Have you ever been to Stone Mountain Georgia? It’s a huge, round, dome-like, rock formation near Atlanta that stands over 800 feet above the surrounding ground and is five miles around. It’s been in the news frequently over the last few years because of the debates over race relations and symbols of America’s less savory past. Primarily because three key Confederate leaders are carved in gigantic figures on the north face of the rock. Setting aside that issue there’s no question that it is a truly amazing formation.

When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem it was designed and built by the skilled hands and minds of men rather than God, but it was still a magnificent structure. Just read the description of its building from when the foundation was laid until the finishing touches were completed seven years later, and it’s easy to see that it was a truly amazing and beautiful formation (1 Kings 6, 2 Chronicles 3 & 4).

But there’s an even more amazing formation that’s built on a better and more permanent foundation than either Mount Moriah or Stone Mountain. That formation is the church of Jesus Christ that’s built on the only perfect foundation stone – Jesus Christ.

We know this because when God rebuked the people of Israel for relying on Egypt instead of Him He revealed His plan to set a foundation stone on Mount Zion that would stand stronger than Stone Mountain, or even Mount Moriah where Solomon’s temple was built.

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly place. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.” (Isaiah 28:16).

Proving it wasn’t a physical, earthly rock, like Mount Zion in Jerusalem, or Stone Mountain in Georgia, Paul applied the passage to Jesus in Romans 10:11 and called Jesus the only foundation stone in 1 Corinthians 3:11. Peter applied Isaiah’s statement to Jesus, calling Him a Living Stone who fulfilled that promise (1 Peter 2:4-8). Since the stone is living there’s no connection to a physical building in Jerusalem. In Christ we’ve come to spiritual Zion, the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to countless angels and the church (Hebrews 12:22-24).

Stone Mountain is just a rock in the ground with a carving that’s a relic of a long dead past. The Living Stone is a mountain covering the whole earth (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45; Isaiah 2:2). People all across the world have and will continue to come to the Mountain, to the Stone, to Jesus, and submitting to Him become citizens in His kingdom, living stones in His holy temple. Forget about Stone Mountain and Mount Zion in Jerusalem. If you want true immortality come to Jesus. The only life worth living here on earth, and with hope for eternity is built on Him. Please come the Mountain! Let me know if I can help you do so.