Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
-Acts 4:11-12, NIV
How is Jesus identified by the Apostle Peter on Pentecost?
He is The Rejected One.
This Rejected One is the cornerstone of our faith and the true Church. So,it ought to give us–faithful spouses–comfort to know God is all about taking the rejected ones and doing something wonderful through their lives.
The world may caste us away, but God delights in shaming the world through its castoffs (see I Corinthians 1:27).
Faithful and abandoned spouses have a unique perspective that is valuable for the church to recognize. They can relate–in part–to Jesus in ways that others cannot.
A faithful spouse knows the violent and painful rejection that adultery is.
An abandoned spouse knows what it feels like to be treated as not “good enough.”
A faithful spouse knows the hurt of the “builder” choosing someone else.
And, yet, the rejected ones are the sort of people God chooses to welcome into His Presence. These are the people God uses to transform the world. They are people who can “get” God’s heart in ways that others may struggle to or never attain.
The True Church–invisible–is the last place to turn such individuals away.
The visible Church may turn them away and reinforce the world’s rejection. However, in as much as the visible church does this, they are building with shoddy materials (e.g. 1 Cor 3:10-15). And Scripture assures us that they will suffer real loss on Judgment Day.
That’s a stern warning.
I am proud to be counted in the club known as “the rejected ones” as the leader of this club is Jesus. In the end, the rejected ones are really the most accepted of all beings as they are eternally embraced into the bosom of Love.
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*A version of this post ran previously.
I found a link to your site a few months ago while scrolling through the Wartburg Watch site, and have been sporadically visiting ever since. This has been, by far, my favorite article. It points to a purpose in my pain and a future redemption.
Also, the name “rejected ones” is super punk rock. I have a good idea what my next tattoo is gonna say.