Born This Way

(You) as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

Ctrl-Alt-Del

I began to write a piece about how Christians are like Legos in God’s hands.

I was going to title it, ‘Christ’s Lego-cy.’

I deleted it after reading this:

And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. 1 Kings 6:7

The Pits

In the final assembly of the temple, there was no sound of hammer or chisel upon stone, because all the noise was being made back at the excavation site. All the smoothing, all the shaping, all the friction was taking place in the quarry pit. In one way it’s a prophetic picture of the sanctification process every Christian willingly submits himself to while on earth.

Bottom line: we’re not Legos.

Legos are a done deal. They come prepackaged: no sharp edges, no rough exteriors, and no ability to accept or desire change. I suspect if Legos were mentioned in the Bible they would likely be associated with the Pharisees.

Living stones on the other hand speak to obedience, surrender, and a valued understanding of a need to be made useable regardless of the process involved. By definition they are submitted. Jagged exteriors, pointy protrusions, and coarse demeanors are dealt with on earth in order that the completed Heavenly structure will be pure, peaceful, and undefiled.

Frankly, Legos would melt under this kind of pressure.

“There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4b

Born This Way?

Like Lady Gaga, Christian’s understand that we were born a particular way, but that’s where the similarities end. We call the condition what it is: sin.  We’ve learned that it wasn’t a part of God’s original plan; Adam messed up.  Because God desires the absolute best for us, He has provided the solution in His Son Jesus.  Accepting the solution means to first accept and acknowledge that perversity in any form is not a life style, it’s a sin.  At this juncture the restoration and reformation can begin.

Discovery

There is a firm appreciation when we realize that everything we are going through in this life is for a specific purpose in the next life. Change is good. The shaping, the forming, the molding is being divinely orchestrated and knowing that gives us the capacity to not just tolerate it, but to welcome and cherish it as well.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…For we are His workmanship…Ephesians 2:8 + 10a

Are You…

1. Submitted to God’s plan?
2. Seeing the bigger picture?
3. Struggling with change?

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The Worker or the Work?

Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. 1 Kings 6:11-12

Solomon’s Temple, unlike the Lord’s Tabernacle, was a work of man. It is true the hands of men constructed both, but only the Tabernacle was inspired, configured, and directed by God the Father. That’s not to say the Father didn’t appreciate Solomon’s effort (or ours), but that He is most concerned with what it is we are becoming rather than what it is we’re making.

I recall a mentor who once asked me, “So Dave, how are you doing?”

With enthusiasm I told him all the stuff I was doing. He respectfully tolerated my ramblings and then politely asked again, “That’s nice Dave, but how are YOU doing?”

Not unlike the Lord, this friend was more interested in my spiritual condition and much less in my spiritual activities—he wasn’t devaluing; he was prioritizing. My friend’s question reminded me that my faith walk was all about relationship and obedience, and less about construction and creativity. These are the very things that God queried of Solomon’s heart.

A Great Reminder

There are many angles by which a man can stand, but only one angle he can stand straight. God asks me, as He asked Solomon, “As you go about the components of religion and the purposing of your duties, are you walking correctly?” A fair question by One who is more concerned in what I am becoming rather than what I am building. The fact of the matter is that God is more concerned with what He is putting together.

Case in Point

…You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

We’re all familiar with this verse from First Peter and how it clearly demonstrates that God not only created us, but is creating something new in us. But are we as familiar with how that doctrine applies to this verse:

And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. 1 Kings 6:7

The verse points out that all the preparation for the Temple’s stone, all the chiseling and the hammering and the polishing, was being done in the quarry and not on the Temple grounds. Likewise, as living stones, all our preparation is being done in the quarry (the pits) before we are brought home to be peaceably placed into our spiritual home. Since this is the case, it should be our chief focus to be upon submitted to the process. The Christian who walks in His statutes, executes His judgments, keeps all His commandments, and walks in them, is one who is both blessed and a blessing.

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Are You a Living Stone or a Block Head?

And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:20-24

The crossing of the Jordan River was a historical event for Israel, but more significantly it is a picture of a faithful footstep towards the Spirit-filled life. It is a divine illustration of being baptized in the Holy Spirit and receiving God’s power to do Godly service. Therefore, our Spirit-filled life is for His glory, not ours. If this is true (and it is), how can we tell if we have received this Holy Spirit anointing? Is it just about prophesying and speaking in tongues? I submit to you that those things are merely components of the true sign.

