Reading: “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” —1 Peter 2:6

Sin having defaced and demolished the first building of man in the integrity of his creation, it was God’s design, out of the very ruins of fallen man, to raise a more lasting edifice than the former—one that should not be subject to decay; and therefore He fitted for it a foundation that might be lasting. He chose His own Son, made flesh. He was God, that He might be a strong foundation; He was man, that He might he suitable to the nature of the stones whereof the building was to consist, that they might join and cement together.

—Robert Leighton (1611–1684)