The Cornerstone

Hi sisters,

My quiet times have been building on my last post about contributing to “God’s house.” My time in God’s Word this morning was a good reminder of who provides the Template. It came from Zechariah and I Corinthians.

“for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah. . . From him shall come the cornerstone” (Zechariah 10:3-4).

“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (I Corinthians 3:5-15)

God foretold through His prophets, like Zechariah that He would send the Cornerstone, upon which His kingdom would be built. A cornerstone is the first stone laid for a building and is the reference point for all other stones for the building.

Of course, the prophesy was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is the Cornerstone upon which God’s eternal Kingdom is being built. He is the reference point for our faith. Therefore, by strong implication that means no pastor/priest, no denomination, no specific church group, no Christian ministry, you, nor me are the cornerstone of faith! NO one has the “corner of the market” on faith except Jesus. God is the Designer, Jesus is the Template. Period.

Who are we? Not the designers, but servants called to build on the foundation of Christ according to His example. We are not at liberty to make it up; we imitate the Master. Also, Paul does not see any “higher glory” for himself or Apollos. One helped the Corinthians in their initial surrender to Jesus. The other helped cultivate their new faith. Either way, God receives the glory. Both Paul and Apollos are instrumental in the lives of the Corinthians, but Jesus remains the foundation. God remains the Giver of growth.

That brings us to sobering warning. Paul says that it is possible for us to be “working” and yet be building upon the wrong foundation. It is possible for us to think we are doing work for Jesus, and yet be completely off track. Paul says that all the work we are doing will be tested. If our work is based on Jesus, it will survive. If it is not, it will be destroyed and we will suffer loss. Ouch.

There are plenty of interpretations of that passage. All I know is that suffering loss sounds like a bad thing. It further sounds like we are capable of leading others astray by convincing them they are part of the “building” meanwhile God is saying they aren’t.

Therefore, in the end, our work for God’s Kingdom has to be measured by the standard of Jesus. Are our efforts helping other people come to Jesus, surrender to Jesus, become more like Jesus, and contribute to the mission of Jesus? This was Jesus’ commission to us after all. Are we examining if our “religious activity” is contributing to this mission? Or are we more concerned about keeping people comfortable, staying popular, and keeping traditions? This doesn’t mean that our efforts are “bad,” but they could be misled and not accomplishing the mission God left us on earth to do. ALL our work for the Kingdom must be referenced to the Cornerstone. Because if we are building upon our name, our preferences, our traditions, our comforts, etc., we may find out in the end that we have not contributed to God’s house at all, but have suffered loss.

How do we know if we are building on Jesus? Oooo good question. I ask myself this and deeply desire to build on His foundation. I think I have three starting points (but I still have more to learn myself!) One: There’s absolutely no way around it, we have to be feasting on God’s Word- the whole thing! Not just the parts we like or are easy to read. Two: we have to learn the ways of Jesus. His WHOLE life, not just the part about dying for our sins. Three: We must be serious about training (I Timothy 4:7-8) not just learning.

Lastly, for point “two” I HIGHLY recommend the book “Master Plan of Evangelism” by Robert Coleman. I am re-reading it again (not sure how many times I’ve read it) and he says, “This is one of the marvels of [Jesus’] strategy. It is so unassuming and silent that it is unnoticed by the hurried churchman. But when the realization of his controlling method finally dawns on the open mind of the disciple, he will be amazed at its simplicity and will wonder how he could have ever missed it.”

So let us be women who look to Jesus as our reference point (cornerstone) for our faith and discipleship. Let us look to the Designer’s Template for direction on “building” so that our Kingdom work might stand firm when tested. And remember, God gives the growth!