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Christ As Cornerstone

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Both Old and New Testament Scripture refers to Jesus as the cornerstone. We know that Jesus is the head of the Church, but there is a particular significance to the cornerstone.

1 Peter 2:6 (NIV) 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.”

In a physical building, a cornerstone is the first stone laid for a structure, with every other stone laid in reference to that stone. In relationship to the Church, the cornerstone, Jesus Christ, defines what is straight and true. We find our identity both corporately and individually in the cornerstone. Jesus orients us in a particular direction, and He defines the original foundation and intention of the Church.

Church Movements In Relation To The Cornerstone

Many local churches are part of a movement, and there are numerous different church movements around the globe. Movement speaks of motion, and movement can be measured. There are many things we can measure in movement, including speed, distance, time, and angle. From a physics perspective, we measure from one fixed point towards another point. And for a fixed reference point, we typically use the earth (or something on the earth) as the starting place for measuring movement.

There are natural measurements, but there are also spiritual measurements. When it comes to the correct measurement of churches or church movements, we have to do that from a kingdom perspective, not from logic or natural measurements.

Spiritual Measurements

In the kingdom, everything is upside down – or more precisely, right side up! Essentially things are often opposite to what we expect. In the kingdom, rather than using earth as our fixed point, we use Christ as our fixed point. On earth, we measure AWAY from a fixed point – but in the kingdom, we measure TOWARDS the fixed point of the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. We measure from heaven’s perspective, not from earth’s perspective. In the kingdom, our primary measurement is not size or speed – it is whether the church and its members are moving closer to Jesus. From heaven’s perspective, our measurement is not about how impressive our programs are, but whether we are becoming more of a reflection of Jesus both individually and corporately. Faster is not always better – are we moving closer to Jesus, or are we just getting busier with more events?

There is nothing wrong with recording statistics or measuring church growth (after all, on the day of Pentecost it was recorded that 3000 people were added to the Church). However, these measurements in the book of Acts came as a result of having the focus firmly on Jesus. Salvation came to the people because the gospel was preached with power and authority. When we are operating from kingdom priorities, then church movement (towards Jesus) will result in salvations and true church increase, not just transfer growth!

Living Stones

In addition to Christ as the living Cornerstone, the apostle Peter refers to us individually as living stones.

1 Peter 2:4-5 (NIV) As you come to him, 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.

As we constantly position ourselves towards Jesus, we are being built into a spiritual house. But it is important to remember that this is not just a personal focus towards Christ – the Church is a Body with many members. This speaks not only of individual members in a local church, but each church around the world being a part of The Church.

There Are No Square Pegs In Round Holes

One of the sayings of the world when people feel like they don’t feel like they fit in is, “I feel like a square peg in a round hole.” But there is no place for this humanistic language in the Church. There are no square pegs in round holes in the Church, only living stones with each member fitly joined together.

A round hole speaks of isolation. And a peg is something that holds on to something else and does not move. These things cannot define being a part of the Church because discipleship is all about movement and relationship – relationship with God, and relationship with others. Isolated believers and isolated churches are unhealthy. A healthy spiritual building consists of living stones, moving consistently towards Jesus. And as we engage in discipleship, we (as living stones) come into contact with other living stones, and we are further refined – in the same way as iron sharpens iron.

When we truly have a revelation of heaven’s perspective, it changes everything. Our focus changes. We stop striving for natural outcomes and we live from an eternal perspective. Instead of being competitive towards other churches or ministries, we celebrate when they have a harvest of souls or build a new building. Instead of being jealous when someone is operating in the gifts of the Spirit, we celebrate that they are being a healthy part of the Body of Christ and growing closer to God, and we learn and receive from them.

Let’s be the Church which truly understands that we are God’s chosen people – His holy nation and His special possession. Let’s continue to move towards Christ as Cornerstone, and be the Church that God intended!

Read David McCracken’s blog – Seeing In The Spirit Realm.

Convinced In Our Christianity

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I am convinced that the majority of people in our world are not anti-Jesus. Are some anti-church? Yes. But they are not necessarily anti-Jesus.

The gospel tells us that “the common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37). Why? The answer is simple: because Jesus loved people!  He healed people, fed people, forgave people, and had compassion on people.  He loved everyone, including those whom others considered unlovable. He had time for little children and talked to those that others would have normally ignored. What was there not to love about Jesus?  Everything He said, no matter how challenging, was worthy of listening to because who He was had such credibility with His audience.  Although there were religious leaders who despised what He said, the majority heard His message with eagerness.

