“You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 1 Peter 2:4-6 NLT
Symbolic Stone
In architecture, a cornerstone is a foundational stone. A principal stone placed at the corner of the base of a building to secure its structure and help guide the builders in forming the entire building development.
The cornerstone is the most reliable, most immovable, most secured of any in the structure. Once the cornerstone is placed, everything is aligned to it.
Living Stone
The cornerstone determines every refinement in the continuing construction. Jesus Christ is this cornerstone in the life of believers, and the first living stone in building of the church body.
Jesus Christ is our cornerstone, our foundation, our support, our strength that builds steadfastness in faith, hope and love, and who we are called to build upon.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8 NKJV
This Time of Year
The spring season is a special time of year for many reasons. March-April is the time of the biblical new year- the beginning of months. It is the time of Passover which commemorates God’s instructions to the Israelites in Egypt to mark their houses with the blood of a sacrificed unblemished lamb so that the Lord would pass over their houses thereby protecting them from plague and destruction. The Lord’s Passover celebrates the Israelites’ exodus and ultimate freedom from slavery in Egypt- a foreshadowing of the ultimate passover and freedom from the slavery of sin and death through Jesus Christ.
This time of year is also the time of Holy Week which commemorates the final days of Jesus Christ who is the lamb of God and our ultimate passover lamb fulfillment. From Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a colt to the culmination in Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection, Holy Week memorializes the passion of Jesus Christ in His momentous journey to the cross and His trial, suffering and death on our behalf.
The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
As Christians in this world we will face suffering as followers of Jesus Christ but we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price by His sacrifice which delivers us out of all our earthly trials and gives us the gift of eternal life. And though we may find ourselves weak at particular point in times in our lives, as the disciples were before Jesus’ arrest in the garden at Gethsemane, we must not be caught unexpectedly off guard. Jesus said to His disciples in the garden at Gethsemane, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”. Jesus knows our willing spirit and wants us to be aware of the weakness of the flesh also.
As we remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in this special time of year, let us also remember that the temporary suffering we face in this life is nothing compared to the suffering Jesus Christ endured for us to take hold of eternity in His presence. And let us remember our suffering is also the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 3:12-14 ESV
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NASB
Healing, Protection, Everlasting life
From Genesis to Revelation, the Tree of Life stands firm and strong as a wonderful through line. It brings to us a great mental image and great expression of the fullness of God through Jesus Christ.
The Tree of Life is full of meaning of healing, protection, everlasting life, and abundance of God’s great love. The Tree of Life shows us harmony and togetherness with God through the image of roots, vines, branches, leaves, fruit and more.
The Tree of Life is represented in Jesus Christ. His life, death, and resurrection is the offering of healing, protection, and everlasting life. Jesus Christ is the promise, given to us by our Father God, seeded in the conveyance of Abraham’s personal heartfelt faith, which intently grew into blessings for his descendants, and the promise continued through to all the nations of the earth grafted in.
Jesus Christ, the branch of David, leads us from sin and death in Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis through to everlasting life as the way to healing of the nations in the book of Revelations.
The Vine
We, now being like trees with roots, branches, leaves and fruit are called by Jesus Christ to remain in Him who is the vine. He causes us to survive and thrive with the fruit of the Spirit. He invites us to this transformation.
In the Garden of Eden, where we so innocently once walked with God in His presence, and having access to the Tree of Life lived forever in peace with God, there we came to find ourselves in the midst of radical change- the regenerative plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.
And though distanced from the Tree of Life in the book of Genesis, we press on to what lies ahead, having access to this grace in which we stand- the bountiful grace of God- which blooms the Tree of Life. Be covered, eat, and be transformed by the Tree of Life that in revelation heals the nations.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5 ESV
Love and Sacrifice
The feeling and action of fulfillment is satisfaction and completion. Fulfillment derives from something that was accomplished and the resulting integrity of that accomplishment. Fulfillment remedy’s debt- it counteracts and eliminates something owed. The necessary steps that were taken to meet a requirement or condition was successful according to a process. And in the midst of the process of fulfillment is love and sacrifice.
