Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you think of great building structures around the world, I wonder which ones come to your mind as remarkable? Perhaps the pyramids of Egypt, built thousands of years ago? Or maybe the tallest building in the world, the 2727 ft tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai? You’ve likely seen pictures of the Western Wall in Jerusalem and people gathered there to pray. That wall, with those very large stones, are remains of the Temple Mount constructed by King Herod the Great several years before the birth of Jesus Christ. That Temple was one of the great engineering and construction feats in the world and the beauty of that Temple was famous around the world. It seemed invincible.
For that reason, when the apostle Peter was writing his first letter to encourage suffering Christians around the Roman empire, he used a building term… cornerstone. Since most homes and large buildings were built of stone blocks, in that part of the world in those days, the ‘cornerstone‘ was famous because the ‘cornerstone‘ was usually very large and was the anchor for the entire structure. So, it should not be difficult for us to imagine the encouragement his readers received when Peter’s letter was read in their town. Listen: “As you come to Him, [Jesus] the living Cornerstone – rejected by mankind but chosen by God and precious to God – 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… Now to you who believe, the Living Stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the message…”(1 Peter 2:4-8)We all understand the concept that each day we are building our lives. As children, we are entirely reliant upon our parents and their provision, protection and guidance to help us start developing our good building techniques. But as we mature as young adults most of us move away from our parents and chart our own course in life, building the structure of our lives with our daily choices and our relationships. As we marry, our spouse joins our construction team and together we build, and as we age, we add children and grandchildren. As we near our elderly years the building of our lives shows the quality of our construction, not only in the physical strength and endurance of our aging bodies, but the capacity of our minds and the purity of our hearts and our reputation.
And throughout the process several questions have been key to the construction project of our life:
* What has been the level of our personal integrity? What character flaws have become evident and result in faulty construction?
* What relationships have been helpful and which ones have been harmful to our efforts at building a strong life which can serve others reliably?
* What has been the ‘cornerstone‘ upon which we have built our lives?
I wonder how you would answer those questions my friends, as you reflect on your life? And if you are old enough to have adult children, how would you answer those questions as you reflect on their lives? And if their construction techniques and the quality of the construction of their lives is much different from yours, why?
For the Christians in the first century, life was difficult and very complex, made even more difficult by the oppression and sometimes persecution they received both from Roman authorities and religious leaders who rejected any notion that Jesus was a Savior. But here Peter calls his fellow Christians to embrace the great truths of WHO Jesus Christ is… Emmanuel, God with us! And WHAT Jesus accomplished with His sinless life; His atonement death; and His victorious resurrection in which He defeated Satan, sin and death; and finally, His glorious ascension back to heaven as King of kings and LORD of Lords!
Anyone, therefore, who has trusted this Jesus to be their Savior and Lord, is building their life on the Chief Cornerstone, the Creator of the Universe and Savior of mankind, Jesus Christ! Peter wants his friends to take great comfort that this Jesus Christ is greater and stronger than the Caesars of their day and the Pharaohs in the days of their ancestors.!
Therefore, the relationship any person had or today has with this Jesus is vital to how they build their life and what type of life they construct with each day of their life! The strength of their life will be seen in their ability to stand invincible in the great storms of life they face. The resilience of their life will be seen in their ability to repair damage and keep building in times of great tragedy or loss in life. The durability of their life will be seen in their consistency and faithfulness when all around them is in chaos. And Peter wants us to understand that Jesus invites us to build an unbreakable relationship with Him through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
If we do that, then Peter calls us “living stones, who are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” In this phrase do you hear identity: “living stones”; and spiritual progress: “being built into a spiritual house”; and a holy life purpose: “a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”?
Now watch this my friends… Peter was challenging those who would read his scroll to consider an entirely new way to build their lives and evaluate the effectiveness of their life construction. I’m sure you notice there is no mention of wealth or fame or popularity or achieved status or particular vocation or education? In fact, all the normal means of measuring success in life seem to be absent from what Peter said! Why? Well perhaps because of this great statement well known to those who knew the writings of the Jewish Prophets of old: “This is what the LORD says: Let not the wise person boast of their wisdom, or the strong person boast of their strength, or the rich person boast of their wealth, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they know God, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth for in these I delight.“ (Jer. 9:23,24) Or maybe this great statement from the prophet Isaiah: “This is what the LORD says: ‘heaven in My throne and the earth is My footstool, and this is the person I esteem: The one who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:1,2)
So, let’s ponder that my friends, regardless of your age, your gender, your marital status, your education, your net worth, your accomplishments or failures in life, or where you live… has Jesus Christ been the “Cornerstone” for your life that Peter speaks about or has Jesus been “The stone the builders rejected…a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the message…” Everywhere you and I look are people who have rejected Jesus. They have rejected the words Jesus spoke when He claimed to be God’s Truth; and rejected His claim to be the Son of God; and rejected His claim that Almighty God was His Father; and rejected His claim that He had come to earth to be our Savior! They rejected His death as anything more than simply death and they reject any notion of the resurrection. As a result, they stumble over Jesus, to their destruction and eternal grief.
Whereas all those who have trusted Jesus to be their Chief Cornerstone and are building their lives on HIM, they are being joined together as a worldwide, Holy Spirit empowered movement of God’s people, rising up to push back the darkness of evil in their part of the world, in their generation! Can you celebrate being part of that my friends? Here’s a song to help us celebrate these powerful truths:
Today’s Scripture is 1 Peter 2:4-8.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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