The Chief Cornerstone 1 Corinthians 3:10-16, 1 Peter 2:1-8 The Bible makes it clear that every person is in the construction business, and it is building a life. We may be conscious of this building, and give a great deal of attention to it, and it may cause you to be selective in some things that we do, and some things we fail to do. It may be cause us to be particular about some aspect of our lives, if we are conscious that every thought, every act, is simply brink and mortar that goes into the building up of our lives. And there are a great many who are conscious of this very fact, that life is a constant awareness that they are building a life, and that life will someday (as the Apostle Paul has revealed to us) will be presented to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will examine it to see what kind of building that we have erected. And the Christian, of all people, ought to be conscious of this. And this consciousness, this fact, that we are building of life, and that everything that goes into out life, and everything that we do, and everything we are, becomes a vital and essential part of the life that we are building. This fact ought to regulate the daily life of the believer. But even if you are not conscious of this fact, it is still true that every person is building a life. Even if a man is not saved, even if he does not know Jesus Christ, and he makes no pretense to know Him. And does not ever intend to know Him. Even if he has rejected the whole idea of building a life, and of a judgment, the fact remains, that every person is putting together some kind of life. They are building some kind of life. And the fact of the matter is this one day every person, whether he is saved or lost, will stand before the Architect of heaven and earth, and will give an account of the life that he has built. And to me, one of the most sobering aspects of the life that we life is that fact that the Bible says that one of these days, Each one s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one s work, of what sort it is. You see, it is not always obvious what kind of life we are building, and it is not always obvious what kind of building materials you and I are using. But on that day, he says, Each one s work will become clear, shall be led into the light. It shall be made obvious what kind of life you and I have built. And what kind of materials we have put into the building up of our life. If they have been good material, or if they have been just the cheapest way out. Now, one of the greatest passages in all of the Scriptures concerning the Person and the place of Jesus in the building up of our lives, is in the passage here in 1 Peter 2. And the important and vital thing concerning this statement about the Lord Jesus is that He is the Chief Cornerstone in the building up 1
of our lives. That He is the living stone. And only as we turn to Him, and trust Him, and come to know Him, then and only then, does our life come alive, as seen in verse 5, You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house. It is a house of life and not a house of death. And the Bible is trying to say to us is this when we come to Jesus Christ, and embrace Him as Lord and Savior; we touch the Living Stone. And then the life that we are building is a life of life. And the house that we are erecting is a living house that ministers life. But whatever it is that you are building this morning, the life that you are building, and the house that you a building, if you have not come to the Lord, it is a house of death. And it will minister death to your life, and to everything that you touch. For, you see, it is the Lord of glory that imparts life to the life that we are living. And He is God s Chosen Stone, the Living Stone that imparts to what it is that you and I are building. So I want to take this passage this morning, keeping in mind that we are building a life, every one of us. And I want to look at several things that we need to know concerning the Lord Jesus. Number one, in the building up of our life, Jesus Christ is the Chosen Stone that we are to use. 1 Peter 2:4 says, Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious The Greek word translated rejected means, to reject after examination. Jesus into the world, and the world looked at Jesus, and they saw what He was, and they saw the demands made on their lives, and they rejected Him, and said, We will not have Him as part of our life. But that does not in any way effect the eternal purpose of God. You see, He was rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. Verse 6 says, Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame. And so, the first thing the Scriptures tell us concerning Jesus Christ is this He is chosen by God. In other words, God has chosen Him to be the chief cornerstone in our lives. The world might reject Him, and men might refuse to embrace Him, and governments might try to silence Him, but God has chosen Him. You see, God has chosen Jesus to be the conductor, to be the channel, to be the pipeline from heaven to earth. And without is no other means of being saved. Jesus made this statement in Matthew 11:27, All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. And He made this statement in John 14:6, I am the way, 2
