Ephesians 2:20

… built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus himself being the cornerstone.

the church, the household of God, is built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, but Jesus himself is the cornerstone.

if the foundation is the most important part of a building, in ancient times the cornerstone was the most vital part of the foundation. In a community where mass production of building materials is not possible, there is variation in every part. So the cornerstone was chosen to be the anchor point. It sets the direction for the whole building.

the cornerstone had to be straight, all its edges level, and its corners exactly at right angles. If it was not true then the building could not be constructed to the specifications. Worse still, the walls may lean outwards or inwards as construction proceeded.

if we use the analogy of a building to describe the community of faith called the church, then Jesus is the cornerstone for the building. All of our life depends on him- our lives together and as individuals. Our behaviour and our belief must reflect the person and the ministry of our Lord.

any so-called church which deviates from the teachings of Jesus revealed in the scriptures ceases to be a church. This is true whether we're talking about core issues such as judgement and salvation, or important but less spiritual issues such as sexuality.

If we remove the cornerstone, that is Jesus, then the building collapses.

the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

in one sense, this relates to the teachings of the Bible. The prophets refer to the Old Testament looking forward to the coming of Jesus the Messiah. The apostles refer to the New Testament in which the original apostles gave their testimony (in various forms) to the teaching and ministry of Jesus which culminated in his death on the cross .This opened the way to eternal salvation for all who put their trust in him.

the Bible, then, is the foundation for the church, the constitution on which the life and witness of the church is established. Just as the constitution of Australia describes how the nation is governed, the Bible describes how the church, the household of God, should order its life together.

over recent decades there has been a re-discovery in the church of the ministry gifts of apostles and prophets. We are now in a time in which we have contemporaneous prophets and apostles, as was the case when Paul wrote this letter .

space prohibits a full exploration of these ministries here, but a quick summary will help.

apostles are men and women who are called by God and equipped by the Holy Spirit to provide covering and oversight of the church at a trans-local level. It is important to see that this is different to being appointed by an organisation. These apostles carry authority as a gift from the Holy Spirit, and other ministers willingly submit to their authority. This is not an institutional arrangement, but a spiritual ordering of ministry.

many apostles see themselves as fathers to other people in ministry. This is a relational term, an analogy for the style of authority exercised. It is similar to the relationship that a father might have with an adult son.

prophets are men and women who hear the voice of God in some detail. They are often described as the heart of God in the church , as they have the ability to discern God’s will in specific situations that are not always clearly spelt out in scriptures.

often churches are planted by human organisations out of a strategy or corporate action plan with no apostolic authority or prophetic mandate. The church planters think a congregation of their brand might flourish in a town or city, so they start it, the same way that a fast food franchise might start.

If there is no prophetic or apostolic foundation for a congregation, then it will struggle because it is built on a foundation that is not Christ's foundation.

They may preach great sermons, care for the poor, draw in thousands of people. But if the foundation is wrong the building will ultimately fail .

those of us who called pastors and ministers in the church, together with all of Gods people, must make sure that anything we try to do carries the apostolic and prophetic mandate. It must be built on the right foundation.

Jesus must always be the cornerstone in all that we do.

Key points in this verse

• The true church is built on a foundation laid by Jesus himself.

• We must build with Jesus as the cornerstone.

• Apostles and prophets, together with Jesus, form the foundation the church.

• any church which is built on a false foundation will fail