What Holds Your Life Together?
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“So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.”
Isaiah 28:16 (NIV)
When your world is falling apart, what holds your life together? Isaiah speaks of a foundation stone that has been tested. He calls it “a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation” and tells us that “the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.” If you want to live panic free when the pressures of life shake your world, you must build your life on a sure foundation. For that foundation to be rock solid it must have a strong and stable cornerstone. The cornerstone is a larger stone than those normally used that provides stability when binding two adjoining walls together. Isaiah tells us that this cornerstone upon whom we may build our lives with confidence is the Messiah. He is that sure foundation!
In three of the Gospels, Jesus referred to this very Messianic prophecy when He told the Parable of the Tenants in Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, and Luke 20:9-19. It was a parable that pictured how He would be rejected by His own people. Despite their rejection, Jesus has become the Cornerstone – the most important part of the Church today! He is the one who holds us all together.
Peter quoted this passage when on trial before the Sanhedrin for preaching the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In 1 Peter 2:4-8 (NIV), he would later write, “As you come to Him (Jesus), 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 disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.”
Like Peter, Paul also wrote in Romans 9:30-33, that the Jews stumbled over this cornerstone that God put in place. He refers to the precious cornerstone as a stumbling stone for the Jews, but a stepping stone for the Gentiles who put their faith in Jesus as the Messiah. The Jews stumble over this stone because they rejected the Messiah. Isaiah predicted this.
Our only hope in a shaky world is the tried-and-true foundation stone upon which we can stand with confidence. Jesus is the Rock of Ages upon whom we can rely in times of trouble! When we build our lives on Him, we will never be shaken or ashamed!