在马太福音中 21:41 和 1 彼得 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?
看哪, 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 ofoffense even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed (1 彼得 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, 耶稣基督; 这个单词, 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 更新他们的思想 与神的话语, so that their mind will line up with the will of God, 耶稣基督; the Son of God and the living Word, 和圣灵.
Because if the fact that they believe in Jesus Christ, they shall do what the Word, 耶稣, 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 (另请阅读: ‘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 忤 到圣言, Jesus is a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense instead of a precious Cornerstone.
因为事实, 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, 耶稣基督.
耶稣, 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. 正因为如此, they shall neither be able to stand nor get along with born again Christians and therefore they shall avoid them. 为什么? 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 上帝的旨意, 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. 因为 following Jesus will cost you your life! (另请阅读: ‘算算成本')
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 在基督里, which means that you have crucified your carnal emotions, 情怀, 意见, 发现, 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. 因为你知道, who you are in Jesus Christ 和父亲, 耶稣, and the Holy Spirit know who you are.
You have their confirmation and therefore you don’t need the confirmation of the world.
当你跟随圣灵而行时, 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.
为什么? Because they can’t hang out with someone, who constantly testifies of their evil works; 罪恶和不义. Even if you don’t say anything, 神圣的灵魂, Who abides in you, will reprove the world of sin. 所以, 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 哥林多前书 2:15-16)
The one, who lives in them; 恶魔, 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; 罪恶. 耶稣说:
如果全世界都讨厌你, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. 如果你们是世界上的人, 世界会爱他自己的: 但因为你们不属于这个世界, 但我从世界上选择了你, 因此世界恨你 (约翰 15:18-19)
A born again Christian is set apart from the world
作为一个重生的信徒, 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, 存在于肉体中. Your state as a sinner has been exchanged for a holy and righteous state as son of God (这适用于男性和女性). 因此, you shall be persecuted by the world, by the people, who live in disobedience to God (另请阅读: 你还是罪人吗?).
The people, 谁属于世界, could even be your acquaintances, 朋友们, 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?
因为正如耶稣所说: “Remember the word that I said unto you, 仆人并不比主人伟大. 如果他们迫害我, 他们也会迫害你; if they have kept My saying, 他们也会保留你的. 但他们会为了我的名对你们做这一切事情, because they know not Him that sent Me” (约翰 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. 那是因为, 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 (另请阅读: ‘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; 耶稣基督, Who lives inside of you. You shall lead them to Jesus Christ, and they shall 悔改 of their evil works and be saved.
耶稣基督, 活的道, 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?
‘成为地球之盐’
