“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.”
– 1 Peter 2:6
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know a guy, gal or kid who has had God – as God the Spirit, prompt him or her to pass by a blood stained cross and through the faith/grace door into a growing family of Christ-follower guys, gals and kids? The guys, gals or kids who have been prompted by God – as God the Spirit, to . . ., God – as God the Father, chose and/or elected to be His adopted kids before God created planet Earth. The guys, gals and kids are seen as royal priests by God – as God the Father, who He has tenured for a ‘season’ on planet Earth to reflect His holiness, to present to Him his or her body/life as a living sacrifice, to intercede for God-ordained leaders, God-appointed acquaintances and God-assigned family members that He will give them divine direction for the choices/decisions that they will face having to make, to represent Him by freely giving monetary gifts and/or material goods to his or her neighbors, to openly, unashamedly praise Him for His mercy and to respond by doing good deeds involuntarily. The guys, gals and kids are members of a holy nation who unmeritedly became recipients of God’s infinite, eternal mercy. The guys, gals and kids became forever owned by God when He – as God the Father, had Jesus – Who is God – as God the Son, be viciously and inhumanly hung on and nailed to the blood stained cross, to have the blood that was shed by Him be the offering/ransom payment as the prerequisite for guys, gals and kids to be enveloped in His wonderful radiant light freed from the helpless subjugation of living in a darkness that offers no hope. The guys, gals and kids are like newborn physical babies who are continually craving milk as their born again spiritual birth constantly craves ‘tasting’ the fulfillment of meditating on God ’s Living Word. The guys, gals and kids through the regenerating work of God – as God the Spirit, of sanctifying them will remove – over time, Satan-dispatched minion spirits – which includes malice spirits, deceit spirits, hypocrisy spirits, envy spirits, slander spirits, etc. that Satan has at his disposal to deploy to engender or provoke guys, gals and kids to act out, resulting in the guys, gals and kids to be irrepressibly ridded from ever having again a Satan-delegated gofer bringing doom and gloom into their hearts and minds. The guys, gals and kids will internalize their foreignness as an alien or stranger in a world that is being governed by a devious enemy – who is Satan, who will invariably unleash all the malevolent forces that he is being allowed to use by God against every guy, gal and kid who he knows is no longer in ‘his camp’.
Apostle Peter – in 1 Peter 2, used metaphors to help cement the truths that he wanted to get across to the guys and gals who would read this first letter that he wrote. A building’s cornerstone and the stones that are being used in the building’s construction is an obvious simile to Apostle Peter’s take on Jesus Christ’s – who was Apostle Peter’s mentor/coach, single most significant role – as being the ‘rejected capstone’, in the continual growing fellowship of Christ-follower guys, gals and kids – who he included himself, who God – as God the Spirit, has led past the blood stained cross on which Jesus – Who is God the Son, suffered and died on and through the faith/grace door with these guys, gals and kids metaphorically being ‘living stones’ for the walls of this communal building/body. Apostle Peter in verse 6 quotes from a psalm song, “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.”” Your grandmaa and grandpaa hope and pray that when God – as God the Son, buried Himself in your hearts that God – as God the Spirit, will use His name to expeditiously purge from your lives the oppressive wicked spirits that God – as God the Father, allowed Satan to haunt you. Your grandmaa and grandpaa get it that even though Jesus’ suffering on that blood stained cross had to take place as compensation for their inherited sin DNA and that Jesus’ whip inflicted wounds have healed all the emotional hurts and/or abusive insults that they have experienced and that they are being remanded by God from searching out environs that are being driven by guys and gals who have had Satan’s lackeys released to entangle them with spirits of pride, power, depravity, etc. that will bring about feelings of regret, shame, pain, etc. into their lives. Your grandmaa and grandpaa know that God still allows personal suffering to take place to remind them of what His Son – as God the Son, had to endure so that . . . as well as to be life lessons that teach and condition your grandmaa and grandpaa to persevere though difficult times as the spirits of perseverance and indurance invariably increases the faith that God – as God the Spirit, embeds in every Christ-follower guy, gal and kid.
Are there experiences that you have had that you think that you will always remember? A short distance from where your grandpaa grew up as a kid is a 300 acre lake called Lake Goldsmith. A favorite place at Lake Goldsmith where your grandpaa’s dad liked to go with your grandpaa’s ma and his kids to fish got named the big rock because a couple of kids could easily sit on top of the rock and fish. To get to the big rock, your grandpaa’s dad would drive his car though his dad’s pasture. The pasture to your grandpaa was what wide open prairie is like. The pasture would dry up in the summer. When your grandpaa smelled recently drying grass, your grandpaa was reminded of his dad’s dad’s pasture. Apostle Peter has reminded your grandpaa of the ‘big rock’ when he mentioned ‘The Cornerstone’.
1 Peter 2 (1183)