God’s Building

God’s Building

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” 1 Cor. 3:9. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” V. 16.

We must be molded by God’s Word if we want to be a stone in this building. Jer. 23:29. Through the Word of life we have fellowship with each other and with Jesus Christ who molds us to become God’s building. 1 John 1:1-3.

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house . . . .” 1 Pet. 2:4-5. Come to Him—Jesus! The Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:1-2, 14. The Word is a habitation for the Spirit of God. If you receive the Word of God, you will also receive the Spirit of God. In the volume of the book it was written of Jesus, and the Word was personified in Him. It became flesh in Him. This is how the cornerstone in God’s building was made (Heb. 10:7), and this is how all the other stones are to be made.

There are many builders in our days. The various politicians are builders, as well as the leaders in the sports world and in the religious world. All of them are builders. They all have a gospel to preach to the people, and there is a spirit that permeates their words. Those who listen to them and receive what they have to say are molded to fit into their building. Therefore you must beware of what influence you expose yourself to when you follow someone. Many young people are shaped so that they fit into a drinking crowd, a card playing group, or a sports club, etc.

Peter says, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.” If you want to be part of God’s building, you will have to come to Jesus. He was rejected by men. His kingdom is not of this world; Satan is the god of this world. 2 Cor. 4:3-4.

Watch out for those leaders—religious or otherwise—who attempt to fit their building into the times and get it recognized by the world. We cannot fit into both heaven and earth. If we choose heaven, we will be foreigners and sojourners for as long as Satan is loose.

Listen to how seriously Paul viewed this matter: “I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.” Read 1 Timothy 6:12-14.

The fact that people attempt to make the commandment fit in with the times so that they are not rejected by men causes revivals to die out and the salt to lose its savor. Then they are building with wood and straw. It doesn’t matter how great and attractive it appears; it will burn up. The world and the things of this world will pass away, but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Heb. 12:2-3. He suffered the contradiction of sinners. If you live according to your human reasoning, people will understand you, and you will avoid having to suffer reproach. As soon as you start living by faith—receiving God’s Word as it is written, without interpretation and adaptation—you will become an outsider, a foreigner and sojourner. You will suffer contradiction from all those who love the world.

After it has become clear to them what God’s will is, many people try to get their acquaintances to understand it before they dare to do it. Weighed down by family and friends, they are prevented from being molded into the image of the Son—the living stone.

Israel was led through the wilderness so that they could learn to believe, but they would not believe; consequently, most of them were slain in the wilderness. They thought God’s way with them was meaningless, and as a result they murmured and complained.

Paul exhorted Timothy to fight the good fight of faith. He himself had made the same good confession that Jesus had made before Pontius Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world. Now it was vital for Timothy, who was to be along in building the church—God’s temple—to keep the commandment pure and blameless. It was not to be defiled by his human understanding or adapted to circumstances, but the commandment was to transform the church so that the church could fit into God’s building. The commandment had to be kept pure and blameless until Jesus’ return. Therefore the builders who do this, and the building on which they are working, will always be rejected by their contemporaries. How can they possibly believe if they desire the honor of their acquaintances and contemporaries? John 5:44. Be on guard against such builders and such a building!

Come “to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.”