In the Bible God’s building begins with the tabernacle and consummates with the New Jerusalem. In the tabernacle there were gold and wood, but no stone. Stone was used along with gold and wood in the building of the temple. Although the Bible speaks of the foundation stone of the first temple, there is no mention of the topstone until the time of the rebuilding of the temple. Zechariah speaks of the topstone (Zech. 4:7), but not of the foundation stone. Thus, it is possible to have the foundation stone without the topstone, but not to have the topstone without the foundation stone. In order to have the topstone, you must have both the foundation stone and cornerstone.
In the church, God’s building in the New Testament, there is gold, but there is no wood. The wood has been petrified, and thus it has become stone. Furthermore, in the New Jerusalem not only will there be no wood; all the stones will be precious stones, not ordinary stones. Therefore, with the first stage of God’s building, the tabernacle, there were gold and wood, but in the consummation, there will be gold and precious stone. When the church life began in Germany, there was very little stone; there was mostly wood. But in the church in Stuttgart today, there is not only wood, but also a certain amount of stone. In the days to come the wood will decrease, and the stone will increase. Hallelujah for the decrease of the wood and the increase of the stone!
The change from wood to stone comes about through the process of transformation. Formerly, a certain brother was altogether wood, but today he is sixty percent stone and just forty percent wood. After another period of time, he will be eighty percent stone and twenty percent wood. When this brother enters the New Jerusalem, he will be one hundred percent stone, and that stone will be precious stone. In addition to salvation, we need transformation. Although salvation may take place in an instant, transformation is a life-long process. I have been in this process for more than fifty-two years, and I am still in the process of being transformed. I realize that I still have some amount of wood. However, I fully expect that the wood that remains will also be petrified, changed into stone.
The Bible reveals that Christ is both the Lamb and the stone (John 1:29; Acts 4:10-11). It is quite common for Christians to praise the Lord and say, “Worthy is the Lamb! Hallelujah to the Lamb! Glory to the Lamb! Praise the Lamb!” But have you ever heard someone praise Him by saying, “Hallelujah to the stone! Worthy is the stone! Praise the stone! Glory to the stone!” It seems that historic Christianity does not know Christ as the stone or praise Him as such. One day the Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees who were rejecting Him, “Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” (Matt. 21:42). When the Pharisees rejected Christ, they also rejected the cornerstone. When Peter was preaching the gospel, he also spoke of Christ as the cornerstone. According to Acts 4:10 and 11, Peter said, “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.” All Christians realize that the Lord Jesus is the Savior, but very few realize that He is also the stone. He is both the crucified Lamb and the rejected stone.
Christian theology repeatedly emphasizes the fundamental matter of redemption. However, the theologians do not see the matter of the building, and thus they do not talk about it. Therefore, theology emphasizes Christ as the Lamb, but neglects Him as the stone. Christ is not only the Lamb for redemption; He is also the stone for the building. The building, not redemption, is the goal. Redemption is part of the process to reach the goal.
The fact that Christ is both the Lamb and the stone is proved by comparing Revelation 5:6 with Zechariah 3:9. Revelation 5:6 indicates that Christ is the Lamb with seven eyes, and Zechariah 3:9 indicates that He is the stone with seven eyes. Thus, the seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven eyes of the stone. This proves that the Lamb is the stone and that the stone is the Lamb. Furthermore, it reveals that Christ’s redemption is for the building. Christ is not only the Lamb to redeem us; He is also the stone for God’s building.
Regarding Christ as the stone, there are three main aspects: the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone, the capstone. At the bottom of the building, there is the foundation stone, and at the top, there is the capstone. Between the foundation and the capstone there is the cornerstone that joins the wall and supports the topstone. Thus, with the foundation, the cornerstone, and the topstone, we have the complete structure of the building. As the building stone, Christ is the bottom, the top, and the joining and supporting element. He is everything in God’s building. Moreover, Christ is also the living stone (1 Pet. 2:4). Anything that is living grows, increases, and produces. Thus, as the stone for God’s building, Christ is not only the foundation, the corner, and the top, but also the One who is increasing and producing. He has produced us, and now He is increasing within us to make us living stones for God’s building (1 Pet. 2:5).
In God’s building everything is Christ. God’s temple, God’s eternal habitation, is Christ. In this building Christ is the foundation stone, the cornerstone, the topstone, and the living stone for the increase. At the bottom, at the top, on every side, and in every corner, we have Christ. Eventually, this Christ is the church. The church is the building with Christ as the foundation, the cornerstone, the topstone, the increasing wall, and ultimately as the entire building. This is the kernel of the Bible, Christ and the church.