Before Jesus Christ, all efforts of Man to build the Temple failed, for it was never a work that could be accomplished by human effort. It is reserved for the Holy Spirit of the Father working with the Spirit of the Son, as prophesied by Zechariah.
Zech 4:6-10 [NIV]
6So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.
7“What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”
8Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.
10“Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
”(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)”
Here, God uses the template or pattern of the Temple, or the latter house as mentioned by Haggai in Chapter 2, to indicate the work that is to be accomplished by the Church.
Again let’s turn to Matt 16:18-19. From the text, it is clear that the concept and actualization of Sonship (the Messiah, or Christ, the Anointed One) is the rock upon which the church is to be built. This is what is called the cornerstone (Isa. 28:16), which is Christ. He is also the capstone (Psm 118:22) and the plume line, which is righteousness and justice. (Isa. 28:17)
This concept is mentioned many times by Paul and other Apostles:
1 Cor 3:9-11 [NIV]
9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Eph 2:19-22 [NIV]
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
1 Pet 2:4-10 [NIV]
4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you 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. 6For 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.”
7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,”
8and,
“A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once 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.
This is post is _Part 4_ in the series The Body of Christ and our Role in It. To continue with this series, click on Pt 5. To use this as a growth tool to better understand your own calling, you might start by reading the explanation of this series, Pt 1, Pt 2 and Pt 3.
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