The Cornerstone (1 Peter 2.6–8)

Peter discusses the concept of the church being built as a spiritual house, with believers being living stones. He emphasizes the importance of Jesus as the cornerstone and how those who believe in Him will never be put to shame. Peter then addresses the question of why many people, especially the Jewish people, have rejected Jesus as the Messiah. He uses Old Testament scriptures to show that the rejection of Jesus was predicted and encourages believers to continue preaching the gospel despite the rejection. Peter concludes by reminding believers that their eternal destiny depends on their belief in Jesus and that they will be honored by God. Those who reject Jesus will experience shame and destruction. So, 1 Peter chapter 2, page 1048, verses 6 and 8. Actually, let's begin in verse 4. As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. Offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says, See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe this stone is precious, but to those who do not believe the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobeyed the message, which is also what they were destined for. Let us pray dear God. Thank you for your word and the opportunity you give us to be here together, to study your word, to worship you. Father, we pray that you would change us. We are sinners. We do not deserve mercy, yet you are merciful. You are gracious with us every day. Cleanse us Lord at this time, for we want to have fellowship with you. We've learned that the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, this is what Peter has taught us in this passage. Which means that you are here right now in our midst. This is a miraculous moment when we meet with the Creator of the universe, the Savior of our souls. So Father, we pray that you would convict us of our sins, that you would cleanse us, that you would soften our hearts to be receptive to your words, that we would heed the instruction of the Holy Spirit as He speaks to us, as He convicts us of our self-righteousness and of our sin, that we would ask for His righteousness. So we pray that it is your Spirit that speaks to us this morning. Amen. This is a very beautiful passage, really, which we began studying last week. This is a very beautiful passage, really, which we began studying last week. And the passage really is all about God's people, His new covenant people, the church. That's why we began looking at this passage last week. And when Peter writes to the church, he compares them. He uses the metaphor of a temple, of an actually growing temple, an unfinished temple, interestingly, much like Paul does in Ephesians, to compare to the church. Although he begins his discussion by talking about the cornerstone. He says, as you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him. And this is the actual commitment in the passage, or the actual statement in the passage. You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house. That is really the main statement in this passage. You, those of you who have believed in Christ, notice that he begins saying, as you come to Him, as you come in faith to Him, you are being built into a spiritual house. Now, we know that the spiritual house he has in mind is the temple. Because then he says, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in scripture he says, and he continues, talking about the cornerstone, and then in verse 9, he picks up, but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him. So, he's speaking about the theological and transcendental reality of the church. And here, the universal church, which is expressed in local communities like this one. Now, he begins talking to Him by telling them that they are a temple. I am not going to repeat my message from last week, so if you've missed it, you'll have to go hear it online. But the point last week was, we studied it. What are the implications that you are a living stone? What are the implications that are being added to this growing temple? What is the importance of this image of the temple? In a nutshell, the idea is that God's presence dwells among us as we gather together. This is a miraculous event. I can assure you, on the authority of scripture, that God is here right now. But the point of the words that we studied last week was that, if you come to Jesus, if you claim to Jesus and have no affiliation with His body, the church, then you are a walking contradiction. That was the theme of last week. He says, as you come to Him, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house. So, belief in Jesus should result automatically as community with His body. So, that's why I am not saying it's impossible for a Christian to be a Christian without having an affiliation to the body of Christ, but it is a walking contradiction. According to the theology of the scripture, if you have Jesus, you are part of His body. And interestingly, He uses the metaphor of a living stone. Stones are dead by their very nature. But when you talk about the temple of the church, the stones that make up this body are living. They are energized by the power of the main stone, the cornerstone. And they are energized by the Holy Spirit to affect everybody into this community. How we apply that, that depends on everyone. We are different here. What does that mean for you to join this church or to be part of this body? It may be different. But that is the heart of that passage. When you come to Christ, you are made part of this growing temple. You are a living stone. But, when Peter begins preaching through