If you have ever tried to hang wallpaper you know that the first strip is the most important. Every other piece will fail to match if the first is not hung correctly. In ancient times, the cornerstone was the most important stone in the building. Every other stone was measured and set using the cornerstone for direction.

Jesus is our model of faith, our cornerstone, by which we are to determine our direction for life. Eight hundred years before Christ’s birth, the prophet Isaiah had described the Messiah saying, “So this is what the sovereign Lord says, ‘See I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed’” (Isaiah 28:16).

Jesus was rejected by the “builders” of the first century because he wasn’t their desired “model” for a Messiah. They wanted a soldier king and Jesus was a servant King. So, most of the leaders of the day chose not to align their lives with God’s own Son. There are still those who reject Jesus as their cornerstone, their model for faithful living. 

Jesus is our cornerstone. When we build our lives according to his perfection, our lives go in the proper direction and we build a life that is aligned with God. If we use the wrong cornerstone, we build incorrectly. “There is salvation in no one else.”

Our culture defines success in any number of ways. Our desire for freedom and freedom of expression allows for buildings to be formed in a variety of shapes, sizes and architecture. There are so many ways for people to design and build their lives, but there is only one perfect cornerstone. “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

If we don’t continue to build our lives in line with the cornerstone, we shouldn’t be surprised when things begin to shift and even fall. Thankfully, Jesus is a miraculous architect. He can “make all things new” again, and he is a perfect “remodeler” for all of our mistakes.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. He is the Cornerstone we need to build and rebuild our lives with perfection.