In a world celebrating multiculturalism, and at the same time beset by various expressions of tribalism and racism, God’s people, by God’s mighty work in the Spirit, form a single family or house. As brothers and sisters, children of one Father (reborn
), we have an inherent unity, one that clearly needs to extend beyond words.
The bond that ties the people of God together is the precious cornerstone, Jesus Christ. It is he we celebrate, even as we all have different places in the walls of the house and represent different shapes and sizes and even types of stone in the wall. This analogy is very descriptive of the church of the Lord.
The house the Lord is building (are being built
is present progressive tense) will ultimately be completed on the day of the Lord’s return in glory. Until that time, God’s family, house, church is incomplete, and so we ought not to expect completeness in the family or church of God. Note: incompleteness is not to be confused with imperfection. While the latter is inevitable in this fallen world, we may never rest content with imperfection (Matthew 5:48).
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,