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Scripture Reading: Acts 4:1-31
In chapter three of Acts Peter presents Christ, the Healer, as God’s Servant, the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Author of life, the Prophet, and the seed in whom all families of the earth will be blessed. Because this Healer is the Author of life, whenever we call on Him we enjoy a season of refreshing. As the Prophet, He speaks God to us, and in Him as the seed of Abraham we are blessed. All these aspects of Christ as the wonderful Healer are for us. However, in Acts 3 we do not see that this Healer is for God’s economy, God’s purpose, God’s building. But in chapter four Peter was given the opportunity to present this Healer in a further way, presenting Him as a stone for God’s building. Concerning this, 4:11 and 12 say, “This is the stone which was despised by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is no salvation in any other; for neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved.” In this message we shall give a further word on Christ as the stone for God’s building.
God came in incarnation to be a stone for the building up of His universal habitation, but the Jewish leaders, who should have been the builders, despised this stone. However, God made Him the cornerstone. The more the Jewish leaders rejected Him, the more God used Him. First, He was a stone only in a general way. But after the rejection by the Jewish leaders, God in resurrection made Him the cornerstone. At first He was a common stone. Then Jewish leaders rejected Him by killing Him. But God honored Him by raising Him up from among the dead and making Him a particular stone, the cornerstone, the very prominent stone that joins the walls of a building. Christ is the cornerstone of God’s habitation.
In John 1 we see that Andrew brought his brother, Simon Peter, to the Lord Jesus. “Looking at him, Jesus said, You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (which translated means a stone)” (v. 42). Later, in Caesarea Philippi, the Lord Jesus asked His disciples, “But you, who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15). Peter took the lead to declare, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). In His response to Peter, the Lord said, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church” (v. 18). Here the name “Peter” means a stone, which is material for God’s building. The Lord Jesus seemed to be saying, “You are Peter, a stone. I will build my church with stones.”
No doubt, the Lord’s word must have made a deep impression on Peter, even though it is not likely that he understood it at the time. However, after the life-giving Spirit had been breathed into him and after the economical Spirit had blown upon him, Peter became a man of Spirit, a man with the essential Spirit within him and the economical Spirit upon him. As such a man he surely began to understand the Lord’s word concerning him being a stone. Peter might have said to himself, “I recall that when I first met the Lord, He said that He would give me a new name, a name that means stone. Later He called me ‘Peter’ and said that He would build His church upon a rock. Now I understand what the Lord was saying.”
Having this understanding, Peter in Acts 4 could present the Lord Jesus as the stone despised by the builders but which has become the cornerstone. Later, when he had become old, he wrote his first Epistle, in which he spoke of the Lord as the living stone and of the believers as living stones for God’s building: “To whom coming, a living stone, having been rejected by men, but with God chosen, held in honor, you yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:4-5a). According to Acts 3 and 4, Peter knew the Healer not only as God’s Servant, the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Author of life, the Prophet, and the seed in whom all the earth would be blessed; he also knew Him as the stone for God’s building.
I do not believe that throughout the centuries many have taught from the Word that Jesus Christ is a stone for God’s building. He is not only the Servant, the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Author of life, the Prophet, and the seed; He is a stone for God’s building. According to 4:12, this stone is the One in whom we can be saved. Hence, He is the Stone-Savior. As the Stone-Savior, He is solid, strong, and reliable. We can rely on Him and stand on Him. This stone is the rock, the foundation stone, and the cornerstone. In Zechariah 4:7 we see that He is even the topstone. Christ is the material for God’s building. God’s building is entirely of Christ.
When some hear that we say according to the Scriptures that Christ is the cornerstone, the foundation stone, the topstone, and even all the stones in God’s building, they may accuse us of teaching pantheism. This is a false accusation. Yes, we say that Christ is our food, air, water, light, door, clothing, and dwelling place, although this certainly is not pantheism. Is Christ not qualified to be our food and drink? Is He not qualified to be our air, clothing, door, and dwelling place? Is He not the foundation stone, the cornerstone, the topstone, and all the stones for God’s building? Surely Christ is qualified to be all these things. However, today some detract from Christ’s qualifications and falsely accuse as pantheists those who teach from the Bible that Christ is all-inclusive, that He is all in all. The New Testament reveals that Christ is all in all (Col. 3:11), and we are the fullness of this One who is all in all (Eph. 1:23). How wonderful that we are Christ’s fullness to express Him!
It is in the name of Jesus Christ, the all-inclusive One, that we are saved. Do you know why His name is so powerful? His name is powerful because He is the wonderful, all-inclusive One. We have been saved in the name of Jesus Christ, and He is the all-inclusive One. As the all-inclusive One, Christ is God, man, the Father, the Son, the Spirit, the rock, the foundation, the cornerstone, the topstone, the door, our food, our drink, our clothing, our life, our strength, our ability, our function, our walk, our living, our words, our breath, our sight, our hearing. Oh, it is impossible to exhaust all that Christ is to us!
Due to the influence of tradition, some say that we should not use new terms to express what Christ is. They claim that we should use only those terms used by the church fathers, the councils, and traditional teachings. This imposes a great restriction on God’s people. We need to break through this restriction and use new terms when necessary to convey the all-inclusiveness of Christ. We should not trust in traditional theology, for it restricts us and even misleads us. We need to see in the Word all the aspects of Christ. In particular, our Christ has the aspect of being a stone for God’s building. Hallelujah for this building stone!
