{"id":1449,"date":"2021-06-13T12:17:53","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T11:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=1449"},"modified":"2021-06-13T12:17:55","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T11:17:55","slug":"christ-the-cornerstone-1-peter-24-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=1449","title":{"rendered":"Christ the Cornerstone 1 Peter 2:4-8"},"content":{"rendered":"

4 As you come to him, the living Stone\u2014rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him\u20145 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
\nIn the Old Testament, nine hundred years before Christ, great King Solomon instructed God\u2019s people to build a Temple in the holy city of Jerusalem. It was the place where God\u2019s people could go to meet with God and to pray. It was the place where the priests offered sacrifices to God, not just at the great festivals but every day. Some were sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Others were the appointed sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. So the Temple was the place where God\u2019s people could find forgiveness. Solomon\u2019s Temple became the heart of the spiritual life of Israel for hundreds of years. That was a vital part of the Old Covenant. But since Jesus, God\u2019s purposes are not focused on a physical building any more.
\nSince Jesus, God\u2019s cosmic masterplan of salvation now is to create a living building, a spiritual house, made up of holy priests offering spiritual sacrifices of worship and praise and loving service to God through Jesus Christ. The building blocks in this new and living temple building are Christian believers \u2013 you and me. We thought about God\u2019s cosmic masterplan of salvation this time last year in Paul\u2019s letter to the Ephesians.
\nEphesians 2 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God\u2019s people and members of God\u2019s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
\nPhillips Brooks wrote, \u201cSlowly, through all the universe the temple of God is being built. And whenever, in any place, a soul by freewilled obedience, catches the fire of God\u2019s likeness, it is set into the growing walls, a living stone.\u201d
\nWe are all living stones in this amazing new temple which God is building. We will think more about that next week when we get to verses 9 and 10. For today we are going to focus on what Peter says about the heart and foundation of this new spiritual building. 4 As you come to him, the living Stone\u2014rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him\u20145 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house
\nIt is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the living stone who is at the heart of God\u2019s new Temple.
\n6 For in Scripture it says:
\n\u2018See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone,
\nand the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.\u2019
\nHere Peter is quoting from the prophet Isaiah 28:16.
\nIsaiah 28 16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
\n\u201cSee, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
\nIsaiah foretold that this tested stone would be the precious foundation stone and cornerstone for the New Temple which God promised to build. The cornerstone was the most important part of the foundations of any building. Of all the stones it had to be shaped most perfectly. It set the directions for all the walls horizontally and vertically. In God\u2019s new Temple, Jesus is the cornerstone. Believers who put their trust in Jesus the living stone and build their lives on him will never be put to shame, never be dismayed. They will never have cause to regret trusting in Jesus.
\n7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
\n\u2018The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,\u2019
\nNow Peter is quoting Psalm 118:22
\n\u2018The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.\u2019 That is the 2011 New International Version. The 1984 NIV used the translation \u2018The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone\u2019. The literal meaning is \u201cthe very head of the corner\u201d (NRSV). In ancient architecture the capstone was different in shape from all the other stones in the building or the bridge. But it was perfectly shaped to fit in place and complete the building. Roman arches were built from two columns of stones and where they meet in the centre a triangular stone sits like a wedge in the middle to balance the two sides of the arch and hold them up. That is the capstone. If you remove the capstone, the whole arch falls apart. So the capstone is the most important stone. It would often carry an inscription with a date or the name of an important person. But it was not just a decorative stone. The capstone really was the essential element in the design which holds the whole structure in place.
\n\u2018The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone\u2019 \u2013 the most important stone in the arch. \u2018The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone\u2019 \u2013 the most important stone in the whole building. Cornerstone or capstone \u2013 either way, it is the most important stone. And in God\u2019s new building, the spiritual temple, Jesus is the capstone. Jesus is the cornerstone.
\nPsalm 118:22 says, \u2018The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone\u2019
\nJesus is the most important stone in God\u2019s living building because of who he is, the Son of God, the Creator of everything that exists. And Jesus is the most important stone because of what he has done, dying on the cross for the sins of the world, risen from the dead and ascended on high, reigning as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And that only happened because Jesus was the stone the builders rejected.
