Kingdom Tension Part 13
At Keys Vineyard Church, we are presenting a series called ‘Kingdom Tension,’ which we post here on Online Bible Institute.
Last week in our ‘Kingdom Tension’ series, we discussed being a new creation. This week, we will explore the temple and its application to the church. It has a significant impact on our identity, and as we begin to understand who we are in Him, it starts transforming us from the inside out.
Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV)
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
In Ephesians 2, Paul shares a powerful truth with believers: We are no longer strangers or outsiders in God’s story. Because of Jesus, we have become part of God’s family. Even more amazing, we are being built together into something holy and beautiful—a spiritual temple where God lives by His Spirit.
To understand the magnitude of this, we need to go back to the beginning. When God created the world, it wasn’t just a planet—it was like a temple where heaven and earth were connected. God placed people, made in His image, in this sacred space to live in perfect relationship with Him. But sin broke that connection, and heaven and earth were separated.
Still, God didn’t give up. He began a plan to reunite heaven and earth. Through the Exodus, the tabernacle, and later the temple, there were special places where God’s presence met with His people. But those were just temporary solutions pointing to something greater.
That something greater is Jesus.
Jesus is where heaven and earth meet perfectly. He is fully God and fully human. When He came to earth, John said He “tabernacled” among us—He made His home here. And when Jesus died and rose again, something amazing happened. The temple curtain tore in two, showing that God’s presence was no longer locked behind a wall. God’s Spirit would now live in people.
That brings us to today.
If you’re a follower of Jesus, you are part of His temple. You don’t have to go to a special building to meet God. He lives in you. And not just individually—we’re also being built together as the Church. We’re connected, like bricks in a building, with Jesus as the foundation. Together, we carry His presence into the world.
That means your life matters deeply. You’re not just a face in the crowd—you’re part of something eternal. Everywhere you go, you carry the Spirit of God. You bring hope, peace, and love into the places that need it most.
This weekend at Keys Vineyard Church, we will discuss all this and more, so be sure to join us in person or online.
Steve Lawes is a pastor at Keys Vineyard Church and also the founder of the Online Bible Institute Network.