In Matthew 21:41 and 1 Peter 2:6-8, we read that Jesus Christ is the chief Cornerstone. But we also read that Jesus is a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense. What does a Stone of stumbling mean? To whom is Jesus a precious Cornerstone and to whom is Jesus a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense? What does the Bible say about the precious Cornerstone and the Stone of stumbling mean?
For whom is Jesus a precious chief Cornerstone?
Behold, I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believes on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed (1 Peter 2:6-8)
To those, who believe in Jesus Christ and want to follow Him and are prepared to lay down their own lives for Him, Jesus Christ; the Word, is precious. Because the Word is precious to them, they shall spend much time in the Word, listen to the Word, and obey the Word.
They shall lay down their own lives and become born again in Jesus Christ. They shall feed their spirit and renew their mind with the Word of God, so that their mind will line up with the will of God, Jesus Christ; the Son of God and the living Word, and the Holy Spirit.
Because if the fact that they believe in Jesus Christ, they shall do what the Word, Jesus, commands them to do and they shall walk in His commandments.
The Word shall lead them into all Truth and they shall follow the Word; the Truth.
They shall be doers of the Word and walk in His commandments. Whereby they shall walk after the Word and the Spirit and because of that they shall walk in faith (Read also: ‘The hearers versus the doers of the Word’).
For whom is Jesus a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense?
But the Bible says, that to those, who are rebellious and refuse to walk in the commandments of Jesus and are therefore disobedient to the Word, Jesus is a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense instead of a precious Cornerstone.
Because of the fact, that they refuse to listen to Him and refuse to walk in the Word, they shall not build their lives upon Jesus Christ, the living Word of God. They shall disobey the commandments of Jesus and shall change the Word, so that the Truth of God shall turn into a lie.
They shall hate the Word, because the Word testifies of their evil works; their sins, and iniquities. That’s why they shall not be able to endure the Word, Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the precious Cornerstone and the living Rock, shall be a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense to them and they shall not be able to stand Him. Because of that, they shall neither be able to stand nor get along with born again Christians and therefore they shall avoid them. Why? Because Christ lives in them.
The world hates born-again Christians
When you are really prepared to lay down your own life and to live according to the will of God, the world shall hate you. You shall be hated by the people around you, who live in disobedience to God (in sins and iniquities). because just like Jesus was and is a Stone of stumbling to them, you shall also be a stone of stumbling to them.
That’s the price you have to pay, to follow Jesus. Therefore it’s important to count the cost before you make the decision to follow Jesus. Because following Jesus will cost you your life! (Read also: ‘Count the cost‘)
But when you have freely laid down your own life and put off the old man, you don’t mind if others don’t like you, despise you, and even hate you. That’s because you have crucified your flesh in Christ, which means that you have crucified your carnal emotions, feelings, opinions, findings, etc. which are all part of the flesh.
You don’t have the need to be liked or to be accepted by people or to prove yourself to others. Because you know, who you are in Jesus Christ and the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit know who you are.
You have their confirmation and therefore you don’t need the confirmation of the world.
When you walk after the Spirit, you shall understand why the world hates you. You shall understand, why some people can’t be with you anymore and avoid you and dislike you, because you know, who their father is and to whom they belong and who lives inside of them.
The Holy Spirit testifies of their works
When people belong to the world and live in disobedience to God and they do not want to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour and are not willing to make Him Lord of their lives (neither in the future and God knows this, because God knows already who belongs to Him and who don’t), these people shall not want to be with you and don’t want to hang out with you.
Why? Because they can’t hang out with someone, who constantly testifies of their evil works; sins and iniquities. Even if you don’t say anything, the Holy Spirit, Who abides in you, will reprove the world of sin. Therefore, you shall be for those, who don’t believe, a stone of stumbling and a savor of death
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)
The one, who lives in them; the devil, hates Jesus Christ and therefore they will hate you. By the abiding of the Holy Spirit in you, Jesus Christ is in you and He testifies of their evil works; sins. Jesus says:
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you (John 15:18-19)
A born again Christian is set apart from the world
As a born again believer, you are set apart from the world. Although you live in this world, you don’t belong to the world anymore. Therefore you shall not live like the world anymore. You have freely laid down your old worldly life and your sinful nature, which is present in the flesh. Your state as a sinner has been exchanged for a holy and righteous state as son of God (this applies to both males and females). As a result, you shall be persecuted by the world, by the people, who live in disobedience to God (Read also: Are you still a sinner?).
The people, who belong to the world, could even be your acquaintances, friends, colleagues, family members, and maybe even fellow Christians.
There are a lot of people, who go to church and call themselves Christians, while they live in rebellion against God and disobey the Word and still belong to the world and live like the world in darkness.
If you live like the world, doing the same things that unbelievers; sinners do, who do not know God and are disobedient to God and if the world likes you and enjoys hanging out with you, you should examine yourself if you are really born again.
You could ask yourself the following questions:
“Am I really born again? Have I become a new creation? Does Jesus Christ live in me? Is the old ‘me’ really crucified and have I really laid down my life as a sinner? Do I live after His will or do I live after my will?’ ‘Do I love the Word or do I love the world? Who do I obey and serve?
Because as Jesus said: “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for My Name’s sake, because they know not Him that sent Me” (John 15:20-21)
Is the savor of Christ a savor of life or a savor of death?
The world shall not love you because you are no longer of the world. You shall be an offense to the world. That’s because, through regeneration and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you are the light that shines in the darkness.
To those, who belong to the darkness and walk after the flesh and love the works of darkness and keep doing the works of darkness, you shall be an offense and a savor of death. They shall dislike and hate you and avoid you, because you expose their evil works of the flesh and testify that their works are evil (Read also: ‘The savor of Christ; a savor of life or a savor of death).
But to those, who are seeking and are willing to give up their lives for Jesus Christ, to them you shall not be an offense, nor a savor of death, but you shall be to them a savor of life; a sweet savor of Christ. They shall be drawn to the Light; Jesus Christ, Who lives inside of you. You shall lead them to Jesus Christ, and they shall repent of their evil works and be saved.
Jesus Christ, the living Word, shall always be the Cornerstone. But the question is, is Jesus to you a living Stone and a precious Cornerstone or is Jesus to you a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense?
‘Be the salt of the earth’
