Foundations: The Cornerstone
As a farm girl with a penchant for old barns and their foundations, I have noticed one thing in particular that keeps these barns straight and plumb over time: the cornerstone. What is true of sturdy old barns is true in our Christian life.
Our Christian life is built upon the bedrock of Scripture, and our Cornerstone, Jesus Christ, Who supports the weight of our lives and keeps us plumb. All the other truths of Scripture align with the Cornerstone and work together to form our faith foundation. That truth is so simple a child can grasp it, and yet so profound and earth-shaking it boggles the minds of heady intellectuals. It boils down to these two questions:
Who is God, and Who is Jesus Christ?
Scripture tells us that God has always existed, created the earth, all it contains, and then created humans in His likeness. Scripture also spells out that God has been weaving His redemptive plan for humanity since before the Garden of Eden.
We see His desire for intimate friendship in His practice of walking with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, “in the cool of the day”. This practice ended when Adam and Eve rebelled and were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Ever since, God has been working out His redemptive plan to restore what was lost in Eden—the intimate friendship between God and man.
That redemptive plan would involve an atoning sacrifice, and Someone was already waiting in the wings—Someone Who would suffer the serpent’s sting, but in turn, crush that serpent’s head. God was weaving His story through the sages, priests, and prophets, and in the rise and fall of nations and empires. He was constantly foreshadowing, foretelling, sketching out the plan, and referring to this coming One in this way:
“therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone. . .” Isaiah 28:16
When the time was right, He came in human form, born of a woman—fully human and fully God to pay the price of our redemption with His blood—His human, yet divine blood. Jesus Christ always existed, and His incarnation in human form brought God to us, as His name declares—Emmanuel, God with us.
Jesus declared this truth each time He referred to Himself as “I AM”—the same God Who revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush. God made Himself human, in the person of Jesus Christ, to reveal His character, His heart, and to carry out the redemptive sacrifice planned from eternity past. Because Jesus Christ came and made the supreme sacrifice for our redemption, the intimate friendship between God and man can now be restored. His death tore down the dividing wall that formerly impeded communication between God and man. His resurrection sealed the victory over our ancient enemy, crushing the serpent’s head.
Because He made Himself flesh and paid the price of our redemption with His own blood, His desire to dwell in intimate friendship is now possible. The astounding truth is that humans like you and me can walk in intimate friendship with God through a one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ. When I understood the magnitude of this truth, it stunned me.
He communicates openly through His word, the Bible-- His God-breathed blueprint and field guide. Not only that, but He lives, breathes, and dwells within us as we read, study, and meditate upon the Scriptures. His Holy Spirit ignites His word within us, empowering us to do holy work in His name.
The idea that an ordinary farm girl like me could live a life of friendship with God seemed too astounding to be true. However, I took Him at His word and found it to be absolutely true. He spoke to me through Scripture, and I unloaded my burdens to Him at my kitchen sink, as I scrubbed the bathroom floor or sat in the half-light of early morning with my strong black coffee. We spoke together–God and me, in all my exhausted, bedraggled glory. I often asked hard questions or launched into tearful rants as I was just trying to do what was right and keep my head above water. Yet, there I was talking with God–not in a cloistered conclave or pristine wilderness, but in my kitchen. God became that accessible to common people like you and me, through Jesus Christ, our Cornerstone.
My journey has been marked by much hardship, disappointment and loss. However, with Scripture as my bedrock and Christ in my Cornerstone, my prayer is that I will remain as stalwart and sturdy in faith as the weathered barns that dot the countryside, and raise my voice in sunshine or storms with this refrain:
“On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”