Is the Church a Building?
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While on a hunting trip several
years ago, I stumbled across an old cemetery. Nearby was a half-standing
building that was almost completely covered with kudzu (southern ivy) and
honeysuckle vines. As I approached it, I made out the word "church"
on the front wall. All across our land there are many buildings-large, small,
brick, steel, old, new - which are called "church." Most of these buildings come complete
with nice comfortable pews, air and heat, stained glass windows, and a
steeple. To the majority, believer and non-believer, “church” has come to
mean a building. I am not
suggesting that God does not use physical buildings today. He obviously does!
There is nothing wrong with being taught the Bible and worshipping God in a
building. But many people have difficulty
separating the real church from the physical building. What exactly is the church? Old Testament Rituals Under the Old Testament teaching of the Mosaic Law, God used a
special priesthood, a complex sacrificial system, and a physical building
called the temple, to make Himself known to man. The Jews learned many details about God's redemptive plan
through the use of all of these things. Israel was immersed in the activity
that surrounded the temple. The temple was so important to God that He used specially gifted
craftsmen to construct it. These uniquely chosen builders were given special
tasks to perform. There were engineers, carpenters, brick masons, and others,
all working together following a special blueprint given to them by God (Heb.
8:5). "All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make
all that the Lord has commanded" (Exodus 35:10). "And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every artisan in whom the Lord
has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for
the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the Lord has
commanded" (Ex 36:1). At an appointed time, the invisible God revealed why such great
care was taken in constructing this building. God revealed His awesome
presence in the temple in the form of a cloud and fire. This unveiling of His
presence was called His glory (that which shed light upon Him). "Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting and the
glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" (Ex. 40:34; see I Kings 6-8). New Testament Reality At Pentecost, fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
God did a remarkable thing. He set aside the temple, the old physical
building made with human hands, along with the entire legal system that it
represented. He replaced it with
a new spiritual temple! This new
temple was not made of brick and wood - but of people! He then relocated the
expression of His glory in people. "For you are the temple of the living God; as God has said,
'I will dwell in them, and walk with them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people" (2 Cor. 6:16). "Don't you know that you are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwells in you?" (2 Cor. 3:16). "Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and sojourners,
but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone, In whom all the building fitly framed together
grows unto an holy temple in the Lord; In whom you also are built together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Eph. 2:19-22). This spiritual building is made up of both Jewish and Gentile
Christians placed together into a living organism built of "living
stones" that pulsate with the very life of God. "You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God by Jesus
Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). Today our invisible God locates Himself not in physical buildings
but in those people who belong to Him. The bodies of believers have become
the dwelling place of God - the body of Christ. Believers, not buildings, are
the church. Believers are the “house of God.” "For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His
bones. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and His
church" (Eph. 5:30;32). Built On A Firm Foundation Architects know that a building is only as strong as the
foundation upon which it stands. The church of Jesus Christ is built on an
everlasting, solid foundation. Peter expressed the true identity of Jesus
Christ by saying that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He
recognized that Jesus Christ was God in human flesh. It was upon this truth
that Christ told Peter He was going to build His church (Matt. 16:18). God's
living temple is being built upon the foundation of the deity of Jesus
Christ. Gifted Craftsmen Just as gifted craftsmen built the old physical temples (Bezalel
and Oholiab), gifted craftsmen are also building up this living structure. At
His ascension, taking His role as the High Priest and the head of His body,
Jesus Christ placed gifted craftsmen into His body in order to build it. “But to each one of us grace was given
according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high, He led captive a
host of captives, And He gave gifts to men” (Eph. 4:7-8). Each member placed into the body of Christ becomes a craftsman
designed by God to play a part in constructing this living body. “For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the
building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). This special capacity for construction comes from the Greek word
"charismata." It is a supernatural God-given capability for
service, given to believers when they become a member of the body of Christ. Each
member of the body is equipped by God and is challenged to become a part of
the building process. Both Paul and Peter mention these special gifted
craftsmen in their letters (Rom. 12:6-10; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:11, 1 Pet.
4:10-11). Upon completion of this living building, the Head - the Lord Jesus
Christ - will reunite His spiritual body to Himself. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead
in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall
always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1
Thess. 4:16-18). The Bible teaches that God is present everywhere (Psa. 139:7-12)
and that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, much less a physical
building (2 Chron. 6:18). But
God today chooses to locate Himself, not in buildings made with hands, but in
people who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. The
next time you see a physical building on the corner with the name “church” on
the outside, remember who the real church is. |
Today our invisible God locates Himself not in physical
buildings but in those people who belong to Him. |