Christ is not only the stone for God’s building; He is also the stumbling stone and the smiting stone. Concerning Himself as the stumbling stone and smiting stone, the Lord Jesus said, “He who falls on this stone shall be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it shall scatter him as chaff” (Matt. 21:44). To the believers, Christ is the foundation stone in whom we trust (Isa. 28:16). But to the unbelieving Jews, He is the stumbling stone (Isa. 8:14-15; Rom. 9:32-33), and to the nations He will be the smiting stone. According to Daniel 2:34 and 35, Christ as the stone will smite the nations at His coming back.
For us as believers Christ is neither the stumbling stone nor the smiting stone — He is the building stone, even the propagating stone. For us, He has become the building stone. First, we became His propagation, and now He is building us up together into God’s dwelling place. He is both the Builder and the material for God’s building. He is the Stone-Savior. In God’s economy He is building His eternal habitation. For the Jews and the nations respectively, He is the stumbling stone and the smiting stone. But to us He is the propagating stone and the building stone.
In the Bible stone is a major item. In Genesis God created a man of clay (Gen. 2:7). Hence, the first man was a clay-man. Then God Himself came to be a man, and this man was a stone-man. At the end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, we have a stone-city, a city built of stone. Therefore, the Bible begins with a clay-man, continues with a stone-man, and consummates in a stone-city. This is God’s economy.
It is not an easy matter to study the Bible. We need certain skills if we are to properly study the Word of God. Those who lack the necessary skills may in their reading of the book of Acts pay attention to such things as signs, wonders, and Peter’s shadow (5:15). They may not pay attention to the stone rejected by the builders. We, however, need to see the importance of Christ as the building stone.
At the beginning of the Bible we have the tree of life, a river, and a stone. According to Genesis 2, after God created man, He placed him in front of the tree of life (vv. 8-9). We are also told that a “river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads” (v. 10). In relation to the river Genesis 2 speaks of gold, bdellium, and onyx stone (v. 12). This is the first mention of stone in the Bible.
In the Old Testament we read of stone again and again. For example, onyx stones were on the shoulder of the ephod worn by the high priest, and twelve stones were set into the high priest’s breastplate (Exo. 28:8-12, 21). On these stones were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This implies that God’s chosen people should become stones in His sight.
In the Old Testament we also read of the cleft rock out from which flowed the water of life (Exo. 17:5-6). In 1 Corinthians Paul tells us that this rock was Christ: “They drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4).
Isaiah 8:14 and 15 speak of a rock for stumbling. But Isaiah 28:16 says, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.” To His opposers Christ is the rock that stumbles them, but to us He is the foundation stone and the cornerstone. Furthermore, Zechariah speaks of Christ as the topstone: “He shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it” (Zech. 4:7).
We read much more concerning the stone in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus called Peter a stone, and indicated that He Himself is the rock (John 1:42; Matt. 16:18). Christ will build His church upon this rock with the believers as stones. In 1 Corinthians 3:11 Paul says that Christ is the unique foundation that has been laid, and we should build upon this foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones. Then in 1 Peter 2:4-5 we see that the Lord Jesus is the living stone and that we also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house. Then in the book of Revelation the Lord says that the overcomers will receive a white stone to signify that they have become precious stones in His sight (Rev. 2:17). Furthermore, in Revelation 4 God sitting on the throne has the appearance of jasper and sardius: “He Who was sitting was like in appearance to a jasper stone and a sardius” (v. 3). Eventually, we have the New Jerusalem, a city whose light is “like a most precious stone, as a jasper stone” (Rev. 21:11), a great and high wall of jasper (vv. 12, 18), and twelve foundations consisting of precious stones. If we consider this city, we shall see that it consists of gold, pearl, and precious stones. This is the clear revelation concerning the stone in the Bible.
Many of those who teach the Bible have not seen that stone is a major item in the Scriptures. Have you ever heard that the Lord Jesus is the Stone-Savior? Have you ever been told that God has the appearance of jasper? According to Revelation 4, we may say that our God is the jasper-God. If some say that such a term is not found in the Bible, we can point out that the Bible does not use the expression “Triune God,” but the fact that God is Triune — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — surely is in the Word. Likewise, the Bible does not use the term “jasper-God,” but it definitely reveals that God has the appearance of jasper. Is He not, then, in a very real sense a jasper-God?
Once again I would encourage you not to put your trust in traditional theology. With such theology there is too much restriction, blindness, and covering concerning many matters in the Bible. We have seen only a small portion of what is in the Word. God’s revelation in the Scriptures is inexhaustible. When we are in eternity, we may say, “Oh, how little we have seen!”
In our study of the Bible we should not be careless. Rather, we need to follow the governing principles of the Scriptures. If we follow these principles, we shall be kept from making mistakes. Although we should not be restricted by traditional theology, we still need to be directed by the governing principles in interpreting the Bible. (Perhaps on another occasion we shall consider what these principles are.)
In the Bible there is a line concerning stone from Genesis 2 through Revelation 22. In Genesis 2 we have the onyx stone at the beginning, and then in Revelation 21 and 22 we have the jasper city as the consummation. The appearance, the wall, and the first foundation of this city are all of jasper. How much truth, therefore, is indicated and implied by Peter’s referring to Christ as the stone rejected by the builders but made by God the cornerstone in resurrection!
