The House Worship Center

The foundation that Paul references in verse 20 is built upon the Apostles and the Old Testament Prophets, but the first stone placed in that foundation is Jesus Christ. This means that Apostles and Prophets must be in alignment with Him and all of their instruction must refer back to Him. Understanding this connection places Christ in the center of both the Old and New Testament doctrine.

The second observation requires us to understand that the Gentiles coming into the Church were being taught to understand the basic truths, norms and practices of the current day Apostles and Old Testament Prophets.

This was necessary because the Gentiles were strangers to the household of God and unfamiliar with the practices of their new found faith. The outstanding question we must ask is "What exactly did these men believe"? What similarities would unite the Apostles that followed Jesus with the Prophets in the Old Testament? The answer is linked to the statement that connects the Apostles to the Prophets of the Old Testament. There is one thing they both have in common, they are all Jewish men. Our faith is centered in Jesus Christ and He is the chief cornerstone of the Jewish faith.

Christianity is often separated from its connection to Judaism. Paul's writing in Ephesians helps us to understand the connection. In the early church, the Gentiles coming into the faith learned that they were now a part of the common wealth of Israel. Those who were once strangers to God's covenant and were without hope are now made nigh by the blood of Jesus to have access, by one spirit, to Him. The New Testament church was a homogeny between Jew and Gentile. The succeeding verses in the Ephesians passage teach us how to unite the whole building of humanity. (Ephesians 2:21-22) God's plan to save all men requires that all men become a part of the same building. A select group of people were chosen by God to prepare the way for all people to come to Him. All men are joined back to God through the first stone that was laid to align the foundation of our faith. The individual building blocks of Jews and Gentiles are fit together when we are correctly aligned to the center piece and chief cornerstone of our faith.

The human population is a variety of people groups,

cultures, and colors. Each group represents its own

ethnic building block. It is common for each

people group to build walls among themselves to

protect their own intrinsic values and personal interest.

However when walls are built solely among one

people group the wall naturally creates a structure that

keeps other groups out. When the partition walls that separate us are removed, we become one House growing into a Holy habitation for the Spirit and Presence of God.