Living Bricks Founded on the Living Cornerstone

1 Peter 2:4-8 

4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
    “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
    “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”
They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, the builder’s key foundation, the rock of our salvation!  Though when He walked as God among us (Emmanuel) most turned their backs in anger on the righteous One.  The Son was chosen as a man by the Father our God as the most precious because He is the only begotten, not created, Son.  This one is the chief cornerstone who was foretold, having been predetermined to come at the right and planned time (Galatians 4:3-5) to save those who trust and believe His word.  We then are the living stones of the spiritual temple of sorts which He is building, which is His universal church, not as a human institution, but a heavenly one.  We who are His are all are His priests and saints appointed by God’s call and never man’s designation; as His ministers of fire (Psalm 104:4, Hebrews 1:7), we offer the true sacrifices of praise to our Lord and Savior in Christ.  This is why Jesus Christ is eternally precious to the ones He calls out because we know He has always known and loved us, and because we are able to serve Him as worship in awe and thankful wonder.  Those who reject Him, who stumble at the words of the gospel, are offended and thus disobedient because they are appointed to be and do so by God.  Therefore many even now will reject the gospel of grace as hardened reprobates, unwilling to hear to believe and unable to call themselves out of darkness into His marvelous light.  But we who are living stones have His Law written on hearts of flesh now, not of hardened rock (Ezekiel 36:26, 2 Corinthians 3:3), but living on this temple’s foundational Rock.  We have come to the living Rock as living stones, bricks of His house of worship as His chosen people.  This passage reminds us who are His called out that we are each living bricks founded on the living Cornerstone, the invisible church seen by God in the building made by His hands in the heavenly places.