Christ is the Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:5-6)

The Scottish Presbyterian John Brown says this of 1 Peter 2:5-6:

The privileges which, as a believer in Christ, a comer to Christ, a builder on Christ, he enjoys, are of the most dignifying nature.
He is brought into a near and most honorable relation to the greatest and best being in the universe.
Coming to Christ, he comes to God through him.
He becomes “an heir of God,” by becoming a “joint heir with Christ Jesus.”

This is true of every one of you who is a brick in the spiritual temple of God – being built upon that that chief cornerstone.

Living Stones in the Spiritual House of God

The Temple of the Old Testament was a spiritual house, a sacred dwelling place of God where the glory of God shone forth and he communed with man.

What is more dignifying to man now than this – that as Peter says, God through Christ the living stone has made us living stones – building you and me now up into this spiritual Temple where God himself dwells – where now his glory shines through – and he in us communes with man – granting to us privileges that we have never experienced before – heirs of glory with God.

We were entirely unfit to be a holy dwelling place to God because of our sin. But through our connection to Christ, he has placed an honor upon you and me that goes unmatched.

An Unmatched Honor

There are many great earthly honors that people can share in.

The Medal of Honor is given to someone in the military who has shown bold courage, going above and beyond the call of duty. That’s a great honor. I’m sure it comes with a great reward.

But it doesn’t come close to the honor and the reward that we receive in Christ – becoming a spiritual Temple to God. Those two honors belong in two different stratospheres.

Through Christ God is using you and me to be the material through which he constructs his own house making us fit to be able to answer the great end for why the temple is built – which is to return honor and glory and praise to God.

What greater dignity can God place upon man than that?

Worshipping God

The temple is the place where God was to be worshiped.

We at one time were unable to worship God rightly. But now we’ve been brought near through the blood of Christ and made fit for yielding true and acceptable obedience to him.

That’s what it means to be a living stone in the spiritual house of the Lord.

Holy Priesthood Offering Spiritual Sacrifices

This is why Peter goes on to say “to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.”

We also have been made priests through Christ. And so now we offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and obedience to God.

This is what the author to the Hebrews says in Hebrews 13:15-16:

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Priests in the Old Testament were those who were set apart. They were consecrated by God for God’s service.

And Peter says that is what you and I have been called to be now as well. We have been consecrated, set apart, called by God and for God’s service to offer our entire lives to be a service to God.

The Nature of Our Sacrifices

May we always remember that the sacrifices that the author to the Hebrews and that Peter speak about do not cleanse us from sin. They are not payment for some reward.

Jesus Christ is the only sacrifice who paid for the guilt of his people and who won and secured the reward.

Our sacrifices as priests are sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise which even then are foul to God ultimately because they come from the hands of sinners that pollute those sacrifices.

Why We Still Need Christ

But this shows us all the more why we need to first come to Christ. Because it is only in Christ that those polluted sacrifices are accepted by God through his Son.

You and I apart from Christ are ugly and deformed stones, stones that no one would walk around and want to pluck up from the ground and keep for their own possession.

But God being rich in mercy and blessing us through Christ dug us up from the ground, from all different parts of the earth and he caused us to be living stones and he caused us to be something special to him, something wonderful to him even if we are not special or wonderful in anyone else’s eyes.

Christ is the Only Cornerstone

But we must never forget that it is the cornerstone which the entire structure depends upon and rests upon. It is not us, but it is him.

Look again at what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:6.

For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

There are no other cornerstones. Peter is not the cornerstone of the church – no matter how much Rome wants to get you to believe that if Peter was here today he would repudiate that claim.

It’s Peter himself who says it is Christ who God laid to be the cornerstone as he quotes from Isaiah 28:16.

Seven Reasons Christ is the Cornerstone

Now let’s think about how this applies to Christ.

First, Christ is the cornerstone because as the God man it is Christ alone who is able to bear the weight of the entire church from every age. That’s why he’s the cornerstone.

Second, he’s the cornerstone because he is the lowest stone. He came and lowered himself and suffered greatly – more than anyone did, being humiliated in our place. That’s why Jesus is the cornerstone.

Third, he is the cornerstone because he is the first stone laid. He is the firstborn of the dead. It is only through him and his office as mediator that any sinner can attain communion and fellowship with God.

Fourth, he is the cornerstone because without him the entire house would tumble. He is what holds it up and causes the whole edifice to stand.

Fifth, he is the cornerstone because he is the one that knits both sides of the wall together. It is Christ who brings reconciliation between Jew and Gentile and so he is the cornerstone knitting both of those walls together.

Sixth, he is the cornerstone because he gives the building beauty, being the glory of the building.

Seventh, he is the cornerstone because he is the greatest stone. He is the only stone capable of communicating life to every single other stone that is built upon him.

Have You Been Built Upon Christ?

And so, the question is “have you been built upon Christ?”

If you say no or if you are unsure, well then what builds someone upon the cornerstone?

It’s the grace of believing that builds you upon this cornerstone. Do you believe in the one whom God has laid to be that chief cornerstone, chosen and precious in God’s sight?

For those of you today who do believe there is also included here a great promise. At the end of 1 Peter 2:6: “whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

What a wonderful promise as Peter is speaking to these first century saints saying to them while you wait for the outcome of your faith, which is the salvation of your souls – which will occur at the revelation of Jesus Christ, continue believing in him – continue trusting in Him – continue relying on him – continue standing upon him.

He will not fail you. You will not fall, because you stand upon an unshakable and permanent foundation – who is Christ.

But what about those who refuse to stand upon this cornerstone?