Saturday, May 27, 2017


Jesus the Cornerstone

The Bible speaks of stones in many places, they all point to one person, Jesus

A Stone for a pillow: Genesis 28:10-12 (NKJV)10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

Jesus, was Jacob’s pillow, and when he woke, he had a dream about a way to Heaven, Jesus said “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.

Stone for the Law: Exodus 24:12 (NKJV) 12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

Jesus was the only perfect person to walk the earth.  The purpose for the law was not to give us a way to get to Heaven, but to show us that we can never achieve God’s perfection.  We have all broken the law, some of us more than others, but the bible also says that if we have broken one, we are guilty of all. 

Jesus, having lived a sinless life, dying on the cross, taking our sins on Himself, then rising to life on the third day, defeated death and sin.  Because He was perfect, when we accept Him, He becomes the way for us to get to Heaven through our imperfection.

Stones of Remembrances: Joshua 4:5-7 (NKJV) and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

The Israelites had to cross a river to step foot into the Promised Land.  The problem was the river was a flood stage when they got to it.  God gave the people instructions on what to do.  They were to send to priests with the Arc of the Covenant ahead of the people, and stand in the middle of the River.  God pulled back the water, much like the parting of the Red Sea, and they crossed that flooded river on dry ground. 

To remember what God had done for them, Joshua instructed a representative from each of the tribes to take a “stone” which in reality were huge rocks from the center of the river and set them on the banks inside of their Promised Land.  They were to leave the rocks there as a memorial, stones of remembrance, so that for generations to come they would be reminded of what God had done.  Jesus is not just the stone of the Law, or the stone of access to Heaven.  He is everything.  He is the cornerstone or foundation.  He is God.

I have taken a small stone and written on it some things He has done for me in the past to remind me that He will be faithful to me no matter what I will ever go through.

Precious Stone or Stumbling Block? 1 Peter 2:7-8  (NASB)This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the very corner stone,”and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

 Jesus, more precious than gold or silver, more valuable than diamonds or pearls, is a stumbling block.  How can that even be?  I have often wondered why people who are atheists are so vocal about removing Jesus from schools, government buildings, and any public place.  They are hateful and adamant in their view.  If someone who doesn’t believe in God, why do they care I wondered? Now it makes perfect sense to me.  They are trying to avoid the stumbling block that He is, but they never truly can, and therefore they are never at peace.

But what about the believer?  How does a follower of Jesus find Him a stumbling block?  I know there have been times when I was 100% not doing what God was telling me to do, (sin).  I avoided Him, I didn’t read the Bible, I didn’t listen to what He was telling through friends, and other sources, and I stumbled through life until I had turned from my sin and back to my walk with Jesus.  Am I the only one who has found Jesus to be a stumbling block?  I suspect not.

The Rock that is higher. Psalm 61:1-2 (KJV) 61 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

This has been one of my life’s verses since my losses.  I have it taped up in several places in my home and in my office.  Jesus is the Rock that is higher than I, He is higher than anything, and when I do get overwhelmed, He is there.  He is the steady rock that I cling to.

4 comments:

  1. God made Psalm 61:1-2 significant in my life as well. The first time we moved overseas, as our plane descended between the mountains and the ocean, I felt like I was literally at the end of the earth! We had left everything we knew, and all we had left was the Rock.
    I love hearing about how God uses the same verses differently in someone else's life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I too love to hear how alive Gods word is. Truly encouraging. Like iron sharpens iron.

      Blessings to you.

      Delete
  2. I love the symbolism is the Bible. It speaks right to my heart! Thank you for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. He is the rock that is safe for those who seek it for refuge. But when we refuse His truth, we definitely will stumble in life. I'd rather be safe resting on Him.

    ReplyDelete