CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE IN CHRIST MINISTRIES DAILY DEVOTIONAL BIBLE STUDY ON YOUTUBE
Ephesians 2:20-22
In Ephesians 2:20–22 we learn that Jesus Christ is the centering focus of the entire Bible. He is the foundation of everything the apostles and prophets spoke of through their ministries. Jesus declared in Matthew 5:17 (NKJV), “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” The whole building is the teachings of the apostles and prophets coming together in us as we mature in Christ. This maturing grows as a holy temple within us being a dwelling place of God in the Spirit; the Holy Spirit of God that lives in us. Jesus teaches in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” In John 14:25–26 Jesus declares, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
This is an example of how God lives in us through Christ Jesus by His Holy Spirit.
Jesus teaches us about the sum of the Bible in Matthew 22:36–40 as He replies to the question asked by one of the Pharisees of, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
“Jesus said to him, ‘“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’” We all study the Bible to learn, grow, and mature in Christ Jesus. He will teach us and open us to an understanding of His word and how it all comes together as a whole if we keep our focus and our faith in Him. Jesus teaches us in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
In Ephesians 2:22 the Apostle Paul declares that we are being “built together.” We were never intended to separate ourselves from one another as Jesus teaches in Matthew 22:36-40 as our neighbor is to be everyone everywhere (Matthew 5:43–48; Luke 10:29–37). The Bible teaches us in Romans 10:12–13, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Joel 2:32).
Dear LORD,
The foundation–the chief cornerstone and the center of our salvation is Jesus. You bring us all together in Christ Jesus–the center of the focus of the teachings of the prophets and the apostles. Fill our hearts, minds, and souls with the knowledge and reality that You are building within us a dwelling place for You to live through Your Holy Spirit–our guide through this life and into life everlasting. Please let it be so LORD in all our lives–in Christ. In Jesus name I pray, amen.