Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Peter is talking about Jesus. He says Jesus is the cornerstone of a building.
In the ancient world, a cornerstone was extremely important. If you did not get the cornerstone right, the entire building would be wrong.
It was the stone that was at one corner of the foundation. If it wasn't perfectly level, if it wasn't perfectly square, then the entire foundation would be unstable. Whatever you built on that foundation wouldn't last.
Jesus Is the Cornerstone
What does Peter say? Jesus is the cornerstone. He's not like one support among many in your life. No, He is the support. He is the chosen and precious cornerstone of our lives.
If we're in Christ, He is the very foundation. Everything in my life, everything in the Christian life, it lines up with Jesus. Our salvation is in Him. Our hope is in Him. Our identity is in Him. Our assurance is in Him.
The Promise: Never Be Put to Shame
Then Peter adds this promise. He says—the ESV puts it this way: "Whoever believes in Him." New Living Translation: "Trusts in Him."
Whoever trusts, whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame. If you believe in Jesus, you will not be put to shame, which is a very deep comfort.
Understanding Guilt and Shame
All of us know what it's like to feel ashamed. We know what it's like to feel guilty and ashamed. We know what it's like to sin, to do something we shouldn't do, and to feel bad and sorrowful and wrong over it. That's guilt.
Then when others see it, that exposure—that is this feeling of shame. We're all going to experience that. There's nothing wrong with guilt and shame. In fact, those push us to Jesus, where we find forgiveness and help and strength.
Ultimate Shame Removed
What this verse is saying is that we will not, as Christians, be ultimately put to shame. In other words, if we're not in Christ, there's one day when this life is over and we would be judged and we would be laid bare. Everything we were, everything we had done, and we would be overcome, overwhelmed with shame.
As Christians, we have the righteousness of Christ. We've been cleansed. We've been cleaned. We will not be put to shame. We will not be brought into shame. It's a great comfort.
Jesus Binds God and Man Together
Charles Spurgeon said: "This precious cornerstone, Jesus, binds God and man together in wondrous amity, for He is both God and man. He is both in one. He joins earth and heaven together. That is why Christ is such a sure and secure foundation. He is the mediator between God and man. He reconciles sinners to God. He doesn't merely inspire us, He saves us."
What Are You Building Your Life On?
The question for us becomes: What are you building your life on? Are you building your life on the cornerstone—on Jesus—or are you building your life on your own goals and your own dreams and your morality, or your status, or your image, or your success?
All of those foundations will crack under pressure. Christ alone can bear the weight of your life and of your soul.
Whoever Believes in Him
Peter says that whoever believes in Him, whoever—that means whoever you are. Even as you watch or listen to this, whoever you are—you would be saved. You would be brought into relationship with the Almighty, the Most High.
If you believe in Jesus—that is, if you know and understand who He is and what He has done. That He came, lived, suffered, died, rose from the dead in the place of sinners like you and me, so that sinners like you and me could be reconciled to God. Believe that, and we will be saved.
My Challenge to You
Today, put the full weight of your confidence in Jesus and nothing else. Not partly on Him and partly on something else.
Know Jesus alone is the cornerstone. Trust Him.