this passage, he actually begins by talking about the living stone. As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God. And then he goes to talk about the church. However, in verse 6, he comes back to talk about the stone. And you see, even though this passage talks about what the church is theologically, and what are the implications of that, we cannot proceed to talk about the church if we don't talk about the foundation of the church, the main stone, the cornerstone. We cannot proceed, not just if we don't talk about it, but if we don't ponder and think about its scriptural authority. So, in the next verses, verses 6 and 8, Peter is going to use four Old Testament scriptures to talk about the cornerstone, the foundation of this growing temple. Why is that? Well, this is the question that Peter is going to try to answer. And I want you to listen carefully. Can it be true that Jesus is the Messiah when the Jewish people as a whole fail to recognize Him as such? If you think about it, the majority of Jews rejected Jesus, even though the church began ethnically as a Jewish church. But the Jewish people as a whole have rejected Jesus as their Messiah in their majority. In fact, today Israel is pagan. Israel is, at best, agnostic. You more radicals, yes, they are still waiting for a Messiah. They reject Jesus. So, the question is a valid one. Can it be true that Jesus is the Messiah when His own people fail to recognize Him as such? Questions of this kind must have caused in Peter's readers what we today call an identity crisis. They are following and worshiping Jesus, yet the majority of their people who read the same scriptures do not believe Jesus is the Messiah. So, they are faced with this identity crisis. Consequently, one important part of Christian apologetics at that time was to provide a convincing explanation as to why so few share their belief that Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy about the Messiah. In these verses, therefore, Peter tackles this problem. Using three Old Testament scriptures, Peter will show that the scriptures already predicted the fact that many were going to reject the Messiah, God's cornerstone. In other words, Peter is going to tell his readers, I know you're struggling with this, but there's nothing to be surprised about. God predicted this in the scriptures. So, that is one of the main points of the verses we just read that Peter is going to do. He's going to try to answer this question. At the same time, even though it is true that many people have rejected our Lord Jesus as Messiah, mainly here, the Jewish people, he will encourage his reader, nevertheless, to never stop, to never give up preaching the gospel, for people's eternal destiny depends on whether or not they believe in Jesus. People's eternal destiny depends on whether or not they believe in Jesus. That is another point that he makes in this passage. So then, again, as a mode of introduction, the passage we're about to study has a twofold purpose. The first one is to support with Old Testament scripture that the rejection of Jesus as Messiah by his own people, as John would write, he came to his own, but his own did not recognize him, is something not to be surprised about, because it was already predicted in Old Testament scripture. That's the first goal, and that's the first reason why Peter writes this passage. The second reason is that that is no excuse for any of us to be quiet. We must, we are called to preach the good news of the gospel, even if you will be rejected, for the most part, it doesn't matter. We're called to do it because people's destiny depends on whether or not they believe in Jesus. That's the verse we're going to study this morning addresses these two themes. First, it explains to us why many people, especially the Jewish people as a whole, have rejected Jesus as their Messiah. And second, it clarifies that the eternal destiny of people depends on how they respond to Jesus and Jesus alone. Now, as we look at these verses, I want you to think about your own life. How have you responded to Jesus? And this is probably the personal application. Think about it. Again, the passage begins with a quotation from Isaiah 28 16. Now, by making reference to this Old Testament scripture, Peter declares that those who believe in the cornerstone, that is, Jesus, because he identifies this living stone with the Lord Jesus, as people believe, those who believe in the cornerstone will experience life and honor. That's the first thing that Peter makes clear. The apostle writes, for in Scripture it says, See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now, to you who believe, he says, this stone is precious. Once again, as I said, Peter begins this text by quoting Isaiah 28 16. Now, we don't have time to go look and read the entire chapter, but we need to have an idea of what's going on in this passage to understand what Peter is doing here. He uses this passage from the Old Testament. And the point of this first Old Testament reference is to state positively that those whose lives are built on God's cornerstone will stand firm. That is the first point. That's the point of Isaiah. They will stand firm, or as Peter puts it, they will never be put to shame. When you go to the passage in Isaiah, the emphasis is that those who build their lives on this cornerstone will stand firm. In this passage, and I am talking about the reference to Isaiah, God complains against Jerusalem's rulers who have ignored God, but think that they are safe from trouble because of their political allegiances. You