The Bible speaks of Christ as a stone in different aspects. Isaiah 28:16 says, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation.” As a stone Christ is solid, strong, and stable.
First Peter 2:4 says that Christ is “a living stone, having been rejected by men, but with God chosen, held in honor.” This living stone is Christ for God’s building. As the living stone Christ makes us also living stones, transformed with His stone nature so that on Him as the foundation and cornerstone we may be built up a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5).
Christ is the stone “held in honor.” The Greek for this phrase also means precious. It denotes preciousness as recognized and held in honor. From the time of Christ’s resurrection and ascension He has been held in honor. He is not only in glory but also on the throne at the right hand of God, in a position of honor. Because Christ is now in such an honorable position, He is precious, highly valued.
First Peter 2:6, quoting Isaiah 28:16, says, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chosen stone, a cornerstone held in honor, and he who believes on Him shall by no means be put to shame.” God’s choosing of Christ as the living stone is of two aspects. First Christ was chosen by God in eternity past. That was God’s initial choosing of Him. Then God chose Christ the second time in resurrection. When Christ was on the cross, apparently He was rejected by God. To the Pharisees and all the others who opposed Him, the crucifixion of Christ was a sign that God had rejected Him (Matt. 27:42-43; Luke 23:35). But on the third day Christ was resurrected, and that resurrection was a sign of God’s choosing, a proof that God had chosen Christ to be the stone for His building. This second choosing was a confirmation of God’s first choosing. In resurrection God confirmed the choice He made concerning Christ in eternity past.
The Zion spoken of in 1 Peter 2:6 is not the Zion on earth; it is the Zion in the heavens. The statement, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chosen stone,” refers not only to Christ’s resurrection but also to His ascension. After God resurrected Christ, He lifted Him up to the heavens. Therefore, Christ’s ascension is a further sign and confirmation that God has chosen Him.
First Peter 2:6 also says that he who believes on Christ will by no means be put to shame. Christ is trustworthy, stable, and steadfast. We can put our trust in Him and be assured that we shall never be put to shame.
Jeremiah 23:6 and 33:16 both speak of “Jehovah our righteousness.” This expression is a sign of Christ as our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). We may incorrectly think that, as believers, we have the righteousness of Christ. But our righteousness is not the righteousness of Christ; our righteousness is Christ Himself. Christ Himself as a person, not His attribute of righteousness, has been made righteousness to us. God has made Christ, who is the embodiment of God Himself, our righteousness. Through Christ as righteousness we have been justified by God so that we may be reborn in our spirit to receive the divine life (Rom. 5:18; 8:10).
Christ as our righteousness is signified by the robe in the parable of the loving father (Luke 15:11-32). When the prodigal son returned home, the father said, “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him” (v. 22). The definite article “the” indicates a particular robe prepared especially for him by the father. This best robe replaced the rags (Isa. 64:6) of the returned prodigal. After the best robe was put on him, the son was covered with a splendid garment that qualified him to match his father’s requirements and satisfy him. This robe signifies Christ as the God-satisfying righteousness to cover penitent sinners (cf. Isa. 61:10; Zech. 3:4). Christ is our righteousness in whom we are justified before God. As those who have Christ as the best robe, we have Christ as our righteousness.
The Bible reveals that Christ is also a stone with seven eyes. In Zechariah He is portrayed as the stone (3:9), which is the topstone (4:7), with the seven eyes of the Lord, “which run to and fro through the whole earth” (4:10). Zechariah 3:9 says, “Behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” The reference to the engraving of the stone indicates that this stone is Christ. As the building stone, the Lord Jesus was “engraved,” dealt with, by God on the cross for the iniquity of God’s people. This corresponds to John 1:29. Christ, then, is the engraved stone with seven eyes.
Zechariah 4:2 speaks of a lampstand with seven lamps, and verse 10, of “those seven,” referring to the seven lamps in verse 2. These “seven” are the eyes of the Lord. When we put together verses 2 and 10, we see that the seven lamps of the lampstand are the seven eyes of the Lord. Furthermore, these seven lamps are the seven eyes of the stone. This indicates that the building stone with the seven eyes is Jehovah, the Lord God Himself.
In Revelation 4 and 5 we have a further development of the seven eyes and the seven lamps. Revelation 4:5 says that “seven lamps of fire are burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” In Zechariah 3:9 and 4:2 and 10 we have the seven eyes and the seven lamps but not the seven Spirits. In Revelation 4:5 the seven lamps are developed into the seven Spirits.
Revelation 5:6 goes on to unveil a “Lamb standing as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.” Here, as a further development over Zechariah, the seven eyes are not only the seven eyes of the stone but also the seven eyes of the Lamb. These seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. In Zechariah 3 and 4 we see the seven eyes of the stone, the seven lamps of the lampstand, and the seven eyes of the Lord. Therefore, the Lord is the stone, and the stone is also the lampstand. These three—the Lord, the lampstand, and the stone—are one.
In Zechariah the seven eyes are the seven lamps. In Revelation the seven lamps are no longer just on the lampstand but are also burning before the throne. These seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God. Eventually, the seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb, who is in the center of God’s administration. Revelation 5:6 indicates that the seven lamps burning before the throne are also the seven eyes of the Lamb. This means that the seven eyes are the seven eyes of the stone, the seven eyes of the Lord, and the seven eyes of the Lamb. These seven eyes combine the stone, the Lord, and the Lamb. This indicates that the Lamb is the stone and that the stone is the Lord.
The stone that was rejected by the builders and that became the cornerstone (Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11) is the very stone with the seven eyes in Zechariah 3:9. In the sight of God, when the Jewish builders rejected Christ, they rejected both the Lamb and cornerstone of God’s building. Christ died as the Lamb, but in resurrection God made Him the cornerstone. On this stone there are seven eyes shining and burning to carry out God’s economy. Because in Zechariah these seven eyes are on the stone and in Revelation they are on the Lamb, we may say that Christ, the Lamb and the stone, is the Lamb-stone for God’s building. The fact that Christ, the Lamb of God, is the building stone with seven eyes reveals that the seven eyes of Christ are for God’s building. Our Christ is the building stone with seven eyes, with the seven Spirits to infuse Himself into us in order to transform us into precious materials for God’s building.
In Malachi 4:2 the sun is a type of Christ: “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” Christ is the Sun of righteousness. In His “wings,” that is, in His shining, there is the healing of death. Without His shining there is death. When His shining appears, death is healed.
Malachi 4:2 is fulfilled in Luke 1:78: “The rising sun from on high shall visit us.” “From on high” means from God and indicates that it is in His deity that Christ is the rising sun from the heavens. In His deity Jesus Christ the Savior is the dawning sun to the dark age. His birth was the real sunrise for humanity. His coming ended the night of the Old Testament and began the day of the New Testament.
Luke 1:69 and 78 speak of Christ in His humanity and His deity. In His humanity Christ is the horn of salvation raised up by God in a human house, the house of David. In His deity He is the rising sun from the heavens. Therefore, Christ is both man and God. As man He is the horn of salvation; as God He is the rising sun. God’s redemptive work for the salvation of His people was accomplished by raising up Christ in the two aspects of the horn of salvation and the rising sun.
Having considered forty-eight aspects of Christ’s person in the fulfillment of the types and figures of the Old Testament, we see that, as the One with unsearchable riches (Eph. 3:8), Christ is profound. He is truly everything to us for our experience and enjoyment.