What it the True Sign?

It’s all in the stones. In the biblical account we see that the Lord mandated twelve stones be taken out of the riverbed as a memorial. Not one stone, but many linked together; not finished, but unrefined. And where did they come from—the extreme bottom. Hopefully you can plainly see that those river-rocks point to us; once at the bottom, but now pulled out and set aside for an abundant life in Christ Jesus and for Christ Jesus.

…You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

But Rocks Don’t Talk

These rocks do! Every time a child looked at them, their inquisitive minds would prompt them to ask, “Yo pops, what’s up with all those rocks,” to which dad would reply, “Let me tell you about that rock pile son.”

These stones of remembrance were contact points knit together for the purpose of triggering testimony. Is that not what the Spirit-filled church (aka: Body of Christ) is designed to be? Did God not divide turbulent waters to bring us upon solid ground where we might stand as living memorials to His greatness? He most certainly did!

So How Do You Know?

Sure, you’re saved, but how do you know if you have received this baptism of the Holy Spirit? I suggest that you ponder the fundamental elements of these four Bible passages:

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me… Acts 1:8

Do we speak in tongues, prophesy, or heal? That’s wonderful, but to whose glory do we do these things and for what purpose? Does all our steam go towards tooting the whistle or propelling the engine? If these things draw attention to us rather than Jesus, then chances we have a filling of another type.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1

Where is the love? We can do tremendous things in His name, but if we swap-out love for any other attitude, emotion, or passion, then our efforts are nothing more then annoyances. Frankly, where there is no love there is no sating of the Spirit.

“Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 1 Corinthians 11:24b

Do we operate in remembrance of Him or ourselves? Is our witness a brag-a-mony of our worldly exploits or a testimony of the One who saved us from our sin? Those who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit have the power to turn the spotlight off self and onto Jesus.

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

Here’s the bottom line on Spiritual baptism: are you a loving witness for Jesus Christ. That’s it in a nutshell. How do you become a loving witness baptized in the Holy Spirit? I would start by asking.

And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13

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Stoned Again

Stoned AgainYou also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

We Are the Church

I love this passage of scripture. In my mind I tend to knit it together with 1 Corinthians 12:27 which declares, ‘ (We) are the body of Christ, and members individually.’ In so doing I picture a church building and see each brick representative of every born-again believer; past, present, and future. Perhaps you do too.

Then I pause.

If this structure consists of bricks yet future, then the structure is not yet finished. And if we (you and I) embody the present-day, then we are not part of the ‘wall’ either, because the process that makes us brick-like is far from being finished. At this point, the only bricks in the wall are those saints who have gone on before us.

What Then Do I See?

1 Kings 6:7 puts it all into perspective. It is four hundred and eighty years after the children of Israel had come out of Egypt and the fourth year of King Solomon’s reign; he has begun to build the house of the Lord. This particular verse focuses on one aspect of the construction—the building blocks.

And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

The implications are colossal. We know that the Temple (and the Tabernacle that preceded it), were mere shadows of things to come, or more precisely: Heaven–Hebrews 8:5 and 9:24 make that clear. However I want to spotlight the stones. The first thing we should notice is that they were finished at the quarry and not at the Temple. Do you see the significance?

Like those stone, we are being finished (hammered and chiseled) at the quarry (earth). It is not until after we are finished that we are transported to the Temple (Heaven). Suddenly, our entire refining process takes on new light. The trials and tribulations we endure are nothing more than the Creator chipping away everything that is not worthy of a Heavenly dwelling. To resist the process is to thwart the mallet-wielding arm of God and/or His designee.

Rejoice Ye Blockheads

Consider the trials and tribulations. We truly need to stop praying against them; we need to stop trying to ‘fix the fix’ that God has allowed—He has permitted them not that we might suffer, but that we might prosper. The maxim is correct, “If God has brought us to it, He will see us through it, ” therefore our prayers should be for strength to stay close to the One who has allowed the fix we find ourselves in. We are being fixed on earth so that we might be affixed in Heaven.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven… Luke 6:23

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