When some hear that we say according to the Scriptures that Christ is the cornerstone, the foundation stone, the topstone, and even all the stones in God’s building, they may accuse us of teaching pantheism. This is a false accusation. Yes, we say that Christ is our food, air, water, light, door, clothing, and dwelling place, although this certainly is not pantheism. Is Christ not qualified to be our food and drink? Is He not qualified to be our air, clothing, door, and dwelling place? Is He not the foundation stone, the cornerstone, the topstone, and all the stones for God’s building? Surely Christ is qualified to be all these things. However, today some detract from Christ’s qualifications and falsely accuse as pantheists those who teach from the Bible that Christ is all-inclusive, that He is all in all. The New Testament reveals that Christ is all in all (Col. 3:11), and we are the fullness of this One who is all in all (Eph. 1:23). How wonderful that we are Christ’s fullness to express Him!
It is in the name of Jesus Christ, the all-inclusive One, that we are saved. Do you know why His name is so powerful? His name is powerful because He is the wonderful, all-inclusive One. We have been saved in the name of Jesus Christ, and He is the all-inclusive One. As the all-inclusive One, Christ is God, man, the Father, the Son, the Spirit, the rock, the foundation, the cornerstone, the topstone, the door, our food, our drink, our clothing, our life, our strength, our ability, our function, our walk, our living, our words, our breath, our sight, our hearing. Oh, it is impossible to exhaust all that Christ is to us!
Due to the influence of tradition, some say that we should not use new terms to express what Christ is. They claim that we should use only those terms used by the church fathers, the councils, and traditional teachings. This imposes a great restriction on God’s people. We need to break through this restriction and use new terms when necessary to convey the all-inclusiveness of Christ. We should not trust in traditional theology, for it restricts us and even misleads us. We need to see in the Word all the aspects of Christ. In particular, our Christ has the aspect of being a stone for God’s building. Hallelujah for this building stone!
Christ is not only the stone for God’s building; He is also the stumbling stone and the smiting stone. Concerning Himself as the stumbling stone and smiting stone, the Lord Jesus said, “He who falls on this stone shall be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it shall scatter him as chaff” (Matt. 21:44). To the believers, Christ is the foundation stone in whom we trust (Isa. 28:16). But to the unbelieving Jews, He is the stumbling stone (Isa. 8:14-15; Rom. 9:32-33), and to the nations He will be the smiting stone. According to Daniel 2:34 and 35, Christ as the stone will smite the nations at His coming back.
For us as believers Christ is neither the stumbling stone nor the smiting stone—He is the building stone, even the propagating stone. For us, He has become the building stone. First, we became His propagation, and now He is building us up together into God’s dwelling place. He is both the Builder and the material for God’s building. He is the Stone-Savior. In God’s economy He is building His eternal habitation. For the Jews and the nations respectively, He is the stumbling stone and the smiting stone. But to us He is the propagating stone and the building stone.
In the Bible stone is a major item. In Genesis God created a man of clay (Gen. 2:7). Hence, the first man was a clay-man. Then God Himself came to be a man, and this man was a stone-man. At the end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, we have a stone-city, a city built of stone. Therefore, the Bible begins with a clay-man, continues with a stone-man, and consummates in a stone-city. This is God’s economy.