1 Peter #5 1 Peter 2:4-10 Stones
1 Peter #5 1 Peter 2:4-10 Stones
As we continue to explore the letter that
the Apostle Peter wrote to gentile Christians in Asia Minor he is going to help
believers understand who they are in Christ and what they are to do. He is going to use building metaphors,
comparing this spiritual journey to quarried stones being used to build a
temple, a place of worship and work.
Believers as quarried stone are being molded and shaped by God into a
cohesive community of faith symbolized as a temple in which the rule of God is
lived out. Jesus is not only the
cornerstone upon which the foundation is laid, but the capstone that locks all
the other stones in place. Peter will
then use descriptions from his Jewish background to confirm that they to have
become God’s chosen people and that believers are chosen for a purpose.
Let’s feast on the Word
1 Peter 2:4-10 (NIV)
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."
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is
precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,
and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall."
They stumble because they disobey the
message--which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once
you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
The phrase “as you come to the living stone”
does not refer to you’re asking to be saved.
The living stone is Jesus, and Peter uses words that communicate that a
right relationship has already been established. Recall being a Christian you must ask God to
save you. The human predicament is one
of estrangement from God, of being outside the realm of His favor and grace,
barred from specific blessings, such as guidance and wisdom without which we
make relational messes. If you have ever
experienced a bad relationship, or one that started well and ended poorly, this
is because of this estrangement that we call original sin. Estrangement causes people to be wrongly
related to God. Separated from God, humanity is on its own and the resulting relational
messes created are called actual sins. Humanity has a sin problem, one of
position, original sin, and one of behavior, actual sin. Actual sins cause
people to relate wrongly with themselves and with others. It is by acknowledging and owning your sin
problems, believing the truth of the gospel that Jesus, the one who knew no sin
became sin for you that you could be made right with God (2Corinthians 5:21),
willingly sacrificed Himself (John 10:18) to make it possible for you to be
reconciled to God (1 John 2:2) and your sins forgiven (1 John 1:9). Your response to the gospel is committing to
become a follower of Jesus that enables you to ask and for God to save (Romans
10:13, Acts 2:21). Peter assumes that
this event has already happened for you.
The phrase “as you come to Jesus” signifies repeated behavior. This
repeated behavior is the continual seeking out of Jesus for fellowship and
spiritual sustenance, direction and guidance, power and peace (Powers p 81).
This is why disciples practice 7 spiritual habits so that through bible reading
and study, prayer, fellowship, service, worship, obedience, and contemplation a
soul encounters God. The 7 habits are
the way a disciple continually seeks out Jesus.
It is through encounters with God that you
become a living stone fit for His purposes. Here Peter uses the word that means not only
quarried but cut to fit. Christ followers are cut to fit into a spiritual house
that is being built. You have a
place. That spiritual house is a
community of faith. The word Peter used
carries the idea of allowing yourself to be built into community (oikodomeisthei). As you continue in Christ you allow
yourself to be built into this spiritual community. Salvation is not a one and done event, it is
an ongoing process that requires your cooperation. As you cooperate by your obedience God fits
you in and places you where through you, God can do the most good.
Salvation is not a one and done event,
neither is it a totally individual process. Within that spiritual temple, that faith community,
you are to carry out the duties and functions of a holy priest by offering
spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God. You are both privileged and
responsible to offer your life to God, which is worship, on behalf of others,
which is work (Romans 12:1). (Powers p.83) Being part of a faith community is
vitally important to your continued work as a holy priest (Hebrews 10:25). A priest ministers to people. You must have people to be with. It’s you’re
loving on them that is an acceptable sacrifice.
I’ve been told by folks who don’t understand this that their church is
“the mountains,” or “the ocean,” or “reading good books.” They are wrong. As a living stone you are designed for
community. By yourself you’re just a paperweight. “The free lance Christian, who wishes to be a
Christian but is too superior to belong to the visible Church on earth in one
of its forms, is simply a contradiction in terms” (Powers p.87). Community shapes a holy life. Salvation is a “we”
process, not an “I” process.
Peter draws his picture of Jesus as the
precious corner stone that is rejected from the prophet Isaiah and the Psalms. [note:
in the OT the precious stone refers to the nation of Israel]
Isaiah 28:16 (MSG)
But the Master, God, has something to say to
this: "Watch closely. I'm laying a
foundation in Zion, a solid granite foundation, squared and true. And this is
the meaning of the stone: a trusting life won't topple.
Psalms 118:22-23 (MSG)
The stone the masons discarded as flawed is
now the capstone! This is God's work.
We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!
