The Stone The Builders Rejected
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.”
Psalm 118:22-23
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 7:24-27
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:19-22
In our world, with the velocity of information and global exposure, the collective moral standard is seemingly changing daily. Families and individuals used to spend the larger portion of their lives relatively isolated geographically, socially, and spiritually. With the invention of the internet and the inter-connectedness of the world, the exposure to information, opinions, and perspectives an individual faces is at an all-time high.
This leaves the individual in a place where they are (knowingly or unknowingly) constantly discerning and navigating through the abundance of information whereby they then develop their convictions, either by persuasion, teaching or self-reasoning, which can either lead them to confusion, delusion, or confidence on a matter.
The Base
With that in mind, the need for a firm, principled foundation in the midst of a continuously shifting world is paramount.
When we think about what underpins us as people, is it our family, friends, geography, culture, business, religion, or the collection of random opinions we’ve formed from the internet? All of these different facets of our lives, stones and materials that make up the building that is…us.
Which one of these is our cornerstone, the one that we are putting all our weight on, our firm foundation on which we center everything else?
Truly, if it’s not Christ, our house is bound to fall.
Christ Our Firm Foundation
“…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Romans 10:9-10
Know first what 1 Samuel 16:7 says “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”. Gods sees through to our belief. Through our web of thoughts; convictions and doubts alike. “Like a doubled edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”(Hebrews 4:12).
Rest assured, if we ever doubt who we are or our place in His plan, He does not.
In the mystery and unfathomable depths of creation's interconnectedness, we know that Christ “…is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15-17
There is not a single molecule that is out of His purview.
God’s omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence goes beyond our deepest possible thought or discovery. As the Lord says in Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Simply knowing this changes everything, providing deeper perspective to ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ Matthew 22:37
One With The Creator
The ancient Indian discipline of Yoga is a practice by which the practitioners seek to find unity with the world around them; mental, physical, spiritual etc. They recognize the interconnectedness of the earth and its systems and organisms which gives them a fresh perspective on life and their role in the journey of life. However, while many have found this discipline beneficial, for a number of reasons, the practice lacks the full recognition of the Creator, as it is focusing primarily on the creation.
While they may find peace marveling at the unfathomable depths of God’s creation, they unfortunately miss the even greater unity with the Creator through Jesus Christ.
We can fall victim to the same in various ways.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
John 14:6
The Chasm
The reality is this:
As humans, we are corrupt, currently living in the fallen state of this sinful world. While we can recognize God's creation around us, with God’s unshakeable law, “we all fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and are in need of redemption. God, through His grace, gave the world Jesus Christ, who paid that price for our sin by dying on the cross as a righteous, worthy sacrifice, redeeming and restoring us to our Creator.
The more we deviate from this understanding to a man-centric model, the further we’ll fall into valleys of depravity. It is the plight of man ever since the first sin in the garden to be God’s equal.
Be a New Creation
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17
In checking our hearts, and regularly realigning ourselves to Christ, our cornerstone, do we raise the question “Do I love the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind? Or just the things around me?”
Jesus himself said “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15
Simple and practical. God lays the foundation for a moral standard, not man. In the words of the Apostle Peter:
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””
1 Peter 1:14-16
Fortunately for us, he has helped us in the calling to be holy, not only by providing Jesus Christ, in whom we are justified and our sins forgiven eternally, but also the Holy Spirit to aid us in our fallen bodies and fallen world.
When we become a new creation in Christ, Jesus instructs in John 14 that we will receive the Holy Spirit who lives within. Many ask what are the signs of the Holy Spirit in someone, and many are quick to point to prophecy, tongues, teaching, etc. But perhaps the most telling and obvious are the fruits that grow within that person:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Galatians 5:22-24
Beyond any fancy gift or power is a changed life set on Christ, which leads to a heart of love. As the Apostle Paul was inspired to beautifully write:
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13
And this is the foundation. In our rapidly changing world; be set on Christ first and foremost and his love will manifest in you.
At the end of our days, when we breathe our last, we stand before God, no other, and must give an account. What we thought or felt was right doesn't matter. The great Judge, our God, shows no partiality.
Abide in Christ and He will abide in you.
We should not be swept up in fruitless, cultural mood swings. We must make Him our firm foundation on which we build all else.
Amen