Our Rock and Cornerstone
The below is something that the Lord has laid on my heart to blog about. The Holy Spirit has been urging me to do this for several months, but I kept putting it off. I never discussed this with my husband, because I always pushed it to the back of my mind. Well, last night, my husband told me that he felt that I was supposed to put a certain message up on my blog today, and low and behold, it ended up being the same thing the Lord was telling me. So here it goes...
NOTE: There is a thread of logic interwoven through all of the below verses, so please do read each one carefully. Also, please watch and enjoy the videos that are in the below as well.
WARNING: For some people, the below will shake their faith; for others, it may help to strengthen their faith.
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"Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel." -Exodus 17:6
That rock is symbolic of The Rock - Jesus Christ, and from Him flows Living Waters:
"Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." -John 4:10
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"And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock" -Exodus 33:21
When we stand upon Jesus Christ and what He teaches in the Bible, then we are standing on a firm rock foundation of salvation, and, in turn, we have access to God:
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." -Mathew 7:24-25
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. -Matthew 7:24-27
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"And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by" -Exodus 33:22
It is through faith in Christ, and faithfulness unto Christ, that we may come unto God the Father:
"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." -John 14:23
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -John 14:6
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"And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." -Exodus 14:22
Jesus was the Rock that was with the Israelites, when they were escaping Pharoah and his army:
"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." -1 Corinthians 10:1-4
"Meat" didn't mean what "meat" means today. "Meat" meant food, and quite often it meant bread:
"And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:" -Leviticus 2:1
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 says that the Israelites partook of the spiritual meat, or bread, and of the spiritual drink. Christians partake of the spiritual drink and bread in three ways. First, by salvation. Jesus' body (symbolic of the bread/meat) was broken on the cross for us. When we accept that sacrifice as payment for our sins, then we have partaken of that spiritual bread. We are then cleansed of all of our sins by Jesus' blood - the spiritual drink and the spiritual baptism. The second is to occur after we get saved, and that is baptism. When we are under the water, that is symbolic of our partaking of the bread, broken for us, and of our dying to sin. When we rise out of the water, it is symbolic of our being cleansed by the blood and living water of Christ, and we are new creatures in Christ. The third way Christians partake of the spiritual bread and spiritual drink, is by doing Communion, in remembrance of Christ:
"And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." -1 Corinthians 11:24-25
Communion is done in remembrance of Christ. It is not physically eating and drinking Him, but rather believers coming together to partake of "the same spiritual meat ... [and] the same spiritual drink ... of that spiritual Rock" (1Corinthians 10:1-4)
Our Rock of Salvation died for us, and three days later, He came back to life. That is Christ's body broken for us. That is Christ's blood spilt for us. Build your foundation on the Rock of Salvation. All other foundations are sinking sand.
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"Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." -Deuteronomy 32:1-4
Jesus is God, God/Jesus is the Rock.
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"But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." -Deuteronomy 32:15
Jesus is our Rock of Salvation. Build your foundation on the Rock of Salvation. Don't esteem Him lightly - make Him your All in All.
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"Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee." -Deuteronomy 32:18
"For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." -Deuteronomy 32:31
Some religions teach that the apostle Peter is the rock. The Bible and Christianity teaches us that JESUS is the Rock. The one and only Rock.
"And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted" -Deuteronomy 32:27
The false rock of false religions. The one true Rock is Jesus Christ, and none other.
"And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down." -Judges 6:26
Build your spiritual alter upon the Rock of Jesus Christ. There is no other way but through Christ, and in Christ alone.
"There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God." - 1Samuel 2:2
The counterfeit rock of counterfeit Christianity is not the True Rock of True Christianity.
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"When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits." -1Samuel 13:6
People try to hide behind their rocks, in other words, behind their faiths. If their rock isn't Jesus Christ, then their rock will crumble to dust, and they and all of their sin will be fully revealed.
If you fall upon Jesus, you will be broken, but you will then be re-created, as a new creature in God; but woe to those on whom Jesus the Rock falls, because they will be ground to powder:
"And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." -Luke 20:17-18
Jesus is our Rock - the Cornerstone of our salvation.
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"And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer" -2 Samuel 22:2
God is the Rock of our Salvation. He sent Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to save us.
"The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence." -2Samuel 22:3
"For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?" -2Samuel 22:32
"The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation." -2Samuel 22:47
"The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." -2Samuel 23:3
God the Son, spoke to God the Father. God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit are One Lord - The Rock of our salvation.
"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." -Psalm 18:2
"For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?" -Psalm 18:31
"The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted." -Psalm 18:46
"Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit." -Psalm 28:1
"For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me." -Psalm 31:3
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"From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." -Psalm 61:2
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"He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved." -Psalm 62:2
"In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God" -Pslam 62:7
"Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress." -Psalm 71:3
"And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer." -Psalm 78:35
"He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation." -Psalm 89:26
"To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him." -Psalm 92:15
"But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge." -Psalm 94:22
"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." -Psalm 95:1
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"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ." -Matthew 16:13-20
Jesus didn't say that Peter was the rock. He said that what Peter said is the rock. Peter said this: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Christ means Messiah. Messiah is the one who brings salvation to the lost. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the Rock of Salvation that so many of the Scriptures, many in the Old Testament, that I showed to you above proclaim.
Jesus taught His apostles, and they helped lay the foundation of the Christian church:
"And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" -Ephesians 2:20
The apostles are not the rock, they are the foundation. Peter is not the rock, but he is a stone as a part of the foundation. No specific apostle was given pre-eminance over the other. Jesus is the Rock/Cornerstone - "Himself being the chief corner stone."
Interestingly, the foundation of New Jerusalem will have symbols of the 12 appostles in it:
"And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." -Revelation 21:14
The 'binding and loosing' spoken about in the above scripture (Matthew 16:19) was not just a promise to Peter, but to all of those who profess "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
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"As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." -Romans 9:33
"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." -1Corinthians 10:4
"Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 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, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" -1Peter 2:6-9
