The Cornerstone

It may not possess the same importance today in building houses and other structures, but the "cornerstone" was vitally important in constructing buildings in the past.  
The cornerstone was the stone laid at the corner to bind two walls together and to strengthen them.  In biblical times, buildings were often made of cut, squared stone. By uniting two intersecting walls, a cornerstone helped align the whole building and unite it together.  A cornerstone, therefore, was an integral part of the foundation as well as the supplementary construction of a building.

QUESTION:  What is the foundation of YOUR life?  From what source(s) have you formed the guiding principles for building your life?  Are these principles strong enough to enable you to endure the trials and storms of life?  What is the cornerstone of YOUR life?

The Apostle Peter uses the concept of the cornerstone to refer to a Person: JESUS CHRIST.  In 1 Peter 2:4-8, he quotes some passages from the Old Testament concerning the cornerstone and how these prophecies find their fulfillment in Christ.  Quoting from Isaiah 26:18, he wrote: "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."  Then from Psalm 118:22, he wrote: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone."

The message is clear: Jesus Christ is the ONLY sure foundation for our lives!  "For NO OTHER foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11).  If we would build our lives the way that they were intended to be built, JESUS must be our Cornerstone.  He must be the foundation and the basis for the direction of our lives.

The Psalmist prophesied that many would reject Jesus as the cornerstone of their lives – that is certainly true to this day.  However, rejecting Jesus as the cornerstone of one's life is done to his own peril.  The end result of building on anything but Christ is FAILURE.

Jesus and His will for our lives is the only sure foundation that will withstand the test of time.  Jesus said, "Therefore whoever HEARS these sayings of Mine, and DOES them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the ROCK: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the ROCK.  But everyone who HEARS these sayings of Mine, and DOES NOT do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And GREAT was its fall" (Matthew 7:24-27).

To build our lives upon Jesus, the Cornerstone, we must: place our trust in God (Hebrews 11:6), repent of our sins (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).  Then we must continue to follow the direction of our Cornerstone in order to build our lives successfully.

Is Jesus the cornerstone of YOUR life?

God bless you!

David A. Sargent, Minister 

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

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