Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
As Paul continues to describe the kind of people God intends His people to be, he turns to the picture of a temple, a place of worship, but also a place of dwelling. Everyone has a longing, known or suppressed, to be in the presence of God. That being the case, it will never be a solo audience. We will be surrounded by all those who seek Him. As a living "building" we surround Him. He is central. We all "find our place" in relationship to Christ, the cornerstone. As more and more people trust in Him, the building grows in size and strength. Somehow, rather than feeling farther away from God and the Cornerstone with each new arrival, we actually sense a greater closeness, strength, and purpose. We become more aware of the filling of the Holy Spirit in the building, the church. If we fall back into any kind of self-centeredness, then we become the crack in the wall, a means for instability, distracting from the Center, in a sense allowing the presence of the Holy Spirit to "leak out" the crack we have created. Together we stand; divided we are unstable.
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