Jesus The Stone Pt 1

In Ephesians 2:20 believers are said to be built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, "Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone".  ...we are justified in interpreting Ephesians 2:20-2 and 1 Peter 2: 1-10 in the same sense as Mark 12:10f, as referring to the spiritual Temple, the community of the people of God, which is constituted by Christ.  All these passages stand in line with the saying of Jesus about the destruction of the visible Temple and the building of the new, attested to in Mark 14:58 and John 2:19.  The communal interest is well marked in the two passages in Ephesians and 1 Peter.  In Ephesians 2: 20-2, not only is Christ described as "the cornerstone", but the readers are spoken of as "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord."   In 1 Peter 2:5 similar language is used.  The readers "as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ".  The metaphors of growth and building are manifestly mixed, but the dominating thought is in no doubt.  The new community, founded upon Christ, is to attain perfection through Him.  In these passages a high Christology is clearly implied.  The conception of Christ at "the Stone" has strong affinities with the ideas of "the Son of Man" and "the Son of God".

This judgment is confirmed by other passages which describe Christ as the foundation of faith and as "a rock of offence" to unbelievers.  This idea appears in a quotation of Isaiah 8:14 in 1 Peter 2:8, "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence", and also in Romans 9:33, where Isaiah 8:14 and 28:16 are fused together in the form:

"Behold I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offence:
And he that believeth on him shall not be
put to shame."

-excerpt taken from The Names of Jesus by Vincent Taylor pg 94-5

Jesus The Stone Pt 2

TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE, JESUS IS A "CORNERSTONE";  HE IS A "LIVING STONE", which was rejected by men as stated by John in John 1:10-11 and instead, they crucified Him.   And yet, He was chosen by God, considered to be precious as foretold in Ps 118:22 where God has taken that which was rejected by men and made it the "cornerstone".   The cornerstone of what?

Jesus has become the "CORNERSTONE" OF A GREAT SPIRITUAL HOUSE OR TEMPLE upon which we are being built.  The same thought or illustration is used by the apostle Paul - 1 Co 3:9-11, 16-17; Ep 2:19-22.  As this spiritual house built upon Christ, we fulfill certain responsibilities...we serve as a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God, e.g.: our bodies - Ro 12:1-2; our praise - He 13:15; our doing good and sharing - He 13:16; even our deaths - 2 Ti 4:6-8.  We therefore serve as God's special people with a special task of proclaiming the praises of God for by His grace...we have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light; we who were not a people, are now the people of God; we have obtained mercy!

JESUS IS ALSO THE ROCK upon which we as individuals build our lives - Mt. 7:24-27.  We do this by following His teachings and thereby establish our lives on solid ground and this enables us to withstand the "storms" of life

So in more ways than one, Jesus is truly a "cornerstone" to those who believe in Him and follow Him.  How do we build our lives - on this cornerstone or ????

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