The Mighty Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-8)

 Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple.  He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him.  And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple.  What's more, you are God's holy priest, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.  As the Scriptures express it,

"I am placing a stone in Jerusalem,

a chosen cornerstone,

and anyone who believes in him

will never be disappointed."

Yes, he is very precious to you who believe.  But for those who reject him,

"The stone that was rejected by the builders

has now become the cornerstone."

And the Scriptures also say,

"He is the stone that makes people stumble,

The rock that will make them fall."

They stumble because they do not listen to God's word or obey it, and so they meet the fate that has been planned for them.

This is an interesting passage because the cornerstone he is speaking about is no other than Jesus Christ himself.  The stone that holds a building up can also be the first stone that is rejected in unbelief and makes the building crumble.  It can be a stone that holds up or if it has been rejected because of intellect and unbelief it can make one stumble.  He is truly speaking of the Church and within the Church there can potentially be unbelief.  An occasion to stumble over that very stone that holds us up.

They stumble because they do not listen to the Word (logos) or obey it.  It's ironic that even if he speaks of those 'people', they were nevertheless religious 'builders'.

And so it is true, we are never too far from stumbling and so let us focus on the cornerstone and remember that this is where our strength comes from.

Thank you!

Have a great day!