Cornerstone

A Christian professor once said. “The gospel is the record of what God has done. The gospel is NOT a record of what God has done, or will do, in us. The gospel is a record of what God has done outside, or despite, of us. The gospel is about what God has done through Christ.”

The conflict between mans desire to save himself and God’s desire to save mankind. We see this in the very beginning.

Genesis 4:3-7 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

We can see from the text Abel knew what was required for an atonement offering. It is not clear whether or not Cain owned animals, as it is not mentioned, yet we can deduce based on other texts that in fact he did own animals. It is this choice between relying on God or relying on self.

From the very first word of the Torah… Beginning we see YHVH’s plan. H7225 רֵאשִׁית Be-re’shiyth (Bet ray-sheeth’) n-f. 1. the first, in place, time, order or rank. The word “beginning” or Be-re’shyit contains the Hebrew letters Bet, Resh, Aleph, Shin, Yod and Tav. These were pictographic letters with each creating their own word.

The word beginning here is translated by the individual Hebrew letters thusly; Bet is Tent/house, Resh is head/father, Aleph means leader, Shin is a set of fangs/teeth meaning piercing, Yod is a hand/arm and Tav is a set of Crossed sticks. The full understanding of the word ‘beginning’ is now, “The head of the house of the Father, pierced by the hand, on a cross, to bring the covenant.”

Deuteronomy 7:8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Jeremiah 42:11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

This is the cornerstone of our faith. That God will secure and protect his elect into and through the ultimate test of mankind. He will guide and teach the faithful during the greatest persecution ever to be witnessed.

Matthew 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

The stone is Yeshua Messiah as the atonement for sins. The builders are the Scribes and Pharisees who are the religious “greats” of the day. Organized religion was, and still very much is, big business. The religious leaders of the day were no different than the ‘prosperity’ or ‘seed of faith’ hucksters of today. They created for themselves an artificial faith with thousands of rules thinking they were saving themselves from disobeying God.

All God wanted was for them to do, is to live in relationship together; the people and God, a perfect marriage.

God is the perfect carpenter. He has built the most beautiful place to live and the most beautiful plan for His people. We need to do nothing more than to listen and assimilate our thoughts and actions into his perfect plan.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul:
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple.
Psalm 19:7

The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

If we want to truly understand the plan for our life, the plan of salvation, the plan for the end of days…… we need to start at the cornerstone.

Ask yourself ..”am I trying to save myself, create my own rules, or am I letting Gods perfect law determine my position of my entire way of life?”

Sounds like being caught between The Rock and a hard place.