There is none beyond the name of Jesus. He alone is the focus and end point to all our thinking and breathing. There is not another way into the presence of God but by Jesus the door. There is not one who comes after Christ who supersedes all He is. Jesus was and is the last, the appointed one, Savior of all mankind for any who would come.
1 Peter2:6-8, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word….”
For those who may not know, a cornerstone was everything when building a structure in those days as well as today. The cornerstone needed to be the straightest of the straight and squarest of the square so that the rest of the builder would be built straight. The quality of the rest of the entire building was based on the quality of that cornerstone. And i’ve got to add….A building that leans will not endure. Jesus, the cornerstone is our standard by which we develop our character and standards, and there is not another who came after Him. Christ alone is King.
Too many people try to make Jesus conform to their lives, rather than making life changes which conform to Jesus. Churches sometimes spin the clear teachings of scriptures in order to have larger numbers, keep the people happy, keep them coming and keep them giving. If that is our attitude and operation model, then plainly put, Jesus is not our cornerstone and our lives are not built on Him.
Remember this: When we build our lives on Jesus, we will not be put to shame, and these days, shame keeps a lot of people crushed under the heel of darkness. When we work to build on Christ the solid rock, we will be established in our lives and, again, will not be shamed.
We may be rejected by people, but when we are built on Jesus, we will never be abandoned by God.
Believe this: Our trials and hardships are not a symbol of God’s rejection. No! That is called retributive theology, do good/get good, do bad/get bad… and by no means is that God’s heart.
Our identity is not found in the opinions of humanity. i think children and teenagers are exhausted at constantly being asked: How does that make you feel? So much of the news service makes a big deal about how people feel, and then they exploit feelings and public opinion in order to advance their agenda. God is far more interested in our faith than our feelings. Our state of being, our feelings, come and go on the wind, but our standing in Christ is made sure by the blood of Jesus.
Hear this: Never let your state define your standing. i’ll say that again: Never let your state define your standing. Think about that carefully.
Reuben Morgan explains that “When the earth shakes, we look to our feet and wonder what it is that we are standing on? When darkness seems to hide His face; In every high and stormy gale; Through the storm; My anchor holds”. It is a desire to place emphasis on Jesus and a prayer that people everywhere – regardless of circumstance – will be encouraged to find hope in Christ, the Cornerstone.”
There is not another whom Jesus paved the way for, any and all others fall short at His glorious feet, and all others are liars and pretenders to the throne of God. There is not “Jesus and another who is greater who came later”. Nope, only one Savior and there’s not another who came after. My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus’ name. When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. My anchor holds within the veil. When he shall come with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in Him be found. Dressed in His righteousness, alone, Faultless stand before the throne. Christ alone, Cornerstone. Weak made strong in the Savior’s love. Through the storm He is Lord, Lord of all.
Revelation17:14 says, “… for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
Isaiah the prophet spoke the word of the Lord saying, “ “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation.” He was speaking of Jesus. In Acts4 Peter aimed his words directly at the Jewish religious leaders, stating, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone”.
In Eph2, again Paul speaks of Jesus as the cornerstone, saying, “You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone”.
Jesus is the foundation of the Church as well as for the life of each believer. If Jesus is not the Son of God, if he did not die on the cross for our sins, if his resurrection from the dead is not evidence of the Father’s acceptance of his payment, if we do not gain access to Jesus’ cross and accomplishments through faith, and if the Holy Spirit was not sent to us to renew , strengthen and sustain us, then we have no reason for any hope at all, other than to look forward to suffering. The key here, once again, is that our hope and help are not based on the idea of Jesus or his cross, but on the actual, historical person of Jesus and the actual-historical cross upon which he hung.
Christ alone is the foundation of the Church as well as for the life of each believer. Jesus and no other is the cornerstone upon who hinges the redemption of the universe for any who would have it.
What do you think?
i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name Ministries.