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Man has "disallowed" this one great foundation, but God has chosen Him and calls
Him precious:--
"He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that
we should desire Him" (Isa. 53: 2).
It is a lesson that must be thoroughly learned and remembered, that what God calls
"precious" man has rejected:--
"For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God"
(Luke 16: 15).
Two words come together both in I Pet. 2: 4 and 6: "chosen" and "precious". May
we not see that the saints also are "precious" in His sight, for in I Pet. 1: 2 and 2: 9 the
same word "chosen" or "elect" is used of them. He is the living Stone and precious; they
are living stones, and are they not precious in Him? He is "elect and precious", and is not
the chosen generation precious in Him?
The reference to the elect and precious living Stone of
I Pet. 2: 4
receives
amplification in verse 6:--
"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" (I Pet. 2: 6).
The passage quoted is Isa. 28: 16, and as there is a slight difference in the
wording of the two passages, we will set out that in Isaiah:--
"Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone,
a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste."
In our meditation upon the earlier reference to the precious foundation stone, we made
reference to Eph. 2: We must do so once more. In both Peter's epistles and in
Ephesians, Christ is spoken of as "the chief corner stone". There are lesser stones that
form part of the foundation, even as we read: "and are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets" (Eph. 2: 20), but Jesus Christ Himself alone is the "chief corner
stone". In Eph. 1: 10 Christ is seen as Head not only of the church, but of all things in
heaven and in earth, and the same unifying feature is resident in the figure of the corner
stone.
The dispensational difference between the church of the One Body and all other
callings is not a difference in the foundation, but in the super-structure. The great corner
stone beneath the temple binds all together. The figure changes as the verse develops,
and "building" changes to "believing":--
"He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded."