Cephas- The Stone
Today’s topic came as a revelation from the Lord. It was a little nugget of truth that the Lord gave connecting a verse from the Book of Revelation to the disciple Peter. It is simple, yet profound.
Many of us who listen to sermons and have read the Word of God have heard about Jesus calling Peter, “Cephas”.
“And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” John 1:42 KJV
In the verse above Peter had just finished answering the question Jesus posed about Himself. Peter revealed Jesus is the Son of God. Recently, we posted a more in-depth study about why Jesus named him this name in the post titled, “The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail.”
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5 KJV
Peter goes on to mention this concept of “stones” in 1 Peter 2 as we just read. Peter says the followers of Christ are all living stones for a spiritual house. This isn’t referring to a house we see built by a construction company but rather, the house of God. If you read the other post, you will recall the mention of a foundation. A foundation is used when a building is being constructed. This base is so important for the building to be able to support the rest of the structure.
“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Revelation 21:14 KJV
Believers who stand with Jesus, even to the point of death, will be symbolically considered to be a “stone” of that temple. In other words, believers in Christ are a live, building block for the temple. This temple is different than a physical building. This is a spiritual building that has no walls but the Father and the Lamb are the temple of the New Jerusalem. This is a reward the Lord is offering to the one who overcomes this life and does not deny Jesus.
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. Revelation 21:22 KJV
There are foundations, pillars and stones for this spiritual temple. There are multiple foundations as you see written in Revelation 21:14. They are the ones who started the “spiritual building” in the beginning and the pillars are the ones who support it. These are the ones who cannot be removed. Stones, on the other hand, are unique in that they can be added. If you recall, gentiles have been grafted in to the family of God. They are not part of the original tree of life but they can be grafted in. This is the same spiritual concept for gentiles. They are stones that can be added.
The Lord always has reasons why He says certain things and it would not be far off to think that the foundations more than likely, also encompass, the lineage of Israel (the man). Of course, if we examine verse 14 more closely we see the twelve foundations in verse 14 are in reference to the wall that surrounds the New Jerusalem. There is a physical wall and there is a spiritual temple inside those walls. We already know the apostle John and his brother James were the Lord’s cousins and the apostle Paul was a descendent of the tribe of Benjamin. How many others may be part of the lineage but are not mentioned or revealed at this point in time to us?
Are you a stone for this spiritual temple? If not, you can be! He is coming back soon and there are stones missing in His spiritual temple. You can be someone that fills in a missing part by simply accepting and believing in your heart that Jesus is the son of God who came in the flesh and was raised from the dead to sit at the right hand of God the Father. His arms welcome you to the family. You belong to His great, blessed family! Amen!
