#DailyDevotion Is Jesus The Cornerstone Of Your Salvation?
Monady Easter 4
Acts 4: (10) let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. (11) This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. (12) And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Peter and the other apostles were on trial before the high priest. They had been preaching and teaching in the temple about Jesus of Nazareth and salvation in him. They had healed a crippled man. The priests want to know by what power and authority they had performed this miracle. So now is their chance to proclaim the good news to these men who consciences had been burdened by what they had done to Jesus.
Peter pulls no punches. He is not afraid. He knows Jesus and the power of the resurrection in Jesus. Peter proclaims the law quite bluntly so it my rightly crush these men’s hearts so they might repent of their sin. He tells them you crucified Jesus. You had rejected Jesus who is the stone the builders rejected and which has become the cornerstone. Certainly they knew the bible passage: Psa 118:22-23 “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. (23) This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Now Jesus had also warned that this stone would crush those it fell upon and break to pieces those who fell on it. Yes the Jewish leadership had rejected Jesus. But God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. It is true the Father planned to use these sinful men to accomplish this sacrifice. It is true, they could not have crucified Jesus and killed him unless Jesus laid down his life only to take it up again. Nevertheless the sin was still theirs. It was their will and intent born from jealousy that set them to kill Jesus and remove him from the equation. So now is their chance to repent and be saved.
For Peter proclaims there is salvation in no one else. There is no name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Now this is good news. If we are going to be saved, if we are going to inherit eternal life, it is now our work. We can claim no merit or work we can point to that we can say justifies us before God. We can point to no righteousness of our own before God that can save us from sin, death and the devil. And we do not have to search all over the world, in hidden monasteries, mountain tops, wooded forest or anywhere else for the knowledge of salvation. This good news has gone forth throughout the earth.
Jesus of Nazareth has saved you by his death and resurrection. He offers to you, today, the gift of eternal life. His work on the cross has conquered death. It has removed the power of sin in our lives to kill our souls and bring to death our bodies forever. Jesus promises to raise you from the dead on the day of his revelation to the world and give you an everlasting kingdom where righteousness reigns. If you believe him, it is yours. Will you confess your sins, repent of those sins and trust I Christ Jesus? We know many priests repented and turned to Christ Jesus through the message of the apostles. Make Jesus your cornerstone of your life today. He will do it.
Heavenly Father, you chose Jesus to be the cornerstone of our salvation. Grant us faith in him that he may be the foundation of our salvation that we may be built up in him unto life everlasting. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.