Chief Cornerstone
Living Stone
Precious Cornerstone
Stone of Israel
Stone of Stumbling
Stone of Offense
Stone Which the Builders Rejected
Tried Stone
Psalm 118:22
(NKJV)
The stone
which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
Matthew 21:42
(NKJV)
Jesus said to
them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the
builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes'?
1 Peter 2:6-8
(NKJV)
Therefore it
is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be
put to shame."
Therefore, to
you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The
stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone," and
"A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being
disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
1 Peter 2:4
(ESV)
As you come
to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and
precious, …
Isaiah 28:16
(ESV)
… therefore
thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in
Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
Genesis 49:24
(ESV)
… yet his bow
remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of
Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
Isaiah 8:14
(ESV)
And he will
become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both
houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Romans 9:33
(ESV)
… as it is
written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of
offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Acts 4:11
(ESV)
This Jesus is
the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the
cornerstone.
1 Peter 2:4-5
(ESV)
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.
If you built any kind of structure
during Biblical days it probably was made of stone. Even when Israel was in
Egypt they made brick (stones) to use for building. It makes sense then that
the stone would be used as an analogy for describing Christ and the Kingdom of
Heaven. The primary concern when building with stones in that day was to cut
the stones true (square) and to lay them level. Every building project began by
placing the cornerstone from which every other stone would be placed.
When Christ came to earth as Jesus,
the Son of Man, He became the Chief
Cornerstone for the Kingdom God wanted to manifest to the world. Christ, as
the pre-incarnate Word, part of the Trinity, was already the Chief Cornerstone upon which everything
else was built. When God came down to live among men Christ became a Living Stone, a Tried Stone (tempted in every way, yet without sin), a Stone Which the Builders Rejected.
Israel was looking for a messiah
that would deliver them from the oppression of Rome. They wanted another king
that would conquer their enemies and restore the sovereignty of Israel. They
did not understand that the Kingdom God wanted to establish among them would be
a spiritual Kingdom, not an earthly one. They rejected Jesus as their messiah
not knowing they were casting away the very Cornerstone upon which the entire
creation was framed.
The religious leaders in Israel had
become masters of The Law. They lived “blameless” because of all the loopholes
they had added to the law that allowed them to keep it without fault. When the Living Cornerstone arrived He began to
point out the flaws in their system and exposed the motives behind their
version of The Law. The Messiah had come, but instead of a conqueror He became
a Stone of Stumbling, a Rock of Offense, that would lead Israel,
and the world, to repentance.
The English language has a mechanism
called double entendre: a phrase that
can be interpreted two ways. Such is the case with the Stone of Stumbling when used to describe Christ. For the pious,
Christ will cause them to stumble down from their place of arrogance and
snobbery toward God, but for the meek it becomes a place of transformation into
the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 21:44
(ESV)
And the one
who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone,
it will crush him.”
You can be broken by it falling on
you in judgment, or you can become broken and fall on it in repentance. Through
the miracle of salvation that occurs when we identify with Christ in His death,
burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating at the right hand of the Father,
we are immediately launched into a new role of “living stones,” bearing the
testimony of Christ to our world.
Jesus made a promise that was
misunderstood by many, and I believe is still being misunderstood today.
John 2:18-22
(ESV)
So the Jews
said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered
them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews then
said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it
up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
When
therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had
said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
The body of Jesus was “destroyed” on
the cross. He died a horrible death at the hands of the religious leaders
because He was a Stone of Offense.
The Jews could only think of the stones of the temple, and how it took many
years to custom-fit every stone to exact measurements to ensure it would be a
strong edifice.
When Jesus was resurrected, His
earthly body came back to life. But more importantly, His spiritual Body, the
Church, was brought to life! Not a building made with hands like the temple,
but instead, a building of living stones that declare His works in the earth.
The Church has never been and will never be a building. The Church of Jesus
Christ is a living organism of souls joined together for the purpose of
revealing the Kingdom of Heaven to the people of earth. We now live to give Him
praise.
