How to Be Built Up by Being Broken

To those who believe, Christ is the sure foundation. They fall on the Rock and are “broken.” To fall on the Rock and be broken is to give up our self-righteousness, to go to Christ with the humility of a child, repenting of our sins and believing in His forgiving love. So also by faith and obedience we build on Christ as our foundation.HH 277.7

Jews and Gentiles alike may build on this Living Stone. It is broad enough for all and strong enough to hold the weight and burden of the whole world. By connecting with Christ, all who build on this foundation become living stones. See 1 Peter 2:5.HH 277.8

To those who “stumble, being disobedient to the word,” Christ is a Rock of offense. Like the rejected stone, Christ had experienced neglect and abuse. He was despised and rejected by men,HH 277.9

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. ...
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Isaiah 53:3HH 277.10

But by the resurrection from the dead He would be declared the “Son of God with power.” Romans 1:4. At His second coming, He would be revealed as Lord of heaven and earth. In the sight of the whole universe, the rejected stone would become the head of the corner.HH 277.11

And on “whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” The people who rejected Christ would soon see their city and nation destroyed and their glory scattered as the dust before the wind. And what was it that destroyed the Jews? The Rock that would have been their security, if they had built on it. It was the goodness of God despised, mercy slighted. The people set themselves in opposition to God, and everything that would have been their salvation was turned to their destruction.HH 278.1

The destruction of Jerusalem was involved in the Jews’ crucifixion of Christ. The blood shed on Calvary was the weight that sank them to ruin.HH 278.2

It will be like that in the great final day, when judgment will fall on those who reject God’s grace. Christ, their Rock of offense, will then appear like an avenging mountain. The glory of His face, which is life to the righteous, will be a consuming fire to the wicked. Because of love rejected, grace despised, the sinner will be destroyed. The profaned temple, the disobedient son, the false vinedressers, and the contemptuous builders have their counterpart in the experience of every sinner. Unless the sinner repents, the doom that they foreshadowed will be his.HH 278.3