all over the world. And the enemy has done the same thing. That’s the tares, the weeds, the fake wheat. And the wheat and the weeds grow together until it’s time to harvest. His disciples wanted to uproot the weeds, but Jesus says no…let them grow together so that we don’t uproot any good wheat. At the harvest it will be evident who is a kingdom of heaven and who isn’t. There life will bow in submission to King Jesus, and those who do not willingly bow in their own power will but cut off.
So our heavenly citizenship comes with rights and responsibilities as well. And together we need to exercise them church… we are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. But we are also…
Members of God’s Family (Hertiage)
Members of God’s Family (Hertiage)
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
God is now our Father. Our Father.
5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
The New Living Translation puts it this way…
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Eph 1:5.
All the rights and benefits of being his child.
Now we are no longer strangers…but we are siblings. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, and God is our Father.
Now…I grew up with brothers and a sister. And having siblings is an amazing thing. They are built in best friends, and sometimes worst enemies. But you share so much as siblings. And your family name can often tell others a lot about you.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Do not take the Lord’s name in Vain…
You are representatives of the Lord’s name. You have a new Identity…You are now a Christian.
Bear that name well.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
We are a spiritual family. And for those of you who have longed to belong, who don’t have a family. Then the church should be that place where you have a new family. One that is built upon the solid foundation that Christ built for us. Where you are loved and cared for. Where you belong. Where there are opportunities for you to develop deep and meaningful, lifelong relationships with our Father’s other kids.
But this also means that we are to have spiritual fathers and mothers, and be spiritual fathers and mothers.
2 To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our collective Identity is that we are fellow heavenly citizens….we are brothers and sisters in Christ, members of God’s household and we are also…the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Stones in God’s Temple
Stones in God’s Temple
21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. 1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—5 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. 6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
We, collectively are the temple in which God’s Spirit dwells, and when we come together we are to offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
We are all stones in the temple of God’s church. Together we create a beautiful temple in which God allows us the privilege to serve him, worship him, and offer spiritual sacrifices that are pleasing to him.
This fights against our individualistic culture that we find ourselves immersed in.
What pleases God is when his people, who are called by his name, humble themselves and pray.
What pleases God is when his people, who are redeemed by His blood are worshipping him in unity and peace.
What pleases God is when His children, who are adopted at His pleasure, forgive one another, as he has forgiven them.
Paul illustrates what these three collective identities mean and what they accomplish in chapter 3
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. 7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
God’s intent is that through us, through His Church which is made up of fellow citizens, brothers and sisters and stones in his temple, that we would reveal his ultimate wisdom to the authorities in the heavenly realms.
That regardless of our ethnicity, our earthly citizenship, or our previous worship, that he has made a new people through his son. And this church would be known by her love for one another.
It’s no wonder that Satan wants to destroy unity in the church. It’s no wonder that Satan wants us to focus more on our earthly citizenship, our earthly homes and our earthly worship…but God has given us a new citizenship. God has given us a new family and a new family name. God has given us a new
And he has made a way for us to make it right with him when we gather together…that is by taking communion.
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter! 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. 33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.