LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
From Dust to Precious Stone
"And its radiance was like that of a most precious stone..." (Rev. 21:11).
When God set out to create man, the material He took to form him was the dust of the earth. Dust, something vile. However, the woman was taken from the man; not from the dust, but from his bones and flesh (Gen. 2:22-23). This shows us something of the heart of God. Jesus was made in the likeness of men in his humiliation. He was made sin for us, but the church received something glorious in His resurrection. The church was made members of His body, of His flesh and bones (Eph. 5:30).
Jesus descended to the lowest parts of the earth, but the church in His resurrection was seated in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:5-6). Now we are no longer dust, clay made bricks, but stonework, that is, stones that are being perfected with the use of tools, hewn out to be used in a building. Not bricks, figure of man, but living stones, figure of Christ, for the edification of His spiritual house: "Coming unto him a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are being built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood..." (1 Pet. 2:4-5).
As the apostle Peter teaches us, the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10). The fire will test everyone's work (1 Cor. 3:13), but at the same time, as happened before with the precious stones, it will undo and melt the living stones, transforming them into precious stones: "Since all these things are to be undone, how should you not walk in a holy and godly manner of life, waiting and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, when the heavens being set on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall be burned up and melted away" (2 Pet. 3:11-12).
What a blessed thing! First the water, then the fire. First the water forming, washing, regenerating and sanctifying, then the fire purifying and melting. Hallelujah! From dust, from clay, to the most precious stone; from the vilest element to something that reflects the glory of God. Who is able to do such a thing? There is none other but our great God, our blessed Father, the Almighty.
No words can express such glory. May the Spirit fulfill his ministry in us and glorify the person of Jesus Christ, so that in the face of Christ we may see the Father's immense glory: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Cor. 4:6-7).