Chief Cornerstone

Scripture Texts: Exodus 19; Deuteronomy 7:6-11; 1 Peter 2:4-12

Quite possibly the most important stone in a building is the cornerstone. The cornerstone serves two purposes. First it is the stone that ties everything together and keeps everything together. Especially in older buildings, if the cornerstone falls out of the building, soon the rest of the building would begin to crumble.

The second purpose was to indicate who the building belonged to. People could look at a building and by looking at the cornerstone it was clear who was the builder and owner of the building. It was not always because of what was written on the stone, rather it was often because of the style and placement of the stone.

It is easy to see that selecting the stone that would become the cornerstone is an important job. The builder would examine several stones looking for the best one so that the building would be strong. If a stone was rejected as the cornerstone it would either be put into the building somewhere else, or simply discarded. This brings a whole new light to the idea of the chief cornerstone, Jesus, being the stone that the builder rejected.

What is the cornerstone of your marriage? If others were to watch your marriage to observe the way you lived and interacted with each other, would it be clear who your marriage belongs to? Jesus is the chief cornerstone of all life, this means Jesus is the chief cornerstone of a marriage. We can live in a way that discards the chief cornerstone and another in its place.

The reality is anything other than Jesus as a chief cornerstone will result in a building that is in danger of crumbling. Having Jesus as the chief cornerstone requires vigilance on our part. We must invest the time and effort of keeping Christ as the key to a marriage. Just like it takes care and maintenance for the cornerstone of a building to stay in place for the long haul. It is not by accident or happenstance, it is by being intentional in seeking Christ in our lives and our marriage.