see, the people of Israel right now, during this time, as Isaiah writes, are like ignoring God. They are not following the commandments and the covenant that they made with God in the Old Testament when God spoke to Moses. Yet, they think they are safe from God's judgment. Why? Because they've made some political allegiances and treaties with these neighboring pagan countries. It will be okay. They are really thinking they can get away with their sins. And that is the context. They think they will be safe from trouble because of their political agreements, treaties. So, it is in that context that God Himself, He likens Himself to a builder who commences a new building in Zion, the mountain, Jerusalem. So, God Himself, He makes Himself, He uses the metaphor of a builder, and He is the builder who commences, or the architect who begins this new building in Zion. He is about to lay a foundation stone which will be of His own choice and of high quality. The prophet goes on to say that Yahweh's building will be built with justice and righteousness, unlike the building that the people of Israel are trying to build. Now, according to Isaiah, anybody who trusts this solid foundation will be like a builder whose building stands firmly. He will not suffer the humiliation of seeing his building fall to ruins. By the way, Jesus, I believe, thinking of this passage in Isaiah, shares a similar parable. Remember the two men who build their house? You even have a little children's song, if you build your house on the rock, you know what will happen when the rains come, and all of that. And if you build your house on the sand, you kids have learned that song. He used thinking about it, and that's the point of Isaiah. In the context of Isaiah, the prophet is announcing the need to depend on Yahweh and what He's doing, and to practice righteousness and justice. Now, we must acknowledge that nothing that is said in Isaiah suggests what the stone represents. Isaiah doesn't tell us that the stone refers to the Messiah or to Christ. However, Peter accepts the stone as Christ. Why is that? I believe because of the third reference, which is in verse 8, "...and a stone that causes people to stumble, and a rock that makes them fall." I will come back to that verse, but in that verse, the Old Testament prophet clearly identifies this stone with God Himself. So, Peter is working kind of like a re-trajectory. It is that final verse, which we will examine in a minute, that drives his interpretation of the passage in Isaiah we are looking. Even though Isaiah doesn't tell us that the stone refers to the Messiah, Peter accepts the stone as Christ. An identification that was already current in the church, and that it was, as I said, warranted by other Old Testament scriptures. While it would be wrong to see in the verse a direct prophecy of the coming of Christ, we do have what we call a case of typology, prophetic typology. What God was doing in the time of Isaiah is seen as the pattern for what He is now doing in Christ. Moreover, Peter's use implies that God intended exactly what was happening in Isaiah's time to function as a typological anticipation of what He would do later in Christ. Kind of like a picture, an analogical reality. Everything you saw happening during Isaiah was going to be sort of a repetition during this time when He is writing. Peter clarifies to us that the foundation is Christ, and thus he proceeds to encourage all of us, like Isaiah did to his original audience, he encourages us to build our lives on the foundation of Christ. So that our building, and that is our lives, both present and future, our destiny will stand firm, or will remain, as he says it somewhere else, to eternal life. We should not forget that people's eternal destiny depends on whether or not they believe in Jesus. If we build our lives upon the cornerstone, that is, if we continuously believe in Jesus Christ, if we accept the fact that He is the Lord and Messiah, our destiny is secure in God's hands. So that is the first point. Those whose lives are built on God's cornerstone will stand firm. Those whose lives are built on God's cornerstone will also be honored by God. This is made clear at the beginning of verse 7, although it's not that clear in your translation, and in most translations, to be honest. It is surprising that both the NIV, the KJV, the ESV, all your mainstream translations in English, render the first clause in verse 7 as, Now to you who believe this stone is precious. It is surprising because that is not what the text says literally. The text, which for those of you Greek geeks, the text is a verbless clause. It doesn't have a verb, and it literally says, Therefore to you who believe the honor. That's what it says. Therefore for you to believe the honor. So because it is expressed that way, it's a really difficult translation to make sense of. So some scholars, when they start thinking about this verse, they think that the word honor modifies the noun stone, which was mentioned already as early as verse 4, so that is why they render it in a way that gives the impression that it is the stone that is precious or honorable. The stone is honorable, so they translated as, For you who believe this stone is precious. Remember, the text literally says, Therefore to you who believe is the honor. But they think this word honor modifies the stone, so therefore they supply the word this stone is precious. However, the word honor takes up not the description of the stone as precious, but the final clause of the quotation, which is read, which says that the believers