Message Ten

Christ as a Crown of Glory and a Diadem of Beauty
for the Reward of the Overcomers;
a Foundation, a Tested Stone, and
a Precious Cornerstone for the Building of God;
and a Supplying, Caring, and Covering King
for the Kingdom of God

Scripture Reading: Isa. 28:5, 16; 32:1-2; 33:22

1. Christ is a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people—Isa. 28:5:
   1. A crown is like a hat or turban, whereas the diadem is the headband as the most beautiful, glorious part of the crown—cf. Exo. 28:36-39; 29:6; Isa. 62:3.
   2. In Paul’s experience, he had Christ as a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty—Phil. 1:20; 4:22.
   3. Christ will be the crown of righteousness, the crown of life, and the crown of glory as a reward to His overcoming believers—2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 2:10; James 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4; 1 Cor. 9:25; Gen. 15:1.
   4. We need to continually behold the beauty of the Lord in the house of the Lord so that we may be transformed from glory to glory, beautified by the Lord, to become His beautiful bride and the house of His beauty with Him as our crown of glory and our diadem of beauty—Psa. 27:4; 2 Cor. 3:16, 18; Eph. 5:26-27; Isa. 60:7b, 9b, 13b, 19b.
   5. When we live Christ for His magnification by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, Christ becomes our expression, our “holy garments,” to be our glory and our beauty—Phil. 1:19-21a; 4:22; Exo. 28:2; Gal. 6:17-18:
      1. To have Christ as our glory means to express Christ’s divinity with the divine attributes—John 1:14; Heb. 1:3; John 17:22; 2 Cor. 3:18.
      2. To have Christ as our beauty means to express Christ’s humanity with the human virtues—Luke 24:19; Acts 16:7; Psa. 27:4.
   6. As the glory of the Father’s house, we are the vessels of Christ, hanging upon Him as the peg and enjoying Him as the throne of glory in order to contain Him and minister Him into others so that we may be rewarded with Him as the unfading crown of glory—Isa. 22:23-24; 1 Pet. 5:4.
2. Christ is a foundation, a tested stone, and a precious cornerstone for God’s building—Isa. 28:16; 1 Pet. 2:6-7:
   1. Christ as the living stone (v. 4), the foundation stone (1 Cor. 3:11), the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), and the topstone (Zech. 4:6-7) is constituting us with His stone nature to make us living stones (1 Pet. 2:5) for His spiritual house, His building; He is also a stumbling stone to the unbelieving religionists and a smiting stone to the nations (v. 8; Matt. 21:44; Dan. 2:34-35).
   2. On Christ as the unique foundation, God’s building is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, and we are being built into a dwelling place of God in spirit—Matt. 16:16-18; 1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:21-22.
   3. Christ is the tested stone; from the time that He became a man, He was tested every day of His earthly life, and He had no failure—John 19:4-5; Heb. 4:15-16; cf. 2 Cor. 6:1; Phil. 4:12-13.
   4. He who believes in this tried and trustworthy stone “will not hasten away,” “shall not hasten with fear,” “will not hurry in panic”—Isa. 28:16; 30:15a; John 16:33; Psa. 91:1; 31:20.
   5. We need to enjoy Christ as the chief cornerstone so that we may be joined together in Him; our Savior, Jesus, saves us and joins us into God’s building—118:22-24; Acts 4:10-13:
      1. In God’s New Testament economy Christ as the cornerstone, in His saving us, first makes us living stones for the building up of God’s spiritual house (Matt. 16:16-18; John 1:42; 1 Pet. 2:2-6), and then, in the process of His transforming us (Rom. 12:2a; 2 Cor. 3:18), builds us up into a dwelling place of God (Eph. 2:19-22), that He may carry out God’s eternal economy for God’s good pleasure (1:9; 3:9-11).
      2. Christ as the cornerstone is the unique salvation to sinners, and it is in His unique name under heaven, a name despised and rejected by the Jewish leaders but honored and exalted by God, that sinners must be saved not only from sin but also to participate in God’s building—Acts 4:10-12; Phil. 2:9-11; Matt. 1:21; 21:42.
3. Christ is a King for supplying us, caring for us, and covering us—Isa. 32:1-2:
   1. This Man-King is a refuge from the wind, a covering from the tempest, streams of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a massive rock in a wasted land—vv. 1-2:
      1. Christ as our King is a refuge from the wind; we can trust in Him at all times and pour out our heart before Him—Psa. 62:6-8.
      2. Christ as our King is a covering from the tempest—John 6:18-21:
         1. The Lord can overrule and walk on all the troubling waves of human life, and all the troubles are under His feet.
         2. We need to take the Lord into our “boat” (our married life, our family, our business, etc.) and enjoy peace with Him on the journey of human life.
      3. Christ as our King is streams of water in a dry place:
         1. Christ was “a root out of dry ground” (Isa. 53:2a), not looking for anything in His dry environment to satisfy, supply, comfort, or encourage Him but looking inwardly to the Father as His unique source of satisfaction, supply, comfort, and encouragement (John 4:34; 8:29).
         2. We can drink of Christ as streams of water in a dry place, enjoying Him as the One who is never discouraged—Isa. 42:4a; John 4:13-14.
      4. Christ as our King is the shadow of a massive rock in a wasted land:
         1. Christ is the Rock of our salvation, and this Rock is our strength, our refuge, our hiding place, our protection, our covering, and our safeguard—Deut. 32:15, 18; 2 Sam. 22:47; Psa. 95:1; 62:7; 94:22; 1 Cor. 10:4.
         2. Because this wasted land is full of heat, there is the need of a shadow, which functions like today’s air conditioner—Isa. 4:6; Psa. 91:1.
   2. Christ is our Judge, our Lawmaker, and our King to save us—Isa. 33:22:
      1. The kingdom of God is Christ Himself as the three sections of the divine government—judicial, legislative, and executive—Luke 17:21.
      2. Christ is within the church today to rule within His believers and organically save them, making them His overcomers, who together in Him become a smiting stone to crush the totality of human government and become the kingdom of God to fill the whole earth—v. 21; Rom. 14:17; Dan. 2:34-35, 44.