Jesus Christ - The Chief Cornerstone

Jesus Christ the Chief Cornerstone – the foundation of Christianity

The Crucifixion, the Resurrection and the Bible

Jesus is the cornerstone of Christianity, the foundation and base of our faith! In Jesus, the Church (all born-again believers) is built and becomes a holy temple in which God lives by His Holy Spirit!

Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV)

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

What was Jesus’ mission on earth?

The redemption of mankind, to reconcile sinful man to God the Father! He came to save the lost and make atonement for mankind!

Luke 19:10 (NIV)

For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

The word ‘reconciliation’ in the New Testament is often referred to as ‘atonement’.

Adam’s (and subsequently all man’s) choice to sin made everyone guilty of sin before God and without hope for the future. But then, Christ stepped in, making atonement for our sin. Christ, the sinless lamb of God, took upon Himself the sins of the many, that they might receive the atonement and forgiveness for sins and be reconciled to God.

Romans 5:19 (NIV)

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

To accept Christ’s atonement for sin is to acknowledge one’s own sin and receive His (Jesus’) sacrifice for our sin and thus we receive God’s forgiveness. And not only that, but we get to live a grace-filled life of abundance in Christ Jesus. 

There is no more barrier between the believer and God, for they have received Christ’s atoning power and God’s satisfaction of acceptance through that atonement and thus we are reconciled to God. The curtain was torn apart by the work of Jesus on the cross. We can all enter the presence of God. We are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb!

Hebrews 10:19-23 (NIV)

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Why was Jesus Crucified? Why did he die for our sins?

Simply put the answer is this: Because of God’s great love and mercy he does not want any of us to die. Death in the spiritual sense means eternal separation from God which equates to living eternity in hell!

God wants all of us to live with him for eternity in heaven – this is eternal life!

John 3:16-17 (NIV)

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

The Bible teaches us that all human beings, because of the fall of mankind through Adam, are born into sin because of our fallen nature:

Romans 5:12 (NLT)

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV)

9The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? 10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives.

I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

Because of this (our sin) we were unable to enter heaven as God is Holy and will not associate himself with any sin. In fact, God has extraordinarily strong feelings about all those that do evil!

Psalm 5:4-5

4 O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness;

you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.

5 Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence,

for you hate all who do evil.

The above two verses fly in face of the popular ‘Christianese saying’ that; “God loves the sinner but hates the sin”. This is clearly not true; God cannot tolerate wickedness and hates all who do evil. The only sinner that God loves is the one that has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus - the one who has accepted Jesus as his Lord and saviour – the one that is truly born-again!

Now, you may be saying to yourself but what about John 3:16?

John 3:16 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

‘God so loved the world’. What does this mean?

Well, let’s take a look at the Greek word for the English word ‘world’.

The Greek word in this verse is ‘kosmos’ (Strong’s 2889) and means an ‘orderly world that God created, including His untainted creation - man’. God created a world that was in order in accordance with His spoken word. This is the world that God so loves, not the fallen world we have today with its fallen people – those outside of Christ Jesus.

The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death!

Romans 6:23 (NIV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Death in the spiritual sense means separation from God.

Now, because of God’s great love and mercy, He made a way for mankind to be reconciled to himself, He ordained to come to earth in human form, Jesus the Son, to die for our sins – the Crucifixion. Therefore we, mankind, once we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, become born again and are thus reconciled with God and receive the gift of everlasting life with God.

Romans 5:17-18 (NLT)

For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

Jesus was the only one who could live the sinless life that we (mankind) could not – He was without sin. God loves His children - those who are born again - because of Jesus.

2 Corintians 5:21 (NLT)

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Therefore, Jesus died on the cross for all of mankind! He was without sin and willingly took our sins upon himself and died for our us on the cross! Because the blood of Jesus was shed for us, and once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we receive forgiveness from God. If we don't accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and don't put our faith in Him alone, then we cannot be lovingly reconciled with God and on Judgement Day we will be consigned to hell not heaven!

Hebrews 9:22

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

It is only the blood of Jesus (His death on the Cross) that cleanses us of all sin once we have accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour.

1 John 1:7 (NLT)

7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Our salvation can only be received by believing that Jesus died for our sins (the wages of sin is death) and was resurrected after three days that we might live and receive eternal life! It is only by the name of Jesus that we are saved.

Acts 41:12 (NIV)

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

The Resurrection of Jesus

Jesus was put to death for our trespasses (sins) and raised to life (resurrected) for our justification so that we may receive eternal life! He became our righteousness – our right standing with God!

Romans 4:25 (NIV)

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Jesus' resurrection means that we are no longer under the curse of death (eternal separation from God) and just as importantly, the power of sin. We are now alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:9-14 (NLT)

9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

Jesus' resurrection allows those in Christ (those born again) to be raised in glory and power with a spiritual body at the coming of our Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (NIV)

42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

Romans 8:11

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

The Bible – God’s Word

As Christians we believe in faith that the Bible is God’s infallible word written by men under the power of the Holy Spirit and not only this but that the Word is the very essence of Jesus himself.

John 1:14 (NIV)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Bible is God’s manual for Christian living. It feeds and nourishes both spirit and soul. The more we read and study the Bible, the more we come to know God in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible, just like Jesus, is the bread of life.

John 6:35 (NIV)

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

The more we read the Bible, the more God will be revealed to us and the more we will understand how to follow Jesus, to allow our minds to be transformed and how to be guided in our daily lives. 

The Bible prepares Christians to do the good works that God has called us to in the power of the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth. All scripture comes from God and the Word of God will never fail us! We glorify Jesus when we are led by the Holy Spirit! Jesus still has things to show us even to this very day, he does this by revelation through the Holy Spirit. A Church moving and flowing in the gifts of the Spirit is a powerful and effective Church. We cannot build up and edify each other without Jesus and without moving and operating in the power of the Holy Spirit!

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Luke 1:37 (NIV)

For no word from God will ever fail.

John 16:12-15 (NKJV)

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

We should never give up reading and studying the Bible but above all we should be doers of the Word not just readers!

Luke 11:28 (NKJV)

 But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

James 1:22 (NLT)

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves

All glory, honour and praise belong to Jesus!

Jesus, the Name above all names!

Remember: Reading this article is no excuse for you not reading and studying the Bible for yourself. My word is flawed, the Bible is not!

Last update:  1 May 2024