Because He was the message, He was received as He delivered the message.

All of this, of course, was made possible because of the indwelling Holy Spirit who was, literally, God-in-man.

My point is that we are to have the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is yearning to love people through us as He did through Jesus.  As we acknowledge Him constantly and intentionally, allow Him to live His life through us, we will have a glow about us that will attract, not repel.  The true Church of Jesus is an intensely beautiful body of people who it is a delight to know and have connection with.

Friends, if we live out of intimacy with the Father and by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we will live life differently. We will be literally convincing in our Christianity.  Not out of striving to do so, but because we will feel different; the result will come from a transformed heart within. That inner glow will be seen in our countenance, our attitudes, our actions, and our lifestyle.  True representatives of Jesus are beautiful people!

The common people heard Him gladly because His life was so completely convincing.  He walked the talk.

My challenge is this: To what degree are we convincing? Christians are called to be men and women of strong conviction – “the convinced ones”.  We often preach about those convictions and even write books about them; but do we live them?

There is only one way that we can effectively live out the convictions of the Christian life, and that is by the empowering reality of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  As we get a new revelation of His reality and Person within us, and surrender entirely to His control and directorship, those convictions become flesh in us, and the beauty of His life will be seen.  The Holy Spirit knows how to represent Jesus well and, in becoming the message, our communication of the message, is received much more easily.

In short, we need a new reliance on the indwelling Holy Spirit. We need to live life as one utterly abandoned to the cause of accurately representing Jesus to our world.  Friends, we need to be convincing.  I will close with the same thoughts from Selwyn Hughes in his devotional ‘Every Day with Jesus’,

“The indwelling of the Holy Spirit gives us a face-lift that makes us APPEAR redeemed, an inner assurance that makes us FEEL redeemed and reinforces every part of our personality so that we ACT redeemed.  It is the Spirit who makes the convinced convincing.”

My challenge to each of us is to live life in such a way that people will grow to love the Jesus we represent.

Isn’t it awesome that we have wonderful Holy Spirit, who empowers us to do exactly that!

Your friend,

David.

 

Read another related blog: Ambassadors For Christ by David McCracken.

Christmas – More Than A Season

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Christmas. It is one simple word that conveys a lot.

Christmas is a common word that denotes a season that happens every year. Regardless of what else is happening in the world, Christmas is never cancelled. Yes, the expression of it may be amended, but December 25th will always be Christmas.

Christmas is synonymous with family and friends, with eating and celebration, with gifts and stockings. Christmas is referred to as the festive season.

Christmas is a great opportunity to take a break, to have a rest and to go on vacation. Getting away from normal life is an anticipated escape for many. But Christmas is so much more than all of these wonderful things.

Christmas is the time of year when the world is pointed to the birth of Jesus Christ.

More than a season, and more than just a baby being born, Christmas is about a Son who was given. The eternal Son of God stepped down from heaven and took on the form of a man. He submitted Himself to the very people He had created.

Christmas is a defining marker in the history of the world. Everything changed from the birth of Jesus onwards. What had been was about to change. And not just slightly or for a short time. Forever. Completely. Eternally.

The Creator became human. The Divine became like us. The Eternal limited Himself to the natural.

Jesus marked the transition from the law to grace, from the old covenant to the new covenant. Jesus was the fulfilment of what had been prophetically declared.

Matthew 1:22-23 (NIV) All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Jesus was the very image of God on the earth, the radiance of the Father’s glory. Jesus embodied what God is actually like. Jesus was the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world. Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Jesus was the way for all of us to be reconciled to God.

Jesus lived perfectly. Jesus died horrifically. Jesus rose triumphantly. Jesus ascended victoriously.

And Jesus will come again! He will split the sky and He will ride in on a white horse. The dead will be raised, and we who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet Him in the air. Once again, everything will change. Forever. Completely. Eternally.

And this can all be traced back to one starry night, in a little town called Bethlehem. In a stable, surrounded by animals who find their origins in Him. Humbly. Unremarkably. Easy to be overlooked. A virgin and her husband. Alone. But in the very presence of Emmanuel; God with us. Their son. The Saviour. The King.

This is Christmas. This is Jesus. This is Life.

Read ‘A Christmas Miracle‘ here.