I am not an architect. I am not even a builder. But I have been on quite of few building sites. I do know that no building will last if a solid foundation is not laid. I saw evidence of that when I was in the states in the spring of 2011. While we were there a series of tornadoes struck North Alabama. Most of the houses there are timber framed and built on concrete slab. Because there was no real conerstone and no real foundation the houses were wiped away and in some cases nothing was left but a clean concrete slab.
The houses collapsed because they were not secure and anchored. They had nothing to give them strength.
So the church, the church that Jesus promised would endure, needed a soild foundation. It had to be a building that would last.
So God, the Master Builder if you will, had a blueprint for His church.
First He laid down a conerstone. Of course there is no other foundation that will last forever than Jesus, the Chief Cornerstone. Then He used the 'apostles and prophets' to complete the foundation. These early church offices were used to lay the groundwork. When there was no completed word of God the apostles and prophets were used to proclaim God's perfect word. God gave them signs and wonders to confirm their work. (I am not going to get into the 'cessationist/continuist' debate here. Interpret what I am saying how you will :) )
But He didn't stop building there - he continued to build with us, the living stones that make the church today. It is a building that doesnt stop on the 100th floor or the 110th or the 200th. It just keep on growing until Jesus returns and calls us home. We are growing together in holiness to be the perfect building He wants us to be.
All the living blocks of the building ate packed together. If you take out one block the building is weakened. We can't afford to do without any one of us.
Are we doing our part as living blocks as we grow together into a holy temple?
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