The Head Of The Corner

First the verses in question from Psalm 118

When we consider the verses from the book of Daniel concerning Nebuchadnezzar's statue dream of the stone cut out without hands, I suggest you begin to think of a stone roughly the shape of a tetrahedron. (A triangular based pyramid with four regularly equalateral-triangular faces.)

I chose a tetrahedron because it is the simplest regular polyhedron, and it resembles the same shape no matter which side is facing downward. Also, it can not be used as a building block because of its angular shape unless it is placed at the very top of the wall.

So, what can this shape possibly represent? It is the initial work of Christ at the cross that this stone represents, not Christ Himself but the foundation stone of the temple that is Christs body. Now, when first laid down it is a temple all by itself when alone, and sits atop the wall as the chief cornerstone and head of the corner when all alone. Any work in building a temple afterward based upon Christ's work is complete only if it includes the stone laid by Christ, which must sit at the top because of its shape. Its uncommon form also represents the fact that even if the entire temple built by disciples of Christ is torn down and all the stones separated and dragged miles apart; wherever the stone of the cross lies, there is a complete temple. Every work then building upon Christs work must include the work of the cross as its chief stone atop the corner of the highest wall. It is impossible to destroy this stone.

If we consider the building torn apart into pieces; and the disciples works used for building upon other gospels, (without the primacy of the work of Christ on the cross) then this would require the builders of these other buildings, (other gospels) to reject that chief cornerstone. Were only the stone of the cross remaining with all the other works pulled down and stolen; the rejected stone is yet again, complete, inseparable, both foundation and head of the corner. Christ's work is true, and even if rejected by all men, even those who would call themselves His own, the stone of the cross is a complete and absolute fact and can not be removed from history.

There are some great verses in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

Particularly in mind is the burning down of the building of other mens work, and the reference to Christ's work as the chief foundation stone. The lively stones here are not the "person" of an individual, but are rather the "life's work" of the individuals (living within the gospel) that contribute to the expounding of the new covenant of God's laws of faith and grace. The temple is holy - is truth from God; and people contribute new content by the Holy Spirit or do not. In this sense, the foundation (which is Jesus' life) is the gospel record of Christ's life and ministry, and not His person or self. Jesus did not come to bear record of Himself, but to speak the words the Father gave Him. This is the correctly discerned interpretation, and the expounded record of lives that are the stones speak volumes rather than the "self" of the individual which is far from holy. To defile the temple of God is to preach false doctrine and set oneself above the stone at the head of the corner. Paul's warning to such men is to remain quiet and learn from God's "temple" record of those that went and laid their stones before.

Jesus also said the following concerning the gospel, which is the completed work of Christ upon the cross.

So, does it make sense to think of this stone as Christ himself? well, no it does not. Just look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 17 above. Christ is not and can not be the chief cornerstone, as we do not have Christ to raise up and display above all of us upon our own work. We have the cross instead. When our own work is pulled down or "burned with fire" as Paul put it, (see blue panel verses above.) We are tested on the basis of the correctness of our gospel. It makes sense then, to not test Christ Himself as the head of the corner and "burn" Him in testing, - but testing our understanding of the gospel culminating in the cross. There is indeed one original stone, (one gospel) and one temple upon which it sits as head of the corner, But Christ did not come to replace the law with worship of His person, but came to mediate grace. Jesus is God and deserves worship yes, but as head of the body of believers, and not as the magic band-aid for an unsound temple. There is one God, one faith and one gospel, but out of the three, the soundest judgement is made when this stone is discerned to be the fact of the true gospel of Christ.

If we have the correct gospel, then we may be confident of a reward, not for having "Jesus" whoever that may be - perhaps another Jesus? With another gospel?. Jesus may be recognised as fulfilling the works of the law and laying down His life for us whilst mediating grace in a new covenant. Get the gospel right, then we have Christ: and not vice-versa. Having the stone as Christ's person Himself would be equivalent to either a kings X on anything we wish to say, or would allow us to pervert the incorruptable God into the likeness of our own false imaginations. Likewise, the gospel mediated by Christ is a gospel without justification by works, and the completed obedience of Christ and His victory upon His resurrection that evidences the fact of that supplied grace is "without hands" or "without works".

What does "without hands" mean? It means without works! Jesus was not present whilst He was dead - His greatest work, that of His victory over death was indeed a "work" (that He laid down His life and took it up again,).. and the kicker is; He wasn't even here to do it! Nor was he "anywhere else" to do the work - He was truly absent in death. Thus, the stone cut out without hands is the work of the cross, and the revelation that Christ has life in Himself, as the Father has life in Himself. Jesus Christ is God.

A "Stone Cut Out Without Hands" then has a singular meaning. Christ laid down His life, He wasn't executed as a criminal in the sense that this was some other mans marvellous good work; neither was it suicide; The cross of Christ itself is the work made without hands - His life laid down for us by Christ Himself. Reject it; it stands. destroy the temple; it stands. The less the work of Christ is esteemed; the more significant the cross is to the temple that remains. If all is destroyed and the cross rejected; yet the fact remains that the resting stone is proof God loves us and is a God of salvation.

Even from a historical old testament perspective it makes sense to think of the first stone laid as the work of the cross. It had not been done before, and Jesus began work on a new temple. Although Jesus Christ is primarily the God of the old testament, and not His Father - (whoever has Christ has the Father but whoever does not have Christ, has not the Father, (Jesus said: I and the Father are one and the same.)) Jesus should have been the crowning glory of the old testament vision, but was despised and rejected of men - and finished building the new covenant upon the cross with the offering of His life.

The rejection of the work on the cross by Israel meant a new temple: In that sense it is Jesus who cut out the stone without hands: It is the Lords doing. The old testament temple with its foreshadowing of the ministry of Christ had been misunderstood because it had not been approached with faith and could not stand justified by it. The single stone Christ laid, rejected by even His friends aligns well with the verse :

We can think of that stone laid down alone a ways off from the majestic structure of the old testament system, incomplete as it was without Christ's work atop it. I would be more amazed by the esteem and victory upon that rough tetrahedron of stone laid by Christ alone, and the temple of God translated spiritually to that new victor - the shadowy remains of the OT system condemned to destruction in time.

So, what about the capstone of a pyramid? an oversimplification in thought if ever there was one. The image is a by product of masonic heresy and idolatry, and not of the work of the cross which is everything a Christian should bear to others when building a temple of lively stones. The eye atop the pyramid is a symbol of luciferian esoteric doctrine, and is about as far from the cross as you can get; - buyer beware.

It is a sad thought, that stone laying in the middle of some tundra waste battered by wind and rain, on its own except for a few broken remnants of some long forgotten temple. When the son of man returns, will he find faith on the earth?

Continue To Next Page

Return To Section Start

Return To Previous Page