One Household, One Building, One Body

This morning I am reading from Ephesians 2:12-22 NIV:

[12] "...remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

[14] "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, [15] by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, [16] and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. [17] 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. [22] And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

Wow, talk about loaded lines of scripture!  A couple of things that stand out very clearly here.  In verse fifteen, Paul is as clear as can be in stating that Jesus set aside, in His flesh, the law and its regulations.  This version of translation is relatively mild in how it translates the original Greek katargeo.  A better definition is as follows:

1) to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative
    a) to cause a person or thing to have no further efficiency
    b) to deprive of force, influence, power

2) to cause to cease, put an end to, do away with, annul, abolish
    a) to cease, to pass away, be done away
    b) to be severed from, separated from, discharged from, loosed from any one
    c) to terminate all intercourse with one

Any way I read the definition, it is clear that the Law and its regulations and commandments are no longer enforced.  Jesus did this through His body, sacrificing Himself so that we could be free of the Law.  He also did this so that the way would be opened for all men, both Jew and Gentile, and in so doing making us all into one new humanity (verse 15).

Secondly, we are all members of God's household.  God doesn't have multiple household, just one, and we are all members of it.  Jesus himself said "in my Fathers house, there are many dwellings" (John 14:2).  Thus, we are all members of this one household, the household of God.  We are all built on the same foundation and are all being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives (verse 20, 22).  The Greek word translated built together is Sunoikodomeo and it is defined as follows:

1) to build together
    a) to build together or with others
    b) to put together or construct by building, out of several things to build up one whole
        1) of the human body

Again, Paul is saying though we were many parts, Jew and gentile, we are now being built together into a single building, the temple of God or just as clearly, the Body of Christ.  We can not disassociate ourselves from others in the body.  We may have a different focus, a different purpose, but we are all members of this same building, this same body.  I also like the fact that he says we are being built together, as it is not complete yet, but in process.

Lord, I pray that the simple truths revealed here would cause us to see the Church or the Body of Christ differently.  We are all one, all members of one household, one body, one building!  Help us to put away our petty disagreements and those things that cause division and embrace the unity that God has made possible.

Amen!