We all make bad choices but rejecting Jesus is the worst choice one could ever make. Choose Jesus choose life.
To believers, He is our dependable rock of salvation (
Psalm 18:2). To the unbelieving world, Jesus is the rejected rock of offense that causes them to stumble. Sadly, far too many people, both the religious and the worldly, continue to trip over Him today.
The Bible refers to Jesus as a rock in relation to both believers and unbelievers. To those who put their faith in Him, He is the rock upon which they build their lives (
Matthew 7:24–29;
16:13–20). As the solid foundation of the Christian life, Jesus is our rock of salvation (
2 Samuel 22:47). But Jesus is a rock of offense to unbelievers. He is a stone that causes non-believers to trip and fall to their own ruin. A person can either put his faith in Jesus Christ and receive life eternal or
stumble over Him and face eternal judgment.
The term
rock of offense is found in
1 Peter 2:7–8:
“Therefore, to you who believe, He [Jesus] is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,’
and
‘A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.’
They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed” (NKJV).
Peter’s illustration of Jesus as a rock of offense to unbelievers is drawn from
Isaiah 8:14. The apostle Paul also quoted this Old Testament passage to show that Israel’s unbelief in the past had continued into the present (
Romans 9:32–33, ESV). Israel had rejected the Lord in the days of Isaiah just as the Jewish people of the first century rejected Jesus Christ.
Rock of offense literally means “stumbling block.” Anyone who rejects Jesus Christ stumbles and falls over who He is by refusing to see or acknowledge that He is the foundation of spiritual life and relationship with God. The Jews stumbled over their Messiah, so much so that they crucified Him. Paul said he would “preach Christ crucified” even though his message was “a stumbling block to Jews” (
1 Corinthians 1:23, ESV). The Jews were expecting a mighty king figure who would overthrow Rome and establish His kingdom on earth. Instead, they encountered in Jesus a lowly servant who would suffer and die.
“They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them” (
1 Peter 2:8, NLT). Here Peter explains why unbelievers stumble over the cornerstone—because they disobey the Word of God. They refuse to believe the gospel message. They aren’t accidentally stumbling over the rock of offense as people sometimes trip and fall while walking. Peter speaks of willful rebellion. They do not want to submit to God as the Lord over their lives. Thus, if someone rejects Christ, that person’s refusal becomes his own undoing.
From GOT?
