4. As you come to him, the living Stone-- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- 5. 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. 6. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 7. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," 8. and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message-- which is also what they were destined for.
What does it mean to be a spiritual house? To build a strong house one needs a good foundation.
The cornerstone is a stone placed at the corner, or the intersecting angle, where two walls of a building come together. In biblical times, buildings were often made of cut, squared stone. By uniting two intersecting walls, a cornerstone helped align the whole building and tie it together.
Peter quoted Psalm 118:22 when he preached before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4. He boldly proclaimed that "Jesus Christ of Nazareth," crucified and raised from the dead, was the stone rejected by the builders who has now become the chief cornerstone. This chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, is the foundation of the church, because "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" and in Him "the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord" (Eph. 2:21). All who believe in Jesus find a solid Rock on which to build their lives.
The church is founded on the Living Stone. Jesus was rejected by men. Isaiah referred to that in his 53rd chapter. Jesus is God's anointed, but people didn't want Him.
People in Peter's day came to the temple to find God, but the temple was not where God was dwelling any longer. Instead of coming to the dead stones of the temple, come to the Living Stone who is Jesus Christ.
We can have that same problem - where lots of people give far more attention to the worship buildings than they do to their own relationship with Jesus. People find it much easier to raise money to improve or build buildings than to raise money for evangelism, literature or outreach. Many missionaries come home from furlough and look at our buildings in an entirely different light after seeing the great spiritual needs and the material poverty of the countries they serve. They see many people of the world alive in Christ and yet have nothing the world thinks is important. There are spiritually dead churches that are alive to material things which are dead.
We need a living Stone, not just to edify us but to save us from our sin. Jesus is that cornerstone upon which the church of Christ is built. It is not a building of mortar and brick, but of love and sacrifice. Salvation is found in no other name than Jesus Christ. If He is not the foundation of our congregation, we are also dead. He is alive and calls us to commit ourselves to Him. Then He will build His church.
Prayer: Lord, as I move through this day, help me to see myself as a Living Stone, chosen by God and precious to him-- being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Oh how I love Your Word!
