Paul here is taking about the church, moving from a metaphor of the family of God, into a metaphor of a building, and the construction of a building.
But to understand what Paul is saying hehe, it is important to understand the methods of construction that Paul is referencing, which are different than those that are used today. He is using the language of stonecutters and masons. The terms he is using, “joined” and “built together” are trade terms that are not used elsewhere in the bible.
“Joined” in particular means to fit or pile together – the stones had to be worked significantly, by hand, to make them as smooth as possible, with as much surface area as possible between any two stones.
The “cornerstone” also is a specific thing, not the decorative stones you’ll see today, but the first stone of a foundation – every stone placed afterwards are placed in alignment with the cornerstone. Jesus is called a cornerstone also in 1 Peter, which quotes the prophecy of Isaiah 28. Isaiah is warning those who had rejected his own teaching that God was going to play a stone that they would have to come in alignment with. God goes on to say, “And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.” In 1 Peter, Peter warns that, for those who reject him that cornerstone will be a “stone of stumbling.”
Paul calls the structure being built a temple, or a “naos”. In his letter to the Corinthians, he also refers to the church, corporately, as a temple. As we gather in Christ’s name to worship him and hear his word, that itself is a holy place, separate from the walls and floors and ceiling of the actual church.
God is in a building process here at Seed. Just as if we were building a new sanctuary or remodeling a parsonage, we worked need everyone involved, so too do we all need to be involved in this building process. God is the one who builds the church, but he does it through people like Paul, like Lydia, like the Ephesian jailer. Elsewhere, Paul call us all to “build with care” upon the foundation he has given us.
To do that, first we must work internally to conform to the alignment of the cornerstone. That is an individual task but it prepares us for the next, corporate tasks. We must “grow together” by letting the prophets and apostles speak into our lives, building connections and settling us into the wall like well-hewn rocks. And third, to serve one another, both by calling people into the body and by doing the practical work of teaching, operations and administration.
Paul, in 1 Corinthians, notes that all the gifts God gives us, are there for the building up of God’s church. What is God calling you to do to build up His church?
-Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, September 20, 2020