will not be put to shame, or positively, they will be honored. Thus, a better translation is the one we find in the Christian standard Bible, which was formerly the Holman standard Bible, I think, which says, So honor will come to you who believe. Now, the reason why many people don't like to translate this passage this way is because, in their theology, it just seems wrong that God would honor the believer. It just doesn't seem right. They think God is the one who is worthy of honor and praise. And we know that to be true. So, when they hear something that the believers will be honored, or will receive some sort of praise or recognition by God, they think that that just sounds man-centric, bad theology. And I often say, well, they have forgotten passages such as, Good and Faithful Servant. I want to hear those words. In the little you have been faithful, I will put you much more. You've done well, good and faithful servant. They forget that Scripture in Matthew talks about your heavenly rewards, and things like that. So this is not bad theology. It is proper theology, but we must be conscious not to take the place of God. Peter is making clear that those who believe in Jesus Christ will be honored by Him. They will be recognized. They will never be put to shame. Yes, people's eternal destiny depends on whether or not they believe in Jesus. Those who believe in Him will not only enjoy God forever, they will also be recognized and honored by God Himself. That's how loving and gracious God is. We don't deserve recognition. Even the faith we receive to believe in Him comes from God. Yet, that very step of conviction, that very confession of faith, is something for which God will honor His children. However, those who reject the cornerstone will experience shame and destruction. This is the point Peter will make in the remaining of verse 7 and verse 8 by means of two other Old Testament Scriptures. These two Old Testament Scriptures are Psalm 118.22 and Isaiah, again, but chapter 8, verse 14. We'll look at each one of them carefully by means of reference in Psalm 118.22. Peter states the obvious in this passage. Namely, that the stone the builders rejected, God has made the cornerstone. This means that the builders' veredict of the stone has been rejected by God, who in turn has vindicated the stone, our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, in the psalm, which is a song, God has fashioned this stone to be put as the main stone of this building He's trying to construct, which we just read in Isaiah. But the builders came, that is the people of Israel. They came and they said, no, I don't like that stone. No, I don't think it's good enough. They rejected this stone. However, their veredict is rejected by God Himself. God says, this stone is precious to me. He has vindicated the stone. Now, how does Peter's argument work in this passage? Because these are strings of Old Testament reference. Why does he quote these things? The quotation comes, as I said, from a psalm about a king going to the temple to give his thanks to God for a military victory. It seems that even among his own people, some rejected him and had doubts about his ability. This is a Davidic king. Now he had vindicated by God, who caused his triumph. Even the people are doubting his ability to triumph. God actually vindicates him. This verse, by the way, was quoted by the Lord Jesus at the conclusion of the parable of the vineyard, where He makes exactly the same point about the Messiah, the descendant of the king in the psalm. In the parable of the vineyard, God sends His servants to His land. He gives it to... He has rented the plot to be worked. The servants come to see what's going on. They kill the servants. Finally, God says, I'm going to send my own son. Surely, they're not going to kill my son. Then the son goes and they kill them, making a reference to the crucifixion. And after that, Jesus said, He quotes these words, the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. In other words, Jesus, even though he was rejected by people, because the Old Testament predicts it that it was going to be, he was vindicated by God as the true Messiah, the King of kings. Now, since God vindicated the stone, the stone the builders rejected is what causes their fall and destruction. It causes their fall because rejecting the stone is the same as rejecting the architect who designed the stone as the main stone of his building project. This is the point of the third Old Testament quotation, which comes from Isaiah 8, verse 14. The scripture reveals the other significance of the stone for unbelievers. In the original context, the Lord encourages the prophet not to fear what the people of Israel fear, but to fear Him, for He will be a sanctuary, a holy place for the prophet. However, for both Israel and Judah, Isaiah writes, those who do not fear God, God will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. The first thing we must highlight in regard to this verse is that the stone is used as a metaphor to represent the Lord Himself. It is on the basis of this comparison that the apostle Peter and all the New Testament writers apply the other two Old Testament references to Christ. In this reference in Isaiah, the stone is God. There's no doubt about that. So, Peter reads this interpretation into the passage we just looked at earlier, and he applies it to God, which he believes is our Lord Jesus Christ. It was clear to the first Christians and to many Jews that the cornerstone was a metaphor that applied to a person, sometimes to God and sometimes