Do you ever question your security or feel insecure or uncertain of your future? Do you ever feel afraid or anxious because you can’t predict the future of that relationship or the future of your educational dreams or the future of your financial stability or the future of your child’s walk with the Lord or your future with your current employer? None of us can predict or control what happens in the next moment.

In Ephesians 2:19 -22 Paul says…

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Paul begins with the words “So then”. He’s just spent the last five verses teaching us that the cross of Christ provides vertical peace between God and us and then creates horizontal peace between believers. And he ends all of this with a profound statement in verse 18 where he says that through Christ we all have access in one Spirit to our Father in Heaven. In other words, Paul says, so then, since we all have access in one Spirit to the Father through Christ, then in Christ you are treasured, secure and useful. God’s love, written in Christ’s blood, serves as the eviction notice to your anxiety.

#1. You Are Treasured… 19

Paul says you are no longer strangers and aliens. You are no longer slaves to your sin. No longer children of wrath. No longer separated from God the Father. No longer far off from the presence of God. No longer so-called second-rate citizens. No longer defined by your sinful actions. No longer a stranger standing in a room full of strangers. No longer alienated from the life-giving presence of God. No longer hidden from God behind the wall of hostility. No longer a fatherless child. Your old foster parents (Satan, sin and the grave) have been evicted from your life by the cross of Christ. You are treasured. You are not a stranger or an alien anymore.

Paul says, you are fellow citizens with the saints. If we are Christians we are treasured because we belong to God as his special belongings. You might say, “I don’t feel like I belong and I don’t feel like I’m special”. You might say, “Did you see what I did last night? Did you see what they said about me? Have you heard how he hurt me? Were you there when she left me? How could I belong to God and how could God call me special?” God’s answer to you is that you are no longer defined or identified by the sin you’ve committed or the sins that have been committed against you. You are defined by what God says about you. The God of the universe who breathed the stars into existence and gave your lungs breath to breathe says you are treasured. You are his priceless possession. You belong to the Star Breather. You are God’s special belonging. You are treasured. You are a citizen and a saint.

Paul says, you are… members of the household of God. The word member carries a sense of special privilege in our culture. When we think of being members we think of benefits before we think of commitments. We think like consumers before we hear like contributors. We first come to Christ as needy and helpless consumers of God’s grace. But as we come to know Christ we slowly become contributors who give ourselves away for the King who gave himself for us. It is a special privilege to be a treasured member of God’s family.

It’s hard to hold on to this truth in the midst of all the shifting realities around us. How often do you feel worthless and alone? When you see the old friend that won’t speak to you anymore. When you struggle with that old sin pattern. When you look back and remember where you came from. Even in a room full of friends and family there are days when you may feel worthless and alone. But God says no. You are not worthless and you are not alone. You are treasured. God treasured us before the foundations of the world were laid and he will treasure us long after the foundations of the world are destroyed and rebuilt. That’s an eternity spent as God’s treasure. You are treasured eternally. You are no longer a stranger or an alien to God. You belong to God. You are God’s special belonging. You are a member of God’s family. God’s love, written in Christ’s blood, serves as the eviction notice to your anxiety. What reason do you have to be anxious now?

#2. You Are Secure… 20 – 21

Do you ever question your security or feel insecure or uncertain of your future? Do you ever feel afraid or anxious because you can’t predict the future of that relationship or the future of your educational dreams or the future of your financial stability or the future of your child’s walk with the Lord or your future with your current employer? None of us can predict or control what happens in the next moment. And that reality can cause us to live with hearts that are depleted of peace. Everywhere we go the world will hand us bucket after bucket after bucket of insecurity and uncertainty. Insecurity and uncertainty are vicious enemies of the peace that God gives to us. But God says that we are secure.

Paul says we are securely built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. That’s a pretty certain foundation. That’s a pretty secure foundation. The foundation of the apostles and the prophets is the foundation of the Word of God. The job of the apostles and the prophets was to communicate the written and spoken Word of God to God’s people so that they could be strengthened, warned and encouraged by the gospel of peace. The Word of God is not shifting sand like relationships, or jobs, or education our bank accounts. The Word of God is secure and trustworthy and true and unchanging. Understanding the Word of God is like understanding algebra. When you struggled with algebra in school you found teachers and friends to help you in the context of a learning community and it’s the same with God’s Word. Every one of us needs to be regularly gathering in the context of gospel community so we can learn and understand and come to trust God’s Word as the secure foundation for our lives.

Paul also says that Christ Jesus himself (is) the cornerstone. A cornerstone is a big rock-like stone that holds the foundation of a building together and gives it strength. Paul says the cornerstone that gives the foundation of the Word of God strength and stability is Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is the rock of our salvation and our sure foundation when everything around us is melting away. When that old sin creeps up again. When you’re uncertain about what the future holds for that relationship. When you feel insecure about the future of your job or the future of your financial position or the future of your child’s safety, Jesus is the rock of our salvation. Jesus is the Rock of ages who never changes. We are secure because Jesus is our strength and stability.

Paul also says that as we are being joined together, (we) grow into a holy temple in the Lord. In other words, we are secured in unity and growth as God’s temple. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the dwelling place of God. Remember 1 Peter 2:4 – 5. Peter says “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” When we face the shifting sands of relational rejection or financial hardship or family upheaval or vocational instability or educational stress in this life, we can rest secure in Christ as he builds us up and grows us up.

There might be a lot of reasons to be afraid or to be filled with anxiety or to feel uncertain or insecure but the truth is we are secured by the Word of God, secured by the Rock of our salvation and secured in unity and growth. When anxiety comes knocking on the doorway of your soul you can speak to it and say: God says that in Christ I am treasured, secure and useful. God’s love, written in Christ’s blood, serves as the eviction notice to my anxiety.

#3. You Are Useful… 22

Paul says you are useful because “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit”. We are glued together by the shed blood and broken body of Jesus. We are like a house for the Spirit of God to live in and move through. You are not useless. You are not insignificant. You matter more to God than you could ever comprehend. You have purpose. Your purpose is to be built into the house of God. You are not an empty useless or insignificant being. You are the home of the Spirit of the living God.

Do you ever feel useless or insignificant? Like everything you do won’t amount to much? Our jobs can be mundane and boring. Our educational efforts can produce very little. Our counseling of brothers and sisters and friends can result in the opposite effects then we desired. Our paychecks seem smaller than they should be. Our relationships run south even after doing everything we can to keep them on the right track. Our old sin patterns haunt us regardless of how many books we read or how many Bible studies we join. Sometimes it’s just plain easy to feel useless and insignificant. But God wants you to know that you are useful.

What reason do you have to be anxious now? You are not useless and you are not insignificant. You are useful therefore you have no reason to be anxious. God says that in Christ you are treasured, secure and useful. God’s love, written in Christ’s blood, serves as the eviction notice to your anxiety.

Application Questions…

  1. You are treasured, secure and Which one do you doubt the most? Why?
  2. Relationships, jobs, finances, education, past sin, current sin and other people’s sin all cause anxiety. Which one are you struggling with right now? Why?
  3. What truth do you need to preach to yourself from this study?
  4. What action do you need to take as a result of this study?