We need to experience all these aspects of Christ as the stone for God’s building. If we experience Him in these aspects, we shall have a complete building. This building is simply Christ Himself. The fact that Christ is the foundation stone is not a doctrine; it is something that we must experience. Apart from the church life, you cannot experience Christ as the foundation stone. Furthermore, outside the church life, it is impossible to experience Christ as the cornerstone, much less as the topstone. During the early days of the church life in Germany, you brothers probably did not have very much experience of Christ as the foundation stone. But after the stormy winds began to blow and attacks began to come upon the church, you realized that you cannot afford to be the church without a foundation. You had to experience Christ in such a way that you could withstand the storm and the tide. This is the experience of Christ as the foundation. Praise the Lord that in Stuttgart the foundation has been laid!
Gradually, after the laying of the foundation, you began to experience Christ as the cornerstone, as the One who joins the building together. It is not enough for the walls to be solid; they must also be connected. They are joined by your experience of Christ as the connecting element, that is, as the cornerstone. This is much more than a doctrine; it is a very real experience.
Although you may have Christ as the foundation stone and the cornerstone, you will eventually realize that you are still in the open air. What will protect you from the rain? You need not only a solid foundation and a strong cornerstone, but also the topstone. It is not a simple matter for Christ to be the topstone. Zechariah 3:9 reveals that the topstone has been engraved. This engraving indicates some kind of dealing. On neither the foundation stone nor on the cornerstone was there any engraving. The engraving on the topstone makes it beautiful. The beauty of the building is mainly with the topstone, and this beauty comes from the engraving, the cutting. This matter is deep and profound.
In relation to the building of the first temple, there was no mention of the topstone. Only at the time of the rebuilding of the temple does the Bible speak of the topstone. In fact, no other stone is mentioned. Although the rebuilt temple was small in size, its beauty surpassed that of the previous temple. In the eyes of God, the rebuilt temple was beautiful and precious. The church that was built on the day of Pentecost was rather large, but its topstone was not that beautiful. Later the church was damaged. Now, at the end of this age, the Lord is rebuilding the church. Although it is smaller in size than it was on the day of Pentecost, it has the topstone full of engraving. This engraving is the beauty of today’s recovered church. The saints in the church in Stuttgart should be encouraged, for the church in their locality has a certain amount of beauty.
I hope that many of you will have a spiritual dream concerning God’s building. In your dream may you see the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone with its beautiful engraving. Today, in the rebuilt church, we have the topstone with its engraving. When I speak of having a spiritual dream, I am not talking nonsense. According to the book of Genesis, Joseph had two such dreams (Gen. 37:5-9). In the first dream, the other sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. In the second, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars made obeisance to him. Joseph had these dreams long before he began to reign in Egypt. Likewise, before we can have the genuine church life, we need to have some dreams. Day and night may you dream of the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone. Eventually, your dreams will be fulfilled.
Up to this point, we have seen a bird’s-eye view of the Old Testament. In principle, we should come to know the Bible in the same way as we acquaint ourselves with a city. We should first see a general sketch and then become familiar with the main streets. If, instead of seeing a general sketch of the city, you begin by learning all the small streets, lanes, and alleys, you will get lost and never come to know the city as a whole. Likewise, if you try to know the Bible by firstly studying it verse by verse, you will get lost. You will not even be able to find your way through the first chapter of Genesis. For example, Genesis 1:2 speaks about darkness being upon the face of the deep. You may wonder what the darkness is and then what the deep is. In your attempt to find out, you may consult a concordance and, after that, a Bible dictionary. If you go through the Bible this way, it will take a long time to complete even the first several verses of the first chapter of Genesis. If you take this way, you will never come to know the Bible. The way to know the Bible is to first have a bird’s-eye view and see the kernel of the Bible, which is Christ and the church. In the first three chapters of Genesis, we have Christ, and in the remaining forty-seven chapters, we see the church. In Exodus we have the tabernacle; in 1 Kings, the temple; and in Ezra, Haggai, and Zechariah, the rebuilt temple. This is a bird’s-eye view of the Old Testament.