Our debt was paid long ago on the cross in fulfillment of God’s law. Jesus Christ died for our sins. He fulfilled the law of sin and death by taking the burden of our sins upon Himself and defeating death in resurrection. God made Him who knew no sin to be an offering for our sins so that we could be made right with God. And since this time of fulfillment in Christ, we have been brought close to Him that we may attain absolution and the resulting joy associated with His promise of forgiveness.
Our Advocate
In Jesus Christ we have an advocate who intercedes for us as we stand before God in judgement. Jesus Christ clothes us with righteousness and lives within our hearts as we are in Him also. He testifies to God on our behalf that we have been redeemed by His sacrifice- the shedding of His blood, and our receipt of grace and mercy through faith in Him who died for our sins. This fulfillment brings us atonement and reconciliation with God through Christ.
We are justified, and the promise of this fulfillment is everlasting. We have moved from a place of sin and injustice to the state of grace and justice. And when we receive justification through faith, our obligation changes from slave to sin to freedom from sin.
The Courts of Heaven
There is a cost for sin < the price was paid < fulfillment made.
And in the courts of heaven God sees our condition. Have we moved from a state of sin to a state of righteousness? Has the accuser of Job, the enemy of God and man succeeded in his accounts to discredit us before God? Or are we confident in our position- having joy and peace in believing the fulfillment of Jesus Christ, His forgiveness, and God’s everlasting love.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Romans 8:31-34 NKJV
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 NASB
Birth Pangs
When Jesus spoke to His disciples about a future time before His second coming, He spoke of birth pangs. The productive pain of something that is just beginning- or that has begun since the time of Jesus. A pain that leads to a positive result.
We hold this pain in the form of a longing for the return of Jesus Christ, and this longing grows as we grow in Christ. We can also relate to this pain in many varied ways. In the birth of a child, the birth of aspirations, the birth of hope fulfilled.
“It’s not small it’s just beginning” is a call to remember that the desires of our hearts, which God knows more than we do, which leads to wisdom and understanding is beginning to grow or increase rapidly, as the state of the world also increases rapidly in conquest, division, economic changes, and demise. Personal birth pangs and societal birth pangs are intensifying consecutively. Small now, but just the beginning.
Hope & A Future
For those who believe, Jesus offers us hope and a future. He offers us a time of maturation- a gestational period of development where our faith grows, and hope and love is made reality within us. As Jesus covers us in His righteousness and protection, He fortifies and strengthens us, and prepares us for the pain of birth and sanctifies us in the process as we submit to His process.
The birth pangs are real as they have been happening throughout the centuries. And now we feel them too. They are collectively happening within and without. A course of reckoning of the state of things. He has always been preparing His church body- His bride, and the world for His coming. And He has indwelled within us the Holy Spirt, full of purpose and promise for His glory.
Your body, soul, and mind are connected in a very special way. In a way wherein one cannot thrive without the other. When we are weak in mind and spirit our body does not do well. We feel physically weak and lose strength, exercise and good nutrition would take a back seat to our discouraged state, taking care of our body would not be a priority, we eat too much or have loss of appetite and eat too little, we develop unhealthy habits to cope, and making a doctors appointment would be the last thing on our list. Our body would simply go lacking from the things we need to keep it healthy. When we are weak in body and spirit, our mind does not do well. We feel depressed, our self image deteriorates, we do not feel good about ourselves, stress takes a toll and we get sick easily, we lack or are confused about our purpose, the meaning of life becomes lost and we become less positive and more negative.
Because the health of our body, soul, and mind is important to our overall health and well-being, and these three components are inextricably linked, we need these three areas to be in harmony as much as possible. The key to achieving this harmony is the anchor of the soul.
The Anchor
Anchoring your soul in truth equips you to become more empowered and resilient. Anchoring your soul in truth gives you a clearer understanding of your individual journey and meaning in personal life events. Anchoring your soul in truth allows you to walk the path to become your best self. This will enhance your desire for a healthy body, a deeper and deeper relationship with God, and you will be more happy, hopeful, and peaceful. You’ll have more joyful relationships with deeper connection that enables you to uplift and be uplifted by others. You will be more capable of carrying out your God given purpose.
