Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone

· by · in Church, Faith. ·

Before you read the next few posts, please deeply consider this one. I will keep it short. But remember, dynamite comes in small packages!

God will, I will!

In the OT we find David and King David often saying “God will” and “I will”. He might have been hiding in caves and being hunted from house to house, but he kept saying “God will” and he kept saying “I will”. That dogged determination is evident in all the leaders throughout the OT.

God has, you are!

But in the NT we find something entirely different. Paul keeps saying “God has” and “you are!” Have you noticed that? Look in Colossians and every other book by Paul, he is always talking past tense. For example Paul says “Through Jesus Christ, God HAS reconciled the world” and he keeps saying radical things like “you ARE seated at the right hand of the Father” or “you ARE made holy, pure and blameless”. He doesn’t ask you how you feel or if you think you are… he knows what Jesus Christ did on the cross and he is TELLING you what you are – as a result of His blood on the cross!

This is how it works…

  • In the OT the Prophets looked FORWARD to what was to come and had faith that it would come.
  • In the NT we look BACK to what happened and have faith that it DID occur… all the way back then!

Here is a visual explanation of the difference between OT Prophets faith and NT Apostles faith…

You are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone. – Eph 2:20

god_has_god_will1

God will -vs- God has

Both kinds of faith are still workable, but in my personal experience nothing has ever matched the power of believing the full and complete and finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

What is a cornerstone?

From Wikipedia

The cornerstone (or foundation stone) concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

The entire structure takes it’s characteristics from the cornerstone… how fitting. Perhaps the church should spend more time studying our own Cornerstone?

Here is a  visual idea of how Jesus Christ connects the OT and the NT types of faith. It shows faith in Him, old or new, is built upon Who He is and what He did on the cross. In this image we can see Him as a cornerstone foundation on which the whole of the Old Testament and the whole of the New Testament are all built upon…

cornerstone

Having a NT type of faith as Paul did is absolutely vital if you want to go over the Jordan and enter into the promised land, because the key to it all is your faith! We (gentiles) are no longer moving into a physical land, but into a spiritual land.

17 responses to “Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone”

  2. I regret to inform you that the top of an arch is NOT a cornerstone, but a keystone or capstone. Sorry, Brother Christian but that which is above is NOT that which has placed below….

  3. The stone in the top of an arch is not called a corner ston it is called a Keystone and it is not mentioned in scripture at all. A corner stone joins two ajoining walls, in that you are correct

  4. You know, in the Lord Jesus’ last speaking / discourse in Jerusalem, His mind was on Christ as the cornerstone (see Matt. 21-22). It’s almost as if the whole of last week of the Lord’s human living was the playing out of Psalm 118, starting with the people welcoming Him with, Hosanna! – and ending with the Lord’s conclusion, You will not see Me until you say, Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord! In His speaking, Christ referred to Himself as being the stone rejected by the builders (the Jews) but made by God the cornerstone – and this is of the Lord!

  5. The first picture is actually a keystone. It is still a useful analogy to Christ, but very different from a cornerstone architecturally.

  6. Great post my dear Brother Mark! I am blessed, refreshed, and renewed by this timely reminder and teaching! Gods richest blessings be yours! Thank you kindly!

  7. I have read the listed comments and cannot really tell if the Cross Cornerstone image is copyrighted. I would like to use the image in a training program that I am helping to design called Cornerstone. The program is for a Christian Hospital in Eugene, Oregon. The image will be used once in the opening PowerPoint slide. Please let me know.
    Thanks.

  8. hi, i am glad that your site permitted me to down load the two images of the corner stoneand chief corner stone. I chair a study groupwhich at the moment is studying Acts. chapter four is part of the subject for study to day ,in which I will present the said pictures to affirm their place in the foundational teachings of Christ . Some in the group use the headstone /capstone of piramid theology as the same . I cannot in all honesty see how one can build a foundation on such an idea.
    The capstone in Egyptin mythology is is symbolic of the god Bennue[ a bird] meaning rebirth and immortality.
    prefer yours and the Bibles/ Gods draft Les

  9. Does anyone know if the bottom image, the cross/cornerstone is copyrighted? My church is called Cornerstone Family Church and if possible I would like to use something like that for tee shirts.

  10. What you describe is not actually a cornerstone. It’s a keystone.

    A cornerstone is “the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.” So Christ is not just the lynch-pin, but He is the starting point and the determining point of our faith.

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