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Ephesians 2:19-22 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Reflect 

Early in my carpentry career I learned the importance of a quarter inch. On my first house build I laid out the marks for putting down the plates that were bolted to the concrete foundation. When I squared up the first corner, I was out one quarter of an inch. By the time the final piece of plate was to be laid in place it ran right off the concrete wall. Tracing back to the problem is when I discovered I was off by just one quarter of an inch and now I was missing the entire 8 inch wall.

Jesus came as the chief cornerstone of the building project that is God’s eternal kingdom. “God so loved the world” that he sent his Son on this mission (John 3:16), and he has become the cornerstone, with a specific purpose. In the first century when builders were planning their projects, the importance of the cornerstone made all the difference. The orientation and angle of the cornerstone determined how the rest of the building would be built. If the building was not aligned with the cornerstone, the walls and corners and everything else would be askew.

When we read that Christ is the cornerstone, that means Jesus is our right and true foundation—perfect—and whatever is built in alignment with him will be right and true too. Sometimes we think it is up to us to make sure everything measures up properly. But the Bible shows that because we are built up in Christ, we can be confident that not only do we belong, but we, the living stones (1 Peter 2:5), also fit.

Pray

God, our Father, our lives are sometimes crooked and uneven, but you build us up in Christ—the most reliable, true, and solid foundation we could ever hope for. Thank you! In his name we pray. Amen.