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The Bible uses not only plants to signify God, Christ, the church, the believers, and the world but also stones to signify Christ and the believers. According to 1 Corinthians 3:6-15, plants are for growth, and stones are for building. Plants grow to produce materials, and stones are built to accomplish a purpose—the building up of the church. The change from the growing plants to the building stones involves a process of transformation. To grow, to be transformed, and to be built involve Christ being life to the believers. This is the intrinsic reason that the Bible uses plants and stones to signify what Christ is to the believers and what the believers’ function is to Christ.
Using stones as symbols, the Bible likens Christ to a living stone, rejected by men but with God precious for the accomplishing of the glorious building in God’s eternal economy (1 Pet. 2:4).
A natural stone, being lifeless, is dead and not living. However, as a stone, Christ possesses life and is living to bring forth transformation and building.
As a living stone, Christ is able to generate us so that we may become living stones.
The generation and transformation by Christ as the living stone is for God’s building and expression, the consummation of which is the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is built with precious stones generated and transformed by Christ as the living stone to be the corporate expression of God in eternity.
Not only is Christ Himself a living stone, but He also makes the believers living stones by His life for the building up of the spiritual house of God (v. 5), which is the church.
The believers were clay in God’s creation (1 Cor. 15:47a). After they are regenerated by God with the word, the embodiment of the life of Christ (1 Pet. 1:23), they receive the divine life and nature and become stones (John 1:42).
The word which regenerates us is likened to the seed of a plant (1 Pet. 1:23). As regenerated persons brought forth by the word, we are plants that have been planted and watered by gospel preachers (1 Cor. 3:6-7). By enjoying Christ as our life supply and through growth and transformation, we become materials for God’s building (vv. 9-12).
The purpose of Christ’s being the living stone is for the building up of the spiritual house of God, which is the church. This purpose is accomplished by the believers being regenerated and becoming living stones for the building up of the church as the spiritual house of God (1 Pet. 2:5). These living stones are not separated or scattered and not merely piled together; rather, they are built with one another. Such a building is approved by the Lord, as indicated by the Lord’s giving a white stone to the overcomers in Pergamos, who overcome the worldly church (Rev. 2:12-17).
The Scriptures liken Christ to a living stone. They further liken Him to a rock (1 Cor. 10:4).
A living stone, as a figure of Christ, shows that He possesses life and is living. A rock, as a symbol of Christ, shows that He is steady and sure. He is firm, fixed, and stable in order to carry out His various functions.
As a sure and trustworthy rock, Christ has been tested. Some of His tests were of God (Isa. 53:4), some of His tests were of men (Matt. 16:1-12; 19:3-12), and some of His tests were of Satan (4:1-11). All these tests confirmed that Christ, as the rock laid by God, was sure.
As a tested stone, Christ is trustworthy. Hence, those who believe on Him shall not be put to shame (Isa. 28:16; Rom. 9:33).
As the shadow of a massive rock in a wasted land, Christ is a shelter for men. Thus, the believers have a resting place while walking on the heavenly pathway (Isa. 32:2).
As a massive rock, Christ is also spiritual (1 Cor. 10:4), having God, who is the Spirit, as His content and substance. As such, He is able to minister all the riches of divinity to those who believe on Him. He is not only living, possessing God’s life, but He is also spiritual, having God’s riches.
As a spiritual rock, Christ is able to move (v. 4). Hence, He is a spiritual rock who follows His believers. When His believers move according to the Spirit, He follows and moves with them to supply them with all the riches of God wherever they go and whatever they do.
As a living rock who is sure, tested, trustworthy, massive, spiritual, and movable, Christ has also been cleft so that all the spiritual riches in Him, signified by the living water flowing out of the cleft rock, might be released to be our supply (Exo. 17:6; Num. 20:11; 1 Cor. 10:4).
The most important function of Christ as the rock is to be the foundation stone of God’s divine building in the universe (Isa. 28:16; 1 Cor. 3:11).
As the foundation of God’s building, Christ must be firm, secure, and unshakable. This requires Him to be a rock that is firm and secure. Only such a foundation stone can enable God’s building to suffer any kind of attack or opposition and not fall (Matt. 7:24-27).
As the divine, massive rock as the foundation of God’s divine building, Christ has sufficient strength to uphold the entire building of God in the universe, that is, His universal church. Christ as the firm foundation stands (2 Tim. 2:19a), and the church, which God has built upon such a firm foundation, cannot be shaken by any person, thing, or matter in the universe. The gates of Hades, Satan’s power of darkness, cannot prevail against the church which is built upon this rock as the firm foundation (Matt. 16:18).
As the living stone and the rock, Christ is not only the foundation stone to uphold God’s building but also the cornerstone (Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:20b; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:6-7) to join the different sides, the different sections, of God’s building. God’s universal building is His church, the constituents of which are of different sides, including the Jews and the Gentiles. All these believers of different sides need joining in addition to upholding. Therefore, Christ is not only the foundation stone to uphold the church but also the cornerstone to join the church.
