This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to Day 5 of our look through Ephesians Chapter 2 in Daily Drive Time
Devotions. We're looking at verses 18 to 22 today. And we've been talking about
this entire week how God has changed our spiritual life history, beginning with
the fact that he personally changed me from someone who was dead in my
trespasses and sins to someone who is now alive with Christ, raised with Christ,
seated in Christ.

Yesterday, we looked at the fact that this life history also includes the fact
that we have been taken from a place from being far off to now being brought
near. And then in verses 18 to 22, Paul gives us another picture of the change
that God has that God alone could work because of what Jesus has done. Let me
read those verses to you, Ephesians 2, 18 to 22.

Now, as I said yesterday, first Paul gives us the individual picture, but then
the picture gets broader and broader and greater and greater. And here he takes
the entire picture of all the history of mankind, this holy temple that God is
building, the dwelling place of God in his spirit. First, he tells us that
because we are a workmanship, we are to do good works, but God is prepared.

And now he tells us that because we've been brought near, we're going to be
built together to become a dwelling place that glorifies God. Ephesians 2, 18,
"For through him we have access to the Father by one Spirit. Through him is
Jesus.

" And then you have the Father and you have the Spirit. You see the Trinity in
that one verse? Our access to God is based on the Trinity of God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.

All are involved. And this is a picture of unity. All throughout these verses,
you have this picture of unity, what God has done, the change that God has
worked.

We are no longer strangers and aliens. We are now members and citizens. In these
verses, there are three pictures of the church.

When you think about your spiritual life history, if the church isn't included
in your spiritual life history in Jesus, you're just missing it. I don't say
that based on my opinion as a pastor. Of course, I love the church as a pastor.

But I love the church not because I'm a pastor. I'm a pastor because I love the
church. I love the church because when I read the scripture, I see Jesus' love
for the church.

It's his body. It's his bride. And my spiritual life history is to include this
church that is his body and is his bride.

And in these verses, we see these three pictures of the church and they all
include the idea of unity. One nation, one family, one building. One nation, we
are fellow citizens with God's people.

That's the picture. We're no longer foreigners and aliens. A stranger, an alien
there.

I know that sounds like space things to some of us. But the idea of an alien
there was somebody who was from a different country. Somebody without any
knowledge, any contacts.

They just didn't have any way of making it in the society they were in.
Everything was totally alien to them. A foreigner is someone without any rights
or privileges in the society.

They might know things, but they didn't have rights. They didn't have
privileges. And Paul says we're no longer that.

We are now fellow citizens with God's people. We have a common king. We're
fellow citizens.

We have common goals. We have common interests. We're one nation together in
him.

We should serve our nation in every way that we can while we're on this earth.
God has told us to respect the king. He's told us to respect the nation that
we're in.

But ultimately, we are not citizens of this world. The book of Philippians talks
about the fact that we are citizens of a different world. We're citizens
together.

And the place that we most experience that citizenship in this world is in the
church. It's a picture of the church. We are one nation.

And then verse 19 says we are members of God's household. We're not only one
nation. We are also one family.

Members of God's household. The household of God. The idea of household there is
the idea of immediate family.

We are a part of God's own immediate family. God is not only our king. He is our
father.

It is not here picturing the director of an orphanage where there's somebody
directing it and that's God and we never really get to meet him. No, no, no.
This is the immediate family picture.

I'm eating dinner with him every day. He's taking me to school every day. He's
the one who drives carpool every day.

That's the picture here. You see, not only do we have a common king, we also
have a common father. That's the picture of the church.

We have a common love. We are one nation. We are one family.

And then he takes a bit longer talking about the third picture. We are one
building. We are one building.

Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself
being the chief cornerstone. And the whole building is joined together to become
a holy temple in the Lord. We see God's building plan in these verses,
foundation, cornerstone, and building.

There is the foundation and the foundation here is the apostles and the
prophets. The apostles are talking about those who first followed Jesus. Jesus
said, "Follow me," and 12 men followed him, one of them betrayed him.

But Paul was brought in later as an apostle and he says, "An apostle who's come
even at the last of times. " And we're built on the foundation of their faith,
their trust, their belief, and the prophets. The prophets in the Old Testament
who prophesied of Jesus coming, but also the prophets in the New Testament, who
the idea of New Testament prophets is that they were not foretellers of the
word, but foretellers of the word.

