Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the Stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the Head of the corner. 1 Peter 2:7
The late Irish preacher Jim Flanagan told of visiting a dear old saint who lay dying in a Belfast hospital. A nurse told him his visit was pointless because the woman was unconscious. But as the preacher approached her bed, the woman opened her eyes and recognized him with a smile. As he spoke to her, she responded with the simple but profound observation, ‘He is so precious’. With but hours left in her long and fruitful life, this dear Christian was resting sweetly in the preciousness of her Lord. Undoubtedly, her thoughts were similar to those of the hymn writer Charles Gabriel more than a hundred years ago, when he penned the following words: ‘So precious is Jesus, my Saviour, my King; His praise all the day long with rapture I sing. To Him in my weakness for strength I can cling, For He is so precious to me.’ Our text presents us with a stark contrast in what the Lord Jesus means to the believer and to the disobedient.
The Lord Jesus became precious to each one of us when we first trusted Him as our Saviour. We look back to that moment with joy, because it marked the beginning of a relationship that continues to grow more precious. How precious His promise ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee’ (Hebrews 13:5)! And how precious the recall of the days and years that have passed with the knowledge that He has perfectly kept that promise! Several years ago, the then pope criticized those who would claim to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, insisting that such a relationship is impossible. But what was impossible for poor pathetic Francis is both possible and precious to every true child of God.
Our text today also reminds us of the warning in 1 Peter 4:17: ‘What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?’ The Gospel message is one that must be obeyed. Those who fail to obey it see nothing precious about the Lord Jesus. They curse His name, they fail to regard or be thankful for His blessings, they mock and deny His message, and they persecute and belittle His people. But that is only in time. The Jewish leaders who rejected the Lord Jesus before Pilate had disallowed the Stone that God had provided for a Cornerstone. The day is nearing when they will all be called before a Throne to admit they were wrong. And so will every one who has been disobedient to the Gospel message. Not a knee will remain unbent in confession that He is the Head of the Corner.
Praise God for opening our understanding to the preciousness of our Lord. And pray that He will open the same understanding to those who have not yet been obedient to His message of grace. – Jim MacIntosh