Being broken sounds terrible but it would be much worse to be crushed.
“To those who believe, Christ is the sure foundation. These are they who fall upon the Rock and are broken. Submission to Christ and faith in Him are here represented. To fall upon the Rock and be broken is to give up our self-righteousness and to go to Christ with the humility of a child, repenting of our transgressions, and believing in His forgiving love. And so also it is by faith and obedience that we build on Christ as our foundation. …
“This is the only foundation upon which we may securely build. It is broad enough for all, and strong enough to sustain the weight and burden of the whole world. And by connection with Christ, the living stone, all who build upon this foundation become living stones. Many persons are by their own endeavors hewn, polished, and beautified; but they cannot become ‘living stones’ (I Peter 2:4), because they are not connected with Christ. Without this connection, no man can be saved. Without the life of Christ in us, we cannot withstand the storms of temptation. Our eternal safety depends upon our building upon the sure foundation. Multitudes are today building upon foundations that have not been tested.” The Desire of Ages, 599.
What does it mean to fall on the Rock and be broken? To fall on the Rock, as gleaned from above, is to
- Yield submission to Christ
- Have faith in Him
- Give up self-righteousness
- Go to Christ with the humility of a child
- Repent of transgressions
- Believe in His forgiving love
- By faith and obedience build on Christ, “the sure foundation”
- Become living stones
The Jews were destroyed by the Rock. Why?
“And on ‘whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder’ (Matthew 21:44). The people who rejected Christ were soon to see their city and their nation destroyed. Their glory would be broken, and scattered as the dust before the wind. And what was it that destroyed the Jews? It was the rock which, had they built upon it, would have been their security.
- It was the goodness of God despised,
- the righteousness spurned,
- the mercy slighted.
- Men set themselves in opposition to God, and all that would have been their salvation was turned to their destruction.
All that God ordained unto life they found to be unto death. In the Jews’ crucifixion of Christ was involved the destruction of Jerusalem. The blood shed upon Calvary was the weight that sank them to ruin for this world and for the world to come.” Ibid., 600.
Father: The Jews crucified Jesus, Thine only begotten Son, and were crushed. I know that by every sin, Jesus is wounded afresh and I do not want to be guilty as were the Jews. I repent of my transgressions and by faith and obedience fall upon the Rock Christ Jesus to be broken so that He can restore the pieces of my life and mold me into a living stone for His temple.