The most important function of Christ as the cornerstone of God’s building is to join together the different sides of God’s building. This is to join the believers, both Jewish and Gentile, to the unique church, which is the holy temple of God in the universe (Eph. 2:18-21), so that the Jewish and Gentile believers may become one Body (2:16; 3:6) as the fullness of God (v. 19) to be the great universal, corporate expression of God.
As the cornerstone of God’s building, Christ is not only for joining the different sides of God’s building but also for supporting the top cover of God’s building. By Christ’s joining, the different sides of God’s building have the strength to stand and become the support of the top covering of God’s building. Without Christ’s joining, the walls of God’s building cannot stand on their own, but through Christ’s joining they can stand and become a strong support for the top covering of God’s building.
If God’s building has only the foundation stone for upholding and the cornerstone for joining but does not have the topstone for covering, it becomes something with open, empty walls and is without any function whatsoever.
As the topstone (Zech. 4:7), Christ is for covering God’s entire building. The church of God enjoys Christ’s covering as the topstone.
As the topstone of God’s building, Christ is not only for covering against forces from the outside but even more for protecting the contents of God’s building. Without the protection of Christ as the topstone, the contents of the church—including the spiritual riches and the saints who enjoy the riches—would have no safeguard and would be damaged and destroyed by the enemy, Satan.
Isaiah 8:14 and 15 say that Christ will become “a stone to strike against / And a rock of stumbling / To both houses of Israel... / And many will stumble at these, / And will fall and be broken to pieces.” Isaiah’s word is quoted by the apostle Paul in Romans 9:32-33 and by Peter in 1 Peter 2:7-8. All these portions speak concerning the effect of Christ as the rock on the perverted people, that is, on His being a stone to strike against and a rock of stumbling. The unbelieving Israelites truly stumbled and fell on Him and were even broken to pieces (Matt. 21:44a).
As the rock laid by God, Christ is not only a stone to strike against and a rock of stumbling to the unbelieving perverted ones but also a smiting stone to those who rebel against God and oppose God (Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45; Matt. 21:44b).
As the stone that smites God’s enemy, Christ is for bringing in God’s kingdom. Before He becomes the stone to smite God’s enemy for the kingdom, He first became the seed of God’s kingdom to grow God’s kingdom (Mark 4:3, 26).
As the seed of God’s kingdom in His first coming to the earth, Christ was sown on the earth as the gospel to grow the kingdom of God, which is the church (Rom. 14:17). At His coming again, He will become a stone cut out without hands to smash and completely destroy the nations which fight against the kingdom of God so that the kingdom on the earth may become the kingdom of God and of Him (Rev. 11:15).
After smashing the nations which are at enmity with God, Christ as the stone cut out without hands will become a great mountain that will fill the whole earth. This indicates that He, as the stone dealing with the nations which are at enmity with God, will become the kingdom of God which will fill the whole earth. This shows that Christ as the reality of the kingdom of God in the church will be enlarged to become the kingdom of God which will fill the whole earth. Both the kingdom of God in the church today and the enlarged kingdom of God in the kingdom age in the future are Christ Himself and both take Christ as the reality.
The Bible uses not only plants to signify God, Christ, the church, the believers, and the world but also stones to signify Christ and the believers. According to 1 Corinthians 3:6-15, plants are for growth, and stones are for building. The plants grow to produce materials, and the stones are built to produce the church. The change from the growing plants to the building stones involves a process of transformation. This is the process of Christ being life to the believers, and it reveals the intrinsic reason that the Bible uses plants and stones to signify what Christ is to the believers.
With stones as symbols, the Bible likens Christ to the living stone, the rock, the foundation stone, the cornerstone, the topstone, the rock of stumbling, and the smiting stone. The living stone signifies that Christ possesses life and is living for generating the believers that they may become living stones for God’s building and expression, the consummation of which is the New Jerusalem. The living stones portray the believers, who were clay and who have received the divine life and nature through regeneration to become stones with the purpose of building up the church as the spiritual house of God. Such a building is approved by God. The rock portrays Christ as One who is steady, sure, and stable; who has been tested; who is trustworthy, massive, and spiritual; who follows His believers; and who has been cleft for ministering His riches to His believers. Such a Christ is also the foundation stone as the foundation of God’s building, who is firm, secure, and unshakable, having sufficient strength to uphold the entire building of God in the universe, which is His universal church. He is also the cornerstone for joining the different sides, the different sections, of God’s building, making it one Body as God’s fullness. With Christ’s joining, the walls of God’s building become a strong support for the top covering of God’s building. Christ as the topstone is for covering God’s entire building to resist the forces from outside and to protect the contents of God’s building.
To unbelieving perverted ones, Christ as the rock becomes a stone to strike against and a rock of stumbling; the unbelieving Israelites truly stumbled on Him. Even more, He is the smiting stone to those who rebel against God and oppose God. Before He becomes the stone to smash God’s enemy, Christ came as the seed of God’s kingdom to sow Himself on the earth as the gospel to grow the kingdom of God, which is the church. When He comes back, He will be a stone cut out without hands to smash and completely destroy the nations which fight against the kingdom of God, and He will become a great mountain to fill the whole earth. This indicates that Christ will be enlarged to be the kingdom of God which will fill the whole earth.
