Living Stones
The apostle Peter writes to believers in Christ,
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men 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 capstone,’” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” 1 Peter 2:4-8.
There are two basic points here. First believers in Christ are called “living stones” “being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood...”
Believers in Christ don’t simply go to a Church building. It is not the building that is the church it is the believers themselves that are the church.
Secondly Christ is the corner stone of the Church. However Peter notes that to many who do not believe in Jesus, Jesus is “The stone that the builders rejected.” “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall”
For a believer in Christ Jesus is God incarnate, the Son of God, the creator of the world and everything in it.
To those who do not believe in Christ he is none of these. At best he is a good man.
The writer of Hebrews makes it clear what Christians believe saying,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3.
I as a Christian believe there is no middle ground with Jesus he is everything we Christians believe him to be or he is not. C. S. Lewis said of Jesus,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
If you are reading this and are not a follower of Christ I would invite you to read the New Testament at least for yourself then make an informed decision as to who Christ is.
There is a down load called “You Version” it’s a free download and has various English bible versions. Take a look at it. Read, get the facts directly from the source. Then decide for yourself who Jesus is.
Please think about it.
The apostle Peter writes to believers in Christ,
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men 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 capstone,’” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” 1 Peter 2:4-8.
There are two basic points here. First believers in Christ are called “living stones” “being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood...”
Believers in Christ don’t simply go to a Church building. It is not the building that is the church it is the believers themselves that are the church.
Secondly Christ is the corner stone of the Church. However Peter notes that to many who do not believe in Jesus, Jesus is “The stone that the builders rejected.” “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall”
For a believer in Christ Jesus is God incarnate, the Son of God, the creator of the world and everything in it.
To those who do not believe in Christ he is none of these. At best he is a good man.
The writer of Hebrews makes it clear what Christians believe saying,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3.
I as a Christian believe there is no middle ground with Jesus he is everything we Christians believe him to be or he is not. C. S. Lewis said of Jesus,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
If you are reading this and are not a follower of Christ I would invite you to read the New Testament at least for yourself then make an informed decision as to who Christ is.
There is a down load called “You Version” it’s a free download and has various English bible versions. Take a look at it. Read, get the facts directly from the source. Then decide for yourself who Jesus is.
Please think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment