Focus: The Eyes Of Faith

Text: 1Pet.2:7

"Unto YOU therefore which BELIEVE HE IS PRECIOUS: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner."

Peter presents to us two categories of men and how they perceive the Lord Jesus Christ from the hills of Zion: the believer and the disobedient.

The word 'disobedient' in our text in the Greek means the absence of faith. The disobedient is faithless. He lacks faith. He is devoid of faith, and as such, faith means nothing to him. In verse 8, Peter tells us that the disobedient "stumble at the word." He stumbles for lack of vision and light. He can't see his way through, and so he walks and stumbles in the darkness. The psalmist tells us that the word of the Lord is both light and lamp, but the faithless can't see. He lacks spiritual sight and insight. He can't recognize true values, especially the inestimable value of Christ. Faith is rooted in the word and springs from it, but the disobedient stumbles at the word. Faith sees, but the disobedient is blind and trips up in his walk. He is like someone swimming or sailing against a surging current.

Real vision is activated by faith. The eyes of faith see beyond the surface of everything to its true significance. It is important how we see God, for how we value God is determined by how we view Him.

Faith is the lens by which we view or perceive Jesus Christ. To the eye of faith, Christ is precious and priceless. The believer sees in Jesus Christ a being whose worth is infinitely undefinable and incredibly indescribable. The believer sees Christ for whom He is, as the chief corner stone.

The faithless builders reject Him. They are unable to see where He fits in the building. They are ignorant of His chief place. They have no idea that the divine structure cannot stand without Him. He is the foundation stone. He is the chief corner stone. He is the rejected and stumbling stone to the unbeliever who has no eyes to see His worth and place. Pharaoh is one of such. He says to Moses, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go" (Ex.5:2). But let us read what happened after all his boast and disregard for God. "And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men… And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses… And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies" (Ex.12:31-33,37,51). Rabshakeh is also one of such. He says to Judah, "Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?… Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?" (Isa.36:18,20). His arrogance was rooted in his ignorance and faithlessness. The Scripture tells us what happened after all his boast. It says, "Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh" (Isa.37:36-37). One angel of God killed 185,000 soldiers in one night. What a God! Today Assyria is no more, but Israel still exists. Jesus Christ the rejected stone has become the headstone of God's massive structure.

Those who boast against God boast in vain. The faithless engages in empty boasting. Pride and disobedience are rooted in faithlessness. Obedience is the other side of faith. Those who believe, obey. For those who believe, Jesus Christ is precious and priceless. He is our chief cornerstone. He is more than enough for us. He is worthy of the highest honor. The eyes of faith see the true worth of Christ.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter