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That Precious Living Stone
"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels." -- 2Thessalonians 1:7
Posted by Joey Kelly

Peter tells of a stone, one laid in Zion as the chief cornerstone of the tabernacle of God (1Peter 2:4-8). We that believe on that stone, the Lord Jesus Christ, are not condemned, but are rather justified by His work upon the cross of Calvary. The Old Testament declares of that stone there is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God (1 Samuel 2:2). We understand that Jesus stands rejected by the world's system, its government and religions, but we that love and follow Him know Him as precious to our souls.

Eschatology (the study of last things) shows us the Lord that is coming back to judge the world and the evildoers therein, but it's interesting to note that John's revelation is of the person of Jesus Christ, not a merely a tale of calamitous things. That the world will be judged is a certain thing, but his book begins with a description of our loving savior and ends with yet another appeal to come to Him and enjoy eternal life. Daniel, a man greatly beloved by the Lord, interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream and foretells the coming of that stone that will destroy the kingdoms of the world and fill the earth with God's glory (Daniel 2:25-44).

The prophets speak of many things and at times go into great detail when describing the things to come, and it is easy to get bogged down in the minute details and miss the big picture. Daniel himself narrows his focus of the end times as he relates his various visions, but the narrative in chapter 2 of the statue and the stone that destroys it is perhaps the most powerful prophecy of the Old Testament, as it cuts through the details and gets right to the point: many kingdoms will arise in the times leading up to the end of human civilization, but Jesus Christ, the great Rock (2Samuel 2:32) and son of God, is coming back and will put an end to man's misspent stewardship of this planet and set up a kingdom that will last a thousand years (Revelation chapter 20).

Unbelievers are right to dread the coming of the Lord, but the notion of impending doom is a thing of the past for us who have surrendered our lives to Him… our twofold focus now is that of laboring to win the lost and looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).