This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on September 8th 2024 by Lasya. For the audio & video please click here. For the worship please click here.JESUS, THE CORNERSTONE
Psalm 118:22; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Matthew 21:42; 1 Peter 2:7; Acts 4:11; Eph 2:20 all repeat the same verse from Psalm 118:22 - the stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. There is a progressive revelation - the psalmist said it prophetically about the messiah, Jesus declared it about himself, and the disciples recognised that Christ is indeed the cornerstone and proclaimed to the church.
What is a cornerstone? In architecture, a cornerstone is the first stone that is set up that indicates the establishment of the building, the orientation (how the building is to be built), and the supporting stone for the whole building (if you took out the cornerstone, a mighty building would also collapse). Illustration of the leaning tower of Pisa ad1173
This verse refers to the centrality of Jesus -in creation (John 1 - in the beginning was the word), in history (BC and AD is marked by the birth and death of Jesus), in the word of God (Luke 24:27 - on the road to Emmaus, Jesus shows the disciples how all of the scripture speaks of Jesus).
Jesus is central to the Christian faith and must be central in the church. When the focus of the church turns from Jesus to anything else, it’s no longer a church. Today, due to architectural advancements, the cornerstone is really not used in the same way. It is now more of a decorative block to write about the establishment of the building and is often even hollowed out to store some documents etc. And churches can become the same when the focus is on the music or the preacher, or the rich or the poor, programmes or picnics… no it needs to be about Jesus. So we do not worship saints or angels, we do not glorify leaders or political affiliations, we worship Christ - the cornerstone.
Jesus’ questions are always deeply searching. On one occasion he asks his disciples in Matt 16:15-18 “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
It is on this revelation of Jesus that the church is built. So what must we do to build on this cornerstone? Firstly, we must believe.
Why believe? John 20:31- “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”
Believe that Jesus is who the Bible says he is - believe the story of the gospels about Jesus
Fully man - Jesus Is real:
Gal 4:4 “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law…”. He is rooted in history, was born at a time and place and in flesh and blood, to a woman (a virgin as prophesied). He was hungry, thirsty, sad, troubled, tired, and tempted. He lived fully as a man on this earth. Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin”. The amazing life that Jesus lived on earth is a life that was lived fully as a man, obedient to the Father and empowered by the spirit. It is a life that is within reach for each of us who have been saved by Him. A Christian is one who believes in the reality of Jesus' actual existence on earth.
Jesus is real – Hebrews 11: 6 - whoever draws near to God must believe that he exists - Jesus is real! The difficulty is that we do not see him today, but we have witnesses - We have witness from the word of God (1 John 1:1 - That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life), witnesses from people, witness from God(1 John 5:9-10 - If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself). Illustration of harry potter and Narnia and the word of God. When did Jesus become real to you? Our history is in danger today. The story of the gospel in India. But today, we prefer fantasy to reality - scrolling and gaming addiction from a very young age. The more we give ourselves to fantasy, we lose touch with reality. john mark comer - the only place that God will encounter us is in our actual life
Response - Witness - we need to witness to others about Jesus, introduce people to the witness of the word of God and make space and invite the witness of God concerning Jesus.
Fully God - Jesus is God: He is not a moral teacher, philosopher, guru, a miracle worker, a saint or even an angel - He is not a smaller earthly deity whose divinity is minimised by becoming human, and he is not merely a means to the ultimate - he IS the ultimate. Jesus is fully God! John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” It is the name by which God revealed himself to Moses. In fact Jesus makes several I am statements throughout the gospels which can only be fulfilled in God.
I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)
I am the Light of the World (John 8:12)
I am the Door (John 10:9)
I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)
I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
I am the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)
After seeing the risen Christ, Apostle Thomas (doubting Thomas) was the first to fall down and worship him and called him “My Lord and My God!” The apostles, who saw him as fully man, testify of this in the epistles Col 1:19 “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things”
Jesus is not the same as any of the other Bible heroes, it is entirely different. For Centuries, there was a dispute in the church as to the exact nature of Jesus - was he fully man with God like traits, or was he fully God who put on a form of humanity. And the issue was resolved in the Chalcedonian Creed in AD 451, where the church stated their stand as to the nature of Jesus Christ as one person who is fully man and fully god - hypostatic union/ a dual nature. Yes it is a mystery, but it is not a fantasy. But the real question today is, is he “your Lord and your God?”
Response - Worship with reverence and awe - we need to worship him with reverence and awe because he is the king of kings and Lord of Lords - we teach our children to honour and worship him. We must have a high view of Jesus.
