CORNERSTONE
A lot of churches have cornerstone in their title. Others like to talk about Jesus Christ being their chief cornerstone. I was at Gracepoint today, a primarily Korean congregation in Erdenheim, PA with a lot of students from Arcadia University visiting troday. Pastor Robert talked about how people choose so much else to be their cornerstone than Christ - career, looks, relationships, grades, etc. The problem with doing that is that only Christ is perfect. Only Christ lasts, and their is NO other foundation that will stand other than Christ.
I want to share for a few moments on why I believe many do NOT build their lives on Christ. First is that they honestly do not know who Christ is. Many view him as a prophet, a teacher, or perhaps a son of God. Most people in this world build their lives around a prophet, a teacher, or even a son of God. Islam, Buddhism, Hare Krishna, Mormonism, the Watchtower, and many more. The problem with that is that even IF the prophets they followed were true (they are not), it would not be enough, Man has sinned, and religion cannot save him or put him back into proper relationship with God.
I am an architect, and the cornerstones one hears about today are not what is referred to in scripture. Today's cornerstones are ceremonial and often contain memorabilia from the dedication event. We have a datum point which is set where all the building's information is computed from. Without a perfect starting point, and without perfect conformance with it, the building will be out of whack. Now there are tolerances when building a physical building, but there can be none when building a spiritual house.
Our God is Holy and without holiness NO MAN (or woman) shall see God. NO matter how well thought out or how moral sounding a foundation you propose may be, it is NOT perfect, and it WILL crack snd it WILL fail. Whatever you build on a flawed foundation will not stand through life's storms NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT MAY LOOK. There are some absolutely amazing sandcastles built on the beach, but they disappear in a moment when the waves come.
Unfortunately, many churches are NOT built on Christ. He is the WORD, and most churches parse the Word and only accept PORTIONS of it. They are building a religion, they are not building on CHRIST. Only what is built on CHRIST and 100% of the WORD of God will last. Unless we see our sin and realize that no one but Christ can deal with that sin, we will build our lives on that which will fail, even a partial Christian experience! Few churches really obey the word of God - they pick and choose. That will never do with God! ALL scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitiable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Without the WHOLE COUNSEL of God, you will have errors, your will have flawed doctrine, and your righteousness will not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.
God chose to put all the fullness of himself into human form - a perfect representation of God - square and true like any cornerstone would need to be. Any deviation would not be good enough, Therefore we have not merely a prophet, and a true prophet at that, not only a teacher, but a gifted teacher at that, but we have the ONLY begotten Son of God to build out lives on. We have a PERFECT scripture and a PERFECT Holy Spirit to dwell in us.
WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU BUILD ON ANYTHING LESS?
I want to share for a few moments on why I believe many do NOT build their lives on Christ. First is that they honestly do not know who Christ is. Many view him as a prophet, a teacher, or perhaps a son of God. Most people in this world build their lives around a prophet, a teacher, or even a son of God. Islam, Buddhism, Hare Krishna, Mormonism, the Watchtower, and many more. The problem with that is that even IF the prophets they followed were true (they are not), it would not be enough, Man has sinned, and religion cannot save him or put him back into proper relationship with God.
I am an architect, and the cornerstones one hears about today are not what is referred to in scripture. Today's cornerstones are ceremonial and often contain memorabilia from the dedication event. We have a datum point which is set where all the building's information is computed from. Without a perfect starting point, and without perfect conformance with it, the building will be out of whack. Now there are tolerances when building a physical building, but there can be none when building a spiritual house.
Our God is Holy and without holiness NO MAN (or woman) shall see God. NO matter how well thought out or how moral sounding a foundation you propose may be, it is NOT perfect, and it WILL crack snd it WILL fail. Whatever you build on a flawed foundation will not stand through life's storms NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT MAY LOOK. There are some absolutely amazing sandcastles built on the beach, but they disappear in a moment when the waves come.
Unfortunately, many churches are NOT built on Christ. He is the WORD, and most churches parse the Word and only accept PORTIONS of it. They are building a religion, they are not building on CHRIST. Only what is built on CHRIST and 100% of the WORD of God will last. Unless we see our sin and realize that no one but Christ can deal with that sin, we will build our lives on that which will fail, even a partial Christian experience! Few churches really obey the word of God - they pick and choose. That will never do with God! ALL scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitiable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Without the WHOLE COUNSEL of God, you will have errors, your will have flawed doctrine, and your righteousness will not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.
God chose to put all the fullness of himself into human form - a perfect representation of God - square and true like any cornerstone would need to be. Any deviation would not be good enough, Therefore we have not merely a prophet, and a true prophet at that, not only a teacher, but a gifted teacher at that, but we have the ONLY begotten Son of God to build out lives on. We have a PERFECT scripture and a PERFECT Holy Spirit to dwell in us.
WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU BUILD ON ANYTHING LESS?
posted by John | 1:55 PM
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