the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Jesus is saying, I am the way (without Me there is no going), I am the truth (without Me there is no knowing), I am the life (without Me there is no living). (And) No one comes to the Father except through Me. There are absolutely no exceptions to that. Mankind wants to be able to pick and choose his way to a relationship with God. Look again at verse 4, Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. This same truth is worded like this in Hebrews 1:1-2, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds. Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you the word from God today for our world is Jesus. Number two; Christ is a valuable Stone. 1 Peter 2:4 says He is chosen by God and precious. But verse 7 says, Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious The word precious means, value which is recognized. There are two very important truths revealed to us right here. First, the Person and work of Christ has always been of great value in the eyes of holy God. 1 Peter 1:18-20 gives us this insight, Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Before there was ever an angel; before there was ever a garden called Eden; before there was ever an Adam and an Eve; God realized the value of the Person and work of Christ on the Cross! And that great truth makes John 3:16-17 even more amazing, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. My friend, God gave Heaven s best that we might be redeemed from a life of death and destruction! The second great truth here is we don t really realize the value of Christ until after we have been saved. Look again at verse 7, Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious Although I came to Him in simple childlike faith and received Him as my Savior I really did not understand His divine value until later. And I tell you something every day that passes on the calendar I have come to recognize Jesus as more precious and more valuable than I ever have before. And I am so glad today that Jesus Christ means a thousand times more to me now than He meant to me the day I was saved! And that brings me to this little verb found in verse 4. And the word is coming. And verse 4 begins like this, Coming to Him as to a living stone In 3
its verb form that word coming means, to approach continually. And this is how it all fits together. One day I heard the Gospel of Christ, and I saw that Jesus Christ was what I needed. I recognized that He was what I needed to get me out of the mess I was in. At that time, all I knew was that I was lost and going to hell, and I needed to be saved from hell and taken to heaven. And I needed the things that I had done forgiven. And that is what I recognized in Jesus. And so, I came to Him in simple childlike faith, and asked Him to come into my life and forgive my sins and make me a Christian. I din t recognize much of Jesus, but I recognized that much. I just trusted Him to save me! And do you know what? He saved me! He forgave me my sins, and took away the possibility of ever being lost and going to hell, and Ephesians chapter 1 says that at that moment I was sealed with the Holy Spirit and predestined for Heaven! But as the years have gone by, every day, more and more, I have come to realize just how much I need to approach continually this blessed Savior! Because now I see in Him, and recognize in Him, much more than simply a Savior that keeps me from going to hell much more than Someone who has cancelled out an old debt. Now I see in Him the very life that I live, and that He is sufficient to meet every day s problems, and every day s needs. And so, I continually come to Him for fellowship, and for meaning. And the more I approach Jesus, the more and more precious He becomes to me! In that day and time the outstanding characteristic about the cornerstone was that it held the rest of the building in place, and it gave stability to the whole structure. Peter puts this same truth this way in 2 Peter 1:2-4, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And reason that God has chosen Him, and singled Him out, is because when you have Jesus Christ you have everything you will ever need that pertains to life and godliness, and without Him you have absolutely nothing! So He is the Chosen Stone of God and is of great value in the building up of your life! Colossians 1:15-17 says this, He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Ladies and gentlemen, the Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ holds all things together! Jesus is the glue of the universe, and when He is not first, things start falling apart! 4
Let me ask you a question today does your life seem to be coming apart? Today we are seeing a rapid growth of a society of people who have ignored Jesus Christ. And they are building their lives their way. They have designed their own life. And their lives are rather shaky, and life seems to be falling apart. And that is what God meant when He said in Colossians 1:17, And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Everything outside of Jesus is just garbage when it come to building a life! And without Christ being first, there will never be any real adhesiveness in our homes, in our church, or in our personal lives. The third great truth here is this Jesus Christ is not the Chosen Stone and the Corner Stone, He is also the Stumbling Stone. Look again at verses 7-8, Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, the stone, which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. We have the picture of some men who have gathered together to build a building. And they have all the stones and here is a stone labeled cornerstone but they throw it aside. And it is left there until the grass begins to grow up around it. And while they are building their own little building, according to their own little design, and to their own desires, the grass and the weeds continue to grow up around the stone until they lose sight of it anymore. But, when they do their own thing and start to walk away, they stumble over the cornerstone and they are crushed as they fall on the stone. And the very stone that they rejected becomes the means of their destruction! Let me remind you that God has determined that Jesus is the Stone who is going to have the final say so concerning man s judgment. Jesus Himself said in John 5:30, I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, why not today? Everyone please stand for prayer. Father, Your Word is true. Thank You for the blood of Christ that cleanses me from all my sin. Thank You for being the Cornerstone of my life. In Jesus name. Amen. 5