They told what Jesus had taught. We are built on that foundation, and I don't
know about you. I don't often enough tell God, "Thank you for that foundation.

" Just in my heart say, "I appreciate those apostles and the fact that in
desperate, scary times they had faith, because my faith is built on that
foundation. " God, thank you for the foundation of their faith, of their
choices. Thank you for the foundation of the prophets, what you said to them and
that they were faithful to speak it forth.

Thank you for that foundation. If I forget that foundation, I can become
prideful. I can think it's all about me and all about today, and it isn't.

There's a foundation that we're built on. That gives us security. That's part of
what it means to be his family, his building.

There's a foundation, the apostles and prophets. There's also a cornerstone. In
our day, a cornerstone is put in at the very last.

It's a decorative thing to say this is when the building was built, but not in
that day. The cornerstone is what the foundation rested on. Jesus Christ is the
chief cornerstone.

If you pulled the cornerstone out, everything crumbled. All the measurements of
the building were taken from the cornerstone, and all the weight of the building
rested on the cornerstone. Everything in the building tied to that cornerstone.

That's Jesus. Every measurement we take needs to be taken from him, the
cornerstone. Not from ourselves, not from others, comparing ourselves with
others, but from him.

And all the weight of what we do needs to rest on him. He's the cornerstone. And
all that we do ties together in him.

He's the head of the body. He's the cornerstone of the building. And when I
forget that, I begin to feel very pressured about all I have to do for God.

When I remember that, there is such a sense of relief, there's such a sense of
joy, that it all rests on him. And ultimately, my main job is to do what he's
given me to do. And that's the third part.

There is the foundation. There is the cornerstone. But then there is the
building.

The Bible here says, "In him the whole building is joined together and rises to
become a holy temple in the Lord. " This is the full view of history. And do you
get the picture here?

The picture is not that somehow what we're doing today is all that matters, but
that all that's happened for the last 2,000 years, in fact, even reaching back
beyond that to the early saints, Abraham and Moses, if you reach all the way
back, all that's happened, God is working out his plan in human history. And in
the church, we see this whole building being joined together in him to become a
holy temple, a place of worship for him. That puts perspective on what you and I
do for Christ every day.

That means that what I do is part of his plan for the ages, and I get to be a
part of it. Now some people, they think, "Well, that minimizes it. That means
that all I get to do is my little part today.

" No, it maximizes it. The part that you do today is a part of his entire plan.
And it's a plan for the ages.

It's a plan that's bigger than any one lifetime. It's a plan that's bigger than
any hundred lifetimes. It's his plan.

And I get to be a part of it. In fact, the Bible says that in verse 22. This
building's joined together in verse 22, "And in him you too are being built
together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

" What God's doing in the church, he's also doing in my life. What God's doing
in my life, he's also doing in the church. It all lives together.

It all builds together. That's the building. There's foundation.

There's cornerstone. And there's building. I don't know about you, but I want to
build well.

The cornerstone is so perfect. The foundation was laid with such sacrifice. I
want to build well.

So let's, as we pray together today, let's pray for God's strength to build
well. God, thank you. Thank you that not only are we a part of your plan for our
lives and our families, but we're also a part of your plan for your family, what
you're doing through the thousands of years.

We're part of the plan for your building, what you're building that's going to
glorify you for all of eternity. Thank you that we get to be a part. And thank
you for what you're building in us.

And thank you for what you're building through us. And we commit both of those
to you today. Build in us, build hope and faith and love in us, and build
through us.

Build through us in a way that brings glory to you, not only for the few moments
of this life or this day, but in ways that we cannot see that echo all the way
into eternity. God, we don't see that, but you tell us that in these verses. And
so we rely on that.

As we build for you today, whatever anyone else says about the building,
whatever we think about the building, I pray these verses would tell us the
truth about what you're building. This whole building being joined together,
rising to become a holy temple in the Lord, a dwelling in which God lives by his
spirit. Thank you, God, for what you are building.

In your name, amen. Well be sure to join us next week. We're going to be looking
together at Ephesians chapter three.

I don't know about you, the book of Ephesians, every chapter seemed to get
better. It is filled with so many incredible truths. We'll see you next week for
Ephesians three.