Reading: 1 Peter 2:1–8
Christ is the Church’s true foundation. The strength of a foundation determines how long a building will survive. The temples built on Zion, in Jerusalem, were long ago destroyed. The tabernacle’s wood and linen have long ago decayed. Eden has been lost in human memory. But Christ’s resurrected body remains. It was the body that hung upon the cross in Zion for the sin of the world. It was the body offered up as the final sacrifice.
It is into this body, the new creation, that we are united through Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It is this body that is the first fruit of creation. In Christ, the world is, has, and will be remade. Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame. Unlike a temple built with human hands, Christ’s body was raised by the Holy Spirit, and “whatever God does endures forever” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). We now look to the day when Christ returns to call us to Him and remake the whole creation. We now look forward to the day when our baptisms are fulfilled and we feast at the Lord’s eternal wedding feast. Let us ground ourselves then in Christ, our one true foundation.
Prayer
O Father, You have laid Christ as a cornerstone in Zion. Strengthen our faith and let us not be put to shame, but on the Last Day welcome us into Your New Creation; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hymn
Yet she on earth has union
With God, the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O blessed heav’nly chorus!
Lord, save us by Your grace
That we, like saints before us,
May see You face to face. (LSB 644:5)
Jonah Laws (Sem I, CTSFW)