CHIEF CORNERSTONE

Today’s Reading: Ephesians 2

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

Ruins of the Celsus Library…one of the most beautiful structures in Ephesus. It was built in 117 A.D. as a monumental tomb for Gaius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, the governor of the province of Asia. The grave of Celsus was beneath the ground floor across the entrance and there was a statue of Athena over it, because she was thought to be the goddess of wisdom.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verses: Ephesians 2:19-20

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.

Christians take note! Our position in Christ is established! By the end of the second chapter, we have the words “in Christ” (or its equivalent) 19 times. Are we beginning to get the message? We are no longer the walking dead! (verses 1-3). We have been raised up! We “sit together in the heavenly places in Christ” (verse 6). Verse 11 begins with “Therefore” (as the result of the foregoing), which is a turn-around word…(1) We are alive in Christ; (2) We experience the exceeding riches of His grace; (3) We are saved through faith, a gift of God; (4) We are created in Christ Jesus for good works (works do not produce any favour from God, but they follow as a result of His favour); (5) We are citizens of His Kingdom with all the privileges that pertain thereto; (6) We are family–His DNA can be traced within us; and (7) We are a holy temple, God’s habitation!

We are “in Christ” and He is living in us! It is very, very humbling to recognize that, other than opening our hearts to Him, He’s done it all!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I pray that I will comprehend, as much as I have the capacity to do so, the magnitude of Your blessing on me. Please assist me to recognize that my behaviour does not determine Your blessing, but Your blessing determines who I am. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! I am blessed! Blessed! Blessed! Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I made my lifetime decision to be a follower of Jesus at 16 years old, but it was not until I was 19 that I fully realized my position “in Christ.” It was then that I studied “The Doctrines of Salvation,” first in a Bible correspondence course and then in Bible College. The book “Lectures in Systematic Theology” by Henry C. Thiessen was a companion to my Bible. This book is for sale on Amazon or can be purchased on Kindle for iPad reading (click here). I find Thiessen’s teachings concise and carefully Biblical. In fact, I would recommend this study as foundational to every other Bible study curriculum.

The words from today’s reading, “Chief Cornerstone,” stood out to me because of much time spent with our First Nations people. Over again and again, I heard them refer to their true Chief, Jesus Christ, as their “Chief Cornerstone.” I have the great honour of being an honourary Chief of the Oneidas. I’m reminded that Jesus is my Chief, now and forever!

Yours for learning who we are as believers in Jesus, our Chief Cornerstone,

David

The Celsus Library facade has two stories with Corinthian style columns on the ground floor and three entrances to the building. There are three window openings in the upper story. They used an optical trick…the columns on the sides of the facade are shorter than those at the center, giving the illusion of the building being greater in size.