Jesus the living stone, is the foundation
and the capstone, the start and the finish, the alpha and omega (Revelations
22:13). You take part in His all-encompassing life and are transformed into a
living stone (2 Corinthians 3:18) as you diligently follow Him.
The end of verse 8 has often been used to
teach that God preordains some to be saved and some to be damned. You can easily see how this could be so,
those that stumble were destined (etehesan), or in some translations
appointed, and in the New Century Translation “what God planned to happen to
them.” It’s the teaching of double
predestination but it just doesn’t fit with God’s gift of free will to humanity
(Joshua 24:15) nor His will that everyone be rightly related to Him (1Timothy
2:4, Ezekiel 18:32). When a person
encounters the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus will either be a step up to
salvation or a stumbling block down to destruction. Up or down is a personal choice, the one’s
who obey step up while the one’s who disobey stumble. This goes back to acknowledging, believing,
committing, and asking to be a follower of Jesus, or rejecting Jesus and
continue to do life as you see fit. Choose Christ and you realize that He is
the precious living stone upon which all of life rests. You get to choose.
We have learned that Peter wants to reassure
the gentile believers that they are part of the family of God. He names Christ followers as “a chosen people
(Deuteronomy 14:2), a royal priesthood (Exodus 19:5-6), and a holy nation
(Exodus 19:6), and “a people belonging to God” (Leviticus 20:26). These are all descriptions for the people who
through Abraham became God’s called out ones.
Now by being a follower of Jesus, those who are not born to Jewish
mothers, are included (Revelation 7:9). [consider John 10:16]
It's easy to gloss over this portrayal of
believers being a holy nation. There is
something for us to consider. A nation
“denotes a group of people who share common customs, laws, and practices”
(Powers p. 86). There is a mutual identity and value system within a nation
that unifies it’s members (1 Corinthians 1:10). There are expected behaviors,
conventions of society, and assumed rules for decorum and deference (John
13:35). With the holy nation love is the default behavior. When in doubt, love, you can go wrong
here. Love for God is obedience to His
commands (1 John 5:3). Love for others
is looking after what is in their best interest (Philippians 2:4), it is treating
others with respect, it is demonstrating that they can entrust you with guarding
their heart (Galatians 6:2), you are for them, not against them (Matthew 7:12). Love
is the ethic of the Kingdom. Loving
behavior is servanthood (Galatians 5:13). You are building a community that can be
called the Kingdom of God. Being a holy
nation describes the corporate dimension of your salvation. There is no individual salvation without
corporate salvation.
Individually one becomes a Christ follower
and then the believer takes his or her place as a member of something so much
bigger than the individual. The Apostle
Paul used the human body as an example (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). You are like an individual cell within the
body of Christ. Your well-being and well-doing
brings health to the entire body as, though specialized in what they do, all
cells work as a unit to thrive. If one
cell is sick, the whole body is affected.
Paul writes” “if one member suffers, all suffer together.” What you do individually makes a difference
for all believers.
When you function well within the body, the
entire group is empowered to testify to the world that God’s way is the best
way. Within the family of God there is
reconciliation and healing. The group
thrives in God’s favor, His mercy, His forgiveness, and His empowerment. Out of the darkness of being alone, of being
estranged, and of being alienated, the group demonstrates the light of God in
which there is acceptance, belonging, mutual edification and encouragement,
love and joy. People thrive in God’s
light. The idea here is that as
outsiders see this light
through the way you live your life in
association with other believers, they will want to become insiders. When you live a holy life, you declare the
praises of God. That’s what we the individual living stones are fit together
into the Church are to do. We are to testify declaring the praises of God.
Here’s what you can put into practice right
away.
Jesus is the cornerstone and the capstone,
the precious stone. A holy life puts Him in a precious place. That precious place is at the center of your
life. Your task is to remove yourself from the center of life and put Jesus
there (Philippians 2:5-11). You are to
make His way, your way. You make His
priority, your priority. You are to make
His mission, your mission.
If you are not an active loyal member of a
faith community, you are out of God’s will because you are not being built into
God’s spiritual house. You need the fellowship of living stones to survive. Make
it a priority to fit in. There is no
salvation outside of this Temple built of living stones.
When God made you one of His chosen people,
He also made you a holy priest. You are
set apart to minister to God and to others, living out and speaking out the
Good News of salvation shining Divine Light to draw people out of their
spiritual darkness. You accomplish this
by using the gifts and opportunities the Holy Spirit has given. Allow yourself to be used for God’s greater
purposes.
As living stones, a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, belonging to a holy nation, live the YES.
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