\nJesus himself said that he was the stone that the builders rejected, in fulfilment of Psalm 118. He told a parable about Tenants in a Vineyard. The parable is an allegory of the ministry of Jesus. The Vineyard is an Old Testament picture of God\u2019s chosen people the nature of Israel. The story tells how the tenants refuse to pay the rent however many messengers the landowner sends. That was a picture of the way the religious leaders of the Jews were ignoring God and the prophets he sent them. So in the end the owner of the vineyard sends his own son, representing Jesus. But the wicked tenants kill the landowner\u2019s son, representing the way the leaders of the Jews rejected God\u2019s Son, Jesus, threw him out of the vineyard and even killed him. And Jesus ends the story by quoting Psalm 118:22 showing how the Old Testament had foretold that rejection.
\n\u201c \u2018The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone\u2019
\nCenturies beforehand, the prophet Isaiah had also foretold that God\u2019s chosen people would reject their Messiah. Isaiah chapter 53 looked ahead to the suffering servant who would bring salvation even though his people rejected him. God would use that rejection in amazing way as part of his masterplan of salvation.
\nIsaiah 53 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
\nthe punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
\n6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
\nand the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
\nAt the moment that Jesus the Lamb of God took the sin of the world on his shoulders He experienced complete rejection, not only by the human race but even by God. That experience of rejection bought our forgiveness and brought us back to God.
\nWe will come back to how 1 Peter understands the death of Jesus to fulfil Isaiah chapter 53 in two weeks time. For today, let\u2019s note that part of Peter\u2019s overall message is that those who follow Jesus should not be surprised or discouraged if the world rejects them. The world rejected Jesus, and the world will reject and persecute his disciples. Jesus said exactly that to his disciples in the Upper Room the night before he was crucified.
\nJohn 15 18 \u2018If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: \u201cA servant is not greater than his master.\u201d If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.
\nJesus was the living stone rejected by men but chosen by God and precious. Jesus was rejected and He warned his disciples that their gospel message would be rejected as well. So when the Apostles experienced rejection and persecution they looked back on what Jesus had said. In Acts Peter and John were taken before the ruling council of Jerusalem the Sanhedrin.
\nActs 4 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 He is
\n\u201c \u2018the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.\u2019
\n12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.\u201d
\nJesus was indeed the stone which the builders had rejected. So if we build our lives on Jesus, and if we tell the world that Jesus is risen from the dead and insist that salvation is found in no one else, then we should not be surprised if the world rejects us as well.
\nThe stone that the builders rejected. But more than that, in 1 Peter chapter 2 Peter goes on to say, Jesus is
\n8 , \u2018A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.\u2019
\nThey stumble because they disobey the message\u2014which is also what they were destined for.
\nThe cornerstone, the capstone, is also a stumbling block to all who are rebelling against God and rejecting the message of salvation.
\nNow Peter is quoting Isaiah 8:14
\nISAIAH 8 13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
\nhe is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.
\n14 He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be
\na stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.
\nAnd for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
\n15 Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken,
\nthey will be snared and captured.\u2019
\nWhen people reject Jesus the cornerstone and the capstone of God\u2019s new temple, they stumble and fall. Jesus and the gospel will always be a stumbling block to those who refuse to believe in him. When people rejecting God\u2019s way of salvation, they bring doom on themselves.
\nJesus is the living stone, the cornerstone and the capstone.
\nJesus is the cornerstone of the church, God\u2019s new community and God\u2019s forever family. This is God\u2019s cosmic masterplan. We are all united in Christ, because Christ is the cornerstone. We don\u2019t need to build the church. That is God\u2019s job. \u201cI will build my church,\u201d Jesus said, \u201cand not even the gates of hell will keep it out.\u201d (Matthew 16:18) God is at work in us all, building his new temple by the power of his Holy Spirit.
\nJesus is also the cornerstone of our faith. Jesus is a sure foundation. So we can safely build our lives on the rock of Christ, who is the cornerstone of our faith. When we do that, we will never ever be put to shame. God will never let us down.
\nIn 2 Samuel 22 when God rescued him from Saul, David said this
\n\u2018The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
\nmy shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my saviour.
\nGod was the rock in David\u2019s life. And Jesus should be the living rock in our lives. Like the wise builder we should build our lives on the solid rock of Jesus and his teaching. He should be our cornerstone, setting the direction of our lives. Jesus should be the centre of everything we are and everything we do.<\/p>\n

Jesus is the cornerstone of the church. The cornerstone of faith. And Jesus should be the cornerstone of our lives. Christ is the only sure foundation. All the time, in every way, we should be aiming to build our lives on Christ. Following Jesus. Loving Jesus. Serving Jesus. We should make him our cornerstone!
\nIN CHRIST ALONE my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song;
\nThis Cornerstone, this solid Ground, Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4 As you come to him, the living Stone\u2014rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him\u20145 you also, like living stones,…<\/span><\/p>\n

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