The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-11-30
Home For God
Lesson for December 2, 1862

Here we have five sentences
translated from a letter written
to a church, a good nineteen
centuries ago. And yet the word
Church" is not used in these
sentences, though the thing is
there from beginning to end. 1t
is a good thing he did not use
the word church" because
otherwise we might think CAS- we
so often do of an organization
or a building. Paul, who wrote
this letter. never saw what we
would call a church edifice,
something that photographs
nicely and "looks like q church.
So he never wrote about build
ings. Paul never went beyond
what nowadays should be called
the skeleton" organization Of
his churches: so he was all but
silent about what we would call
structure" and form" in the
church. Paul was concerned
with something more profound,
something more basic. He is
speaking to people who have had
a Christian experience and live
Christian lives. How they are re-
lated to one another and how
they are related to God; this is
the basic thing that makes a
church; not organization or the
kind of place where they wor-
ship and study.
Without Christ, What?
The reader is invited to study
these five sentences (Eph. 2:l1-
~ to see what they mean to
him. BY way Of suggestion, the
following thoughts may serve as
a guideline. Sentence 1: Eph. 2:
11-l2. Paul reminds his readers
what their status used to be, and
it was a pretty low one. Indeed
lower state could hardly be
pictured; separated from Christ,
separated from Gods people,
strangers to Gods promises
they had probably never read
the Bible. without hope and
without God. Notice that Paul
puts together two separations:
from Christ. and from the com
monwealth of Israel is to
say. the association Of the people
who know God. and desire to do
his will. To be cut off from
Gods Son and cut off from
Gods children, is all the same
thing. To say las some have
tried to say: I want to be a
Christian but not to belong to
the church, is the same as say
ing: want to have the love
of Christ but I do not wish to
share it. It is the same as say
ing: l love Christ but l do not
love those whom he loves. Any
one can see how inconsistent
that is.
He is our Peace
Now for Sentence 2: verse 10.
The key words are lin Christ
Jesus" and brought near in
the blood of Christ" We are
members of Christ's fellowship,
not because we belong to the
fellowship in the beginning but
because our relation to Christ
puts us into right relations with
one another. To put this another
way: We are not Christians be-
cause we are church members.
We are church members be-
cause we are Christians. Two
strangers on a bus may find
that they are both friends Of the
same person. This at once links
their lives and minds; the
stronger their affection for the
mutual friend. the stronger their
attraction to each OF her r. And
if this friend Of each of
these (hitherto) strangers has
risked his life for each Of them,
their bond is stronger still.
What links Christian to Chris
tian, believer to believer. is that
Christ gave his life for each of
them.
Sentence 3: verses 1916.
Christ is "our peace" The I'M
DERIVING and almost unspoken
reality here is the bitter race
prejudice between Jew and Gen
tile. Paul is saying that Christ
is the one bond strong enough
to bring together in harmony
people - individuals and class
eS-who naturally are bitter
and scornful enemies. Sentence
4: verses 1913. Men who had
in times past prayed against
each other, SO to speak, prayed
selfishly, now pray in one Spirit
to the same Father.
A Place for God to Live
Sentence 5: verses 1922. Paul
now leaves with us q simple pic
turc that a child can under
stand. The church = the fellow
ship Of those Christ loves - is
like a building. Not just any
building. but a residence for
God. One brick does not make
a home; no brick is without its
place and use. The church-the
people who make it up. who
are the church-is a home for
God on this earth.
BASED on outlines copyright
ed BY Division Of Christian Edu-