Rejected By Man, Accepted By God

Suwandy Tjin
Aug 31, 2018 · 3 min read

Stones.

We tend to walk by stones and they did not even warrant our attention. It’s dead and it has not much use laying down on the side of the road.

On one hand, it may look inconspicuous but depending on how it’s processed and used, it is one of the best and primary building materials. Majestic and glorious buildings have been built using all kinds of stones. Chances are, you may be reading this while sitting inside a building made from stone.

Although it has great use nowadays, stones used to bring terrible and horrific memories. The Ten Commandments was carved on two piece of stones which governs how Israel lives their life. And the Bible records stoning to death as the main method of punishment to be inflicted on those breaking God’s law. One poor fellow was caught breaking one of those laws and was sentenced to death by stoning.

Leviticus 24:23
After Moses gave all these instructions to the Israelites, they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him to death. The Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

I used to avoid reading these parts of the Bible because I didn’t want to imagine how painful being stoned to death is. Reading this would trigger the scary memories of a movie scene that I’d rather not remember. I was a young unbeliever watching a movie which showed a crowd stoning the martyr Stephen to death.

Jesus changed all that, however. Stones no longer referred to something scary or horrific. Stones became something which brought good memories.

Jesus was overlooked, despised, and rejected, treated as if He was worthless, much like the stone you walked past every day. Yet, He became the chief cornerstone of our faith (Ephesians 2:19–22). Peter must know exactly what he was talking about when he wrote his letters about Jesus the living Stone (1 Peter 2:4). He denied Him three times when He was captured after all.

The good news for us is that Peter didn’t stop there. He also showed us that we are also living stones in what God is building.

1 Peter 2:5
you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

My friends, people may disregard you. They may overlook you. They may ignore you and look down on you. You may be rejected by man, yet you are accepted by God. You are unequivocally precious in God’s eyes. He has chosen you as the living stones in His Kingdom. And because He chose you, you will also be a part of the power of the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus started out as a lone prophet who roamed the earth for a little over thirty years in a relatively obscure town in the Middle East. Yet, His name and His ministry have continued to impact literally everybody in this world.

Your journey starting out may be small and insignificant. Believe that God intends to use you in a majestic and glorious way to bring His good news of love into this world.

Love,

Suwandy

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