Gather Pt. 2
He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
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.
Ephesians 2:17-21
Identity is one of today’s buzzwords and understandably so when so much of what we held to be true is now in flux. As the Psychologists and Sociologists and so on have come to see, a strong sense of self leads to all sorts of good outcomes and vice-versa.
Which is just to say they are simply catching up with what God already knew. And His grace to us in Christ, one of the many spiritual blessings we have, is that in Him we are given a new identity.
And notice that this new individual identity is very much caught up in a new corporate identity. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, members of the Household of God, we are blocks if you will in the Temple of God.
It’s crucial to see this. God hasn’t saved us to just be floating individual Christians, doing our own thing. Our identity is intrinsically linked into our purpose. Temples aren’t made by blocks going off on their own. They are linked together. Kingdom’s in the more historical sense are about a people united in purpose. Think of a family with a family business.
And where our culture says this is restrictive, I reckon it’s freeing. Crippling anxiety is the result of too many choices and so no surprise that absolute freedom has led to very anxious people. You can be whatever you want isn’t as good as it sounds.
Instead, God tells us what we are and what we are to be and it’s wonderful.
For Today:
Pray:
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.
Ephesians 2:17-21
Identity is one of today’s buzzwords and understandably so when so much of what we held to be true is now in flux. As the Psychologists and Sociologists and so on have come to see, a strong sense of self leads to all sorts of good outcomes and vice-versa.
Which is just to say they are simply catching up with what God already knew. And His grace to us in Christ, one of the many spiritual blessings we have, is that in Him we are given a new identity.
And notice that this new individual identity is very much caught up in a new corporate identity. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, members of the Household of God, we are blocks if you will in the Temple of God.
It’s crucial to see this. God hasn’t saved us to just be floating individual Christians, doing our own thing. Our identity is intrinsically linked into our purpose. Temples aren’t made by blocks going off on their own. They are linked together. Kingdom’s in the more historical sense are about a people united in purpose. Think of a family with a family business.
And where our culture says this is restrictive, I reckon it’s freeing. Crippling anxiety is the result of too many choices and so no surprise that absolute freedom has led to very anxious people. You can be whatever you want isn’t as good as it sounds.
Instead, God tells us what we are and what we are to be and it’s wonderful.
For Today:
- Who do you say you are? What is your identity?
- What is one thing you find great about being a citizen of God’s Kingdom?
- What is one thing you could do this week to live out God’s purpose for your life?
Pray:
- Praise the Father that He rejoices in His identity as God.
- Give thanks for Jesus Christ who has won for us a new identity and purpose.
- Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others rejoice in your new identity and live it out.
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