Thursday, December 8, 2022

             In I Peter 2:6-7, Peter the disciple spoke of Christ as the cornerstone or capstone for our faith.  He wrote these words, “For in Scripture it says: See, I lay a stone in Zion,     a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”  The Lord Jesus is the cornerstone upon which we build our house of faith.  We all know how critical the foundation is to the building of any home.  A poor or unstable foundation calls into question the very sturdiness and safety of the entire home.  We can easily make a comparison between home construction and faith construction.  In faith, we are only as good as our foundation.  Everything rests on the foundation that we select.  This cornerstone that Peter had in mind held or tied together the whole structure (house or building).  And Christ is the One who ties both life and faith together for us.  He is the stone upon which we rest our faith and lives.  He is the stone that does not fracture or fail.
            Peter’s use of the word “cornerstone” borrows from a tradition that in the building of the Temple the builders had dismissed or rejected an unusually shaped stone as being unsuitable for the Temple only to discover later that they needed just such a stone.  People today reject Christ only to discover that there is no other Savior or Lord available to forgive their sins and assure them of a new life.  Like builders who rejected a stone for the Temple, Christ too had been rejected by the people of His day—indeed His own people rejected Him and called for His crucifixion when given a choice. 
            This image of a cornerstone offers some faith lessons for us.  First, Christ is our anchor.  Much like a stone can be used to hold down something or to hold it in place, Christ holds us in place too.  We have all that we need in Christ.  We have no need to pursue another master or the trivial things in life.  Christ balances us and stabilizes us when the winds of life beat against us.  Second, Christ is everlasting and unchanging.  A rock that you place on a table in your home will be there long after your life has come to an end.  Stones are enduring.  Christ endures as well.  He is unchanging—indeed the same yesterday, today and forever.  He will neither fail nor fade away.  We never have to worry about Christ failing us or defrauding us.  He is everlasting.  He does enter and exit our lives based on whims or feelings. 
            Third, Christ brings the different parts of life and faith together for us.  He can bring fulfillment to families, marriages, careers, relationships and the way we spend our time.  Like a cornerstone that ties a building together and makes the collective structure stronger than the individual pieces, Christ does the same for our lives.  He holds us together and brings us together so that our one mission in life is to bring glory to Him and to live for Him.  As Lord, Christ casts a wide shadow over all that we are.  We leave no compartment or cubicle in life unyielded or unsurrendered to Him. We bring everything to Him.
            A poor foundation calls into question the viability, safety and stability of the entire structure.  Likewise, the wrong cornerstone in life can lead us down dangerous and even deadly roads as we look for fulfillment and meaning in all the wrong places.  Peter calls us to Christ—to his Savior and Lord with whom He walked and behind whom He followed.  In these December days, think about whether Christ is your cornerstone or just another rock.  There is time to make the baby who was born in Bethlehem your firm foundation and your cornerstone.  Have a wonderful Thursday.