to the Messiah. This is the reason why all of these three Old Testament verses are strong prophetic evidence that Jesus is the Messiah. Now, the second thing that is important in this passage, and that is significant, is that the Lord is a stone over which people trip and fall to their own destruction. This is scary, because we know the Lord Jesus is love, merciful. We don't think of somebody who is bringing judgment, but if we read John, He is a righteous judge as well. This is a metaphorical way of saying that if people reject Christ, their rejection will be their own undoing, their own destruction. Again, people's eternal destiny depends on whether or not they believe in Jesus. Those who believe in Jesus will experience eternal life, and they will experience honor. However, those who reject Jesus will experience shame and destruction. But how do people stumble on the stone? And with this, I'm going to close. How do people stumble on the stone? That is, how do they stumble on Christ? Well, Peter answers by saying that the builders stumble and fall when they disobey the gospel. In the remaining words, Peter explains that the builders stumble because they disobey the message. That is, they stumble because they refuse to believe the gospel, the message where Jesus is presented as the Christ or the Messiah. They don't recognize that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and that's how they stumble. In fact, Peter goes even a little bit farther, and he says that they were destined for this. Now, what does that mean? What does Peter mean by saying that they were destined for this? Well, first, so you don't misunderstand this passage, misunderstand it, I have to tell you what it doesn't mean. Okay? These words do not mean that God had predestined people to be condemned or to go to hell as if they had no real choice. It doesn't mean that. What these words mean is that people who reject the gospel message are destined to stumble. In other words, if you don't accept that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and on the third day rose again as the Christ, the Messiah, and was exalted to the highest place. If you do not believe that he is Lord and Savior, you are doomed, you are destined to stumble. There is no other hope. What this means, and I am sorry if I am not politically correct at this moment, what this means is that the Christian faith is exclusivist, particular. Christian theology teaches that there is no other way to have a relationship with God unless you come to Christ. There is no many ways, there is no different ways, there is only one way, through Jesus Christ. I realize this is offensive today to our political understanding of tolerance and postmodernistic thought, thinking that every truth is relative and everything is good. What is good for you is good for you as long as it doesn't affect me. And that is the thought that Peter wants to fight against. You know why? Because this postmodernistic relativism and hypersensitive tolerance of a very pluralistic society is the demise of humanity. Because if they don't build their lives on the cornerstone, all they are destined for is to trip and fall over to their destruction. To their destruction if they reject the gospel. The obvious and unavoidable consequence of rejecting Jesus as Lord and Savior is shame and destruction. The stone is set there by God's purpose so that if people refuse to build on it, it will become the means of their ruin. In other words, the stone doesn't go anywhere, Jesus doesn't move, the stone is there. The ones that change are you, how you respond to that. You either build on it or you trip on it to crush yourself. This is the reason why we must never stop preaching the gospel. People's eternal destiny depends on whether or not they believe in Jesus. We must faithfully preach the truth about the Christ. We must remind people that what God promised in the past has been fulfilled in Christ. That if we believe in Him, we will experience life and honor. And that is loving, even though it is not politically correct. So, to the question at the beginning, can it be true that Jesus is the Messiah when the Jewish people as a whole fail to recognize Him as such? Peter's answer is a definite yes. It is a yes because the rejection of our Lord by many of His own people was something that was anticipated in the Old Testament. Something that should not be surprising. However, even though this is true, there are still many people who will believe the gospel. And it is because of them that we must insist on preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, people's eternal destiny depends on whether or not they believe in Jesus. Christ is the only way of salvation. To reject Christ means to be doomed to eternal destruction. To believe in Him, however, means to have and to inherit everlasting life and to receive honor by God. Let us pray. Dear God, thank You for Your Word and the opportunity You give us to study Your Word. Challenge our hearts. Give us humility. If there is anyone here, Lord, who has been rejecting the cornerstone, Lord, I beg You that they would believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Messiah. May they not trip and fall to their own destruction. May they believe and build their lives on the cornerstone, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that they would experience salvation and honor. And we know that this is Your will because Peter will write later that it is God's will that everybody would proceed to repentance. God wants everybody to be saved. May they respond in faith. Amen.