God's Message,in Stone #5

The Living Stone

Pet rocks, some fancy some plain are often a reminder of some tourist venture or childish delight. They sit silently and simply stare. I’m reminded by them of the spiritual life of too many people. They look nice but they are lifeless.

God doesn’t desire ‘pet rocks.’ He longed for living stones. Only such people could share in His kingdom. How would this be possible? By the Lord of Glory who came into the ‘quarry’ where ‘pet rocks’  are found. There He came to offer life. Without His intervention there is no way for the lifeless stones to create the life Heaven requires. Evolution is impossible in the spiritual world as well as the physical.

Here again we behold the wonder of the identification of Jesus Christ as ‘The Stone.’  We have briefly looked at the biblical record of Him being the rejected stone which became the foundation Stone and one day will be the crushing Stone. That is all well and good but how does it turn a person from being a cold, lifeless spiritual non-entity to God?

In 1 Peter 2:4 we read ‘Come to him, a living stone though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight…’ Why this title? It is because Jesus as the rejected Stone took on Himself our sin, judgement and death. If He was still in the tomb He would remain the rejected and useless stone. However Jesus rose from the dead with great glory, power and righteousness. Now the Lord has the power and authority to impart His life to those who hear the message of the cross of Christ.

It is as though the Holy Spirit comes to each ‘pet rock’ and stirs their deadness with a life giving message. Each individual rock can either respond or stay dormant. There isn’t any favouritism. The resurrection life of Jesus is open to all who long to come alive to God. Then be released from the eternal uselessness of being a pet rock in the World’s quarry of despair. To remain there means Heaven’s rejection.

Peter goes on to call those who respond to the Living Stone the self same title. The Lord places His resurrection life within the believer. Each one is unique. Each one is lovingly and graciously placed with others to form a spiritual house. As such this ‘house’ is permeated with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful privilege we have been given. No wonder the Bible speaks of how the living stones consider The Living Stone precious.

Ray (living stone) Hawkins.

Next week The Smitten Stone.