As you read the Bible you start to see a theme start to emerge. In the garden man falls from grace and sin enters the world. This sin has broken our relationship with God and it affects everyone. The amazing thing about God is He takes the initiative to correct this. He does this from the very beginning. God in cursing the Serpent says this:
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." ~Genesis 3:15 NIV
Next he calls out a people for Himself. He wants them to be His people and He will be their God. He wants them to be an example to the whole world, a light to everyone. The nations will look at them and say their God is the true and living God!
So He chooses Abram and makes an agreement with him, a covenant. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." ~Genesis 12:1-3 NIV
He builds His people through Isaac and Jacob, the people have grown in numbers and they are now slaves to the Egyptians. 400 years of slavery, this was also part of the covenant with Abraham. God deliverers them from slavery, He dramatically frees them from Pharaoh and separates His people and takes them into the wilderness. In the harsh desert he provides for them every day. He gives them the Law to live by. He feeds them with manna, gives them water from the rock, their clothes never wear out. He leads them, with a cloud by day and fire by night. He trains them to be dependent on Him for everything. He sets them apart, for His glory and then He establishes them as a nation.
The promise land, the land of milk and honey is given to the Israelites. The whole known world marveled at it, the nation thrived. A temple was built and God dwelled there. But the people turned to false gods and took pride in being God’s chosen. They didn’t want to share their blessing with the world. So God removed His blessing and told of a new covenant that would be for everyone. A time was coming when He would write the law upon the hearts of people everywhere.
"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
~Jeremiah 31:31-34 NIV
He would do this through the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Coming back to 1 Peter, you can see this same theme develop. God has chosen a people, to be a blessing to the nations. God has chosen a people for Himself, a holy people. He has freed them from slavery, the slavery of sin. He did this through His son Jesus Christ, who died for them and through Him they have a new birth, a living hope. This salvation was told by the prophets and the angles look at it and wanted to know more! He gave them the apostles who taught them this good news and about the scriptures.
This people are an example to the world and God uses them to share the good news of the gospel. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”
~1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NIV; But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8 NIV
This brings us to this morning’s passage and I want you to make the connection of what God has actively been working towards from the beginning and how you as a Christian fit into this amazing work of God. We have spent a better half of a month looking at 1 Peter, where we have seen how you have been set apart, and now we are going to see the why you have been set apart.
It’s like a director of a movie, who starts with the focus on one person and slowly starts to pan outward and you realize that it is one person in a crowd of people, on a busy street, who is part of a city block, who is part of a city, an enormous city and then a nation and the world.
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
~1 Peter 2:4-6 NIV
The Living Stone v.4
Peter refers to Jesus as the “living Stone”. Remember it was Jesus who changed his name to Peter which means rock. But Peter points us not to himself but to Jesus who is our Rock. But the imagery here cannot be ignored, Peter is calling Him the ‘living Stone”. In doing so Peter is telling us of the superiority Christ has over the Old Testament temple made of dead stones. Peter is telling Christians of our new way of approaching God, and it is much better than before.
-Precious and Rejected
The living Stone is the precious corner stone on which the entire new faith was being built upon. There is no name under haven in which we can be saved. Salvation cannot be found anywhere else, it is only through Christ.
The death of Jesus wasn’t a defeat, the rejection of Christ that lead to His crucifixion served to put the living Stone in place, for salvation to be made available to all who believed. Salvation is in no other! There is no other Son of God, no other atoning cross, no other resurrection life. Peter’s message begins and ends in this purpose set by God. God has set in place the chosen cornerstone and it is precious to Him. By doing so he has also determined the fate of those who reject His choice. The living Stone that the people rejected is the Stone that God had chosen.
-Drawing Near
As we come to Him, or better yet “coming to Him”, it’s a picture of coming near to Him to listen. We draw near to worship Him, like people one locked away in a cold dark room we can come near the light and warmth of God. We can see and can feel life, the life Christ give to all who believe. Peter is expressing believer now are part of a great privilege, reserved for priest in the Old Testament. The coming to an alter or a holy place in the temple was gone. Now they would come to Him, in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col 2:9). Jesus himself, the living Stone.
-Being Built
But there is something else at work, as we come to Him we are also being placed into a ‘spiritual’ house. There is a continuous flow, it happens all at once. As we believe, the initial faith, we worship and pray we are becoming part of something, the church.
Like Living Stones v.5
Peter now tells the reader that they too are living stones. Identifying them with Christ and they too are chosen and precious to God. He is building them into a ‘spiritual house’. One commentator said it this way, “There is encouragement in these verses, then, in this sense: ‘As you keep on coming to Christ (in worship, in prayer and in praise), you are continually being built up into a spiritual temple, a place in which God more and more fully dwells.”
-Spiritual House
These living stones are the building blocks of God’s new temple. This temple isn’t stationary and holding its shape on a foundation. But it is alive and animated. It isn’t adorned with gold and jewels, but with people. It isn’t crafted with perishable material, but made of the imperishable beauty of holiness and the faith of Christians lives. Which better represent and reflect the glory of God. This temple is filled with the Holy Spirit. It shares in His character and is influenced by Him. Christians are a new temple in which God’s glory is displayed and magnified to the world!
-A Holy Priesthood
These living stones also serve as holy priesthood. We are not offering up animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant, but ‘spiritual sacrifices”. These are described in several places of the New Testament. Offering our bodies to God for His service (Romans 12:1), giving of gifts to enable the spread of the gospel (Phil 4:18), the singing of praise (Heb 13:15), and doing of good and sharing our possessions (Heb 13:16).
Through the work on the Cross, every Christian is part of a new priestly order. The priesthood of all believers means we all have immediate access to God, that we serve God personally, that we minister to others, and that we all have something to give. We are not all teachers or preachers, but we can serve and worship God in a manner pleasing to Him and brings Him glory. All of our spiritual sacrifices are offered through Jesus Christ, for it is only through Christ can be qualified to be priests to God—or do anything pleasing to God.
This verse is encouraging for the believer. It is assures us we can continually draw near to God. We can now come near the throne of grace with confidence, that through Christ all who believe are part of the holy priesthood. Through Christ our spiritual sacrifices are accepted and pleasing to God. Which brings us to verse six.
Cornerstone v.6
Peter now supports his claim with the Old Testament, for scripture says and he quotes Isaiah 28. “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame”
-Chosen and Precious
This chosen and precious cornerstone has great value to God. In fact it stands up to the arrogance of man. Peter is saying God is good. He has chosen a cornerstone that is beyond describing. The cornerstone was the most important stone in a new building in Biblical times. They were large and very valuable. Once the stone was set, the foundational corner was set, the rest of the building could rise. Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christ faith, and God is well pleased in Him.
-In Him
Those who put their faith in Christ, the cornerstone of our faith they will never be put to shame.
“As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." ~Romans 9:33 NIV
In fact they become a living stone and a part of a chosen people. Set apart for holiness at a new temple, the church. This spiritual house is where God dwells and works through to reach the world for His glory. It is where Christians are a part of the holy priesthood, ministering to others and pleasing God through their spiritual sacrifices. It is only possible through Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.
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