The Head of the Corner 1 Peter 2:7

Peter the apostle told the “scattered” Christians that Jesus was the “living stone” upon which the foundation of Christianity was to be laid. He also referred the prophecy of Isaiah as he shared that these believers were “lively stones” which “are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”. In chapter two and verse seven of his letter, Peter referred to how “precious” Jesus is even as He became the “head of the corner” even though He was “disallowed” of those who did not believe on Him. We read:

Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

The verse begins, “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious:” Peter began with the words, “Unto you” which refers to the “scattered” Christians “therefore” which means “then, accordingly, consequently and these things being so” “which believe” or “think to be true, are persuaded of, credited and placed confidence in” “he is precious” which means “valued by which the price is fixed, honor which belongs or is shown to one”. Whenever a person “believes” in Jesus Christ, they begin to know how “valuable” He is.

The verse goes on to say, “but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed,...” Peter continued with the word, “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be stated takes precedence over what was just written “unto them which be disobedient” or “not allowed to be persuaded, refused ”, “the stone” which means “a small stone or building stone” “which the builders” which literally means “those who erect, rebuild or repair a house” and metaphorically means “to found, establish, and promote growth in Christian wisdom, affection, grace, virtue, holiness and blessedness ” “disallowed” which means “disapproved, rejected or repudiated”. There were people who “refused” Jesus Christ, and therefore “rejected” the very “stone” upon which Christianity and the Church were built.

Finally the verse says, “...the same is made the head of the corner,” Peter ended the verse by writing, “the same” which refers to “this or these” “is made” or “become, come into existence, begin to be, received, came to pass and happened” “the head” which which literally means “the head of both mean and often of animals” and metaphorically means “anything supreme, chief and prominent” “of the corner” which refers to “an external or internal corner”. Even though He was rejected by unbelievers, He was made the “chief, prominent and supreme cornerstone”.

When we think through these words of Peter, we understand that the effect of unbelievers in Jesus was “nil”. Just because a person does not believe Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of mankind doesn't alter the fact that He is. Jesus was made the “head of the corner”, and all of Christianity is founded upon Him. May all who read these words take heed and understand that whether they believe Him or not, Jesus is Lord.

Next time Peter shares how this stone is “a stone of stumbling”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.