Belonging

Four Metaphors:

1. He is the King; we are fellow citizens in His Kingdom.

“Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
Revelation 19:11-16

“He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.”
Colossians 1:13

2. He is the Father; we are brothers and sisters in His family.

“And I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:18

“For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.”
Ephesians 3:14-15

“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Matthew 12:50

3. He is the Builder & Foundation; we are living stones in the building.

“So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
Ephesians 2:19-21

“As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:4-5

4. He is the Head of the Church; we are members of the body of Christ.

“He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.”
Colossians 1:18

“For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.”
1 Corinthians 12:12