Jesus: Cornerstone or Stumbling Block?

I Peter 2:1-10

Have you ever watched a brick or stone building going up?  Each brick or stone block is fit perfectly and securely into place by the stone mason.  In our passage today Peter compares believers to those bricks, becoming a like a spiritual building for God.  First, before that, Peter admonishes his fellow believers to get rid of all behavior that would hinder their walk with God (vs. 1).  Christians can’t grow if they remain in sin, and he reminds us that we are to be growing, just like a baby does.  How do they grow?  By feeding on milk (vs. 2), which Peter compares to the Word of God.  Milk is necessary for a baby to have in order to grow and thrive, and so is God’s Word for Christians.  We grow by spending time in the Bible, reading and meditating on every word.  That’s the way to remain a healthy Christian!

Now Peter gets to the main theme of this passage.  God is metaphorically building a building, and He is using us believers as His bricks (vs. 4 - 8).  Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone, the foundational building block.  There are several Old Testament prophecies foretelling that Jesus would be this cornerstone - Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 28:16.  The cornerstone is the chief stone in a masonry building, as all the other bricks are laid in relation to that cornerstone, thus determining the accuracy and stability of the whole building.  We, as the other bricks in the building, are to align our position in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ.  God laid Him as the cornerstone, and we can trust in Him.  Our trust is not misplaced.  He will not let us down (vs. 6).  Jesus is the means of our salvation, and we, as believers are “living bricks” in that “building” that God is building (vs. 5).

To those who refuse to believe in Him as the Messiah and Savior, though, He is a stumbling stone.  While Jesus was on earth, the Jewish religious leaders and most Jewish people rejected Him, though He was chosen by God, proof of which was shown when He raised Jesus from the dead (vs. 4).  Unbelievers stumble over the One who could save them.  He is there, plain as day, in the Scriptures and even throughout nature, but the spiritually blind do not see Him, tripping over the stumbling stone.  Thus they have fallen into God’s hands for judgment.  Jesus is either the means to salvation if they believe, or the means of judgment to those who don’t, and reject the Gospel.  As such, to them He is a stumbling block.  Because of their unbelief, they are appointed to doom (vs. 7 - 8), just as it is because Christians believe that they are appointed to salvation.

As Peter wraps up this passage he tells us believers several titles that we have as Christians.  We are a “chosen generation”, a “royal priesthood”, and a “holy nation”, and God’s own “special people” (vs. 9).  We are chosen by God, and called to represent Him to others.  With God as our Master Builder, and we His “bricks”, He will place us in exactly the place He chooses for us to do that.

How are we priests?  In Old Testament times men couldn’t come to God directly.  They needed a priest, and he was a go-between for man and God.  With Christ’s death and victory on the cross, we can now come directly to God.  Now we are priests, and our responsibility is to bring others to God thru Jesus as well.

Not only are we priests, but we are “royal” as well.  Are you a born-again believer?  If so, then you have been adopted into the family of God.  God is certainly a King, and not just a king of some country here on this planet, which we would consider to be special enough.  He’s King of the whole universe, and we’ve been adopted by that Father!  That makes us royal, it makes us princes and princesses.  We are even more royal than Queen Elizabeth and her family.  And as such, we need to remember who we are!  For the most part, the Queen’s family tries to act decorously in public as they represent the crown.  We represent someone even greater!  We are God’s holy nation, set apart as His possession, just for Him.  Through the Holy Spirit indwelling in us, we are holy or sanctified, and set apart as His people.  We are God’s children of Light, and are no longer in darkness.

This is our inheritance, our calling, who we are in Christ, and as such, we need to walk as such.  Remember who you are!