The Chief Cornerstone

I am studying currently in Ephesians, and allowing the Spirit to lead me from there daily to further study. Yesterday's teaching of the Spirit came from Ephesians 2:20 "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" The word 'corner stone" is a word I have often understood to be a necessary part of a foundation as Christ himself is the most important piece as the foundation of the church. The Lord had other things to teach me through this Scripture. There are several references to this 'corner stone" (e.g. Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16, etc.) and these reiterated the fact that Christ was our chief cornerstone. I even searched the greek and hebrew words, but the Spirit was leading me on to further study of this word. Using the Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, I found what I was to learn about Christ as the ''cornerstone' . It was defined as ' A stone placed at the corner, or the intersecting angle, where two walls of a building come together. In biblical times, buildings were often made of cut, squared stone.'  The verbs used in the following sentence were very point on the purpose of the cornerstone. " By uniting two intersecting walls, a cornerstone helped ALIGN the whole building and TIE it together." It later stated, " All who believe in Jesus find a solid Rock on which to build their lives [as the cornerstone]." It then stated to see the definition for capstone. This is where I found another truth. It defines capstone as "the uppermost stone in a building, sometimes used to tie two intersecting walls together. As the top stone of a structure or wall, the capstone was the CROWNING POINT." I learned 2 things.  

1. The cornerstone, Jesus, unites the church into one body serving him. He also aligns us together to grow and serve in harmony and for His will.

 2.  Christ is not only our foundation, but also the crowning point which is the last piece to be placed, but just as important to holding the building together and aligned. If either the capstone or cornerstone were to be compromised, the whole building would fall. Therefore, as Christ is our Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, he is not only the cornerstone of the church but also the capstone which makes Him the head!

The 1st picture depicts the classic cornerstone, while the second picture depicts the idea of a capstone. This was a wondrous revelation! Christ and his sacrifice and resurrection are the foundation for the church, unite the church as a body, and align the church to function together in His will. He is the Alpha and Omega, and is not only the foundation, but also the head of the church, and without him, the church can not exist nor function properly. Praise The Lord!