As
you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen
and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a
spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
(1 Peter 2:4, 5)
Peter says that Jesus is
a “living stone.” The purpose of this
living stone is shown to us in verse 6, “Behold,
I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious.” Jesus, the living stone, is the
cornerstone upon which God will build. He
is the foundation, the rock. He was
rejected by men, Peter says. Even though
he was rejected by his own people, he was chosen of God, a darling and precious
stone. It is man’s nature to reject God
and his Son.
We are not surprised that
Jesus was rejected. What is surprising
is that any human being would come to Christ!
That’s the amazing thing we read at the beginning of verse 4, “As you come to him…” I get the feeling here that Peter is
saying, “As you somehow discover that you yourselves are coming to Christ in
spite of your own personal desires…” Can
I really read that intent into the text?
Peter speaks to believers as if they have been practically passive in
the whole process! He says, “…you yourselves like living stones are
being built up as a spiritual house…”
That is obviously passive! We are
not building ourselves into the spiritual house; God is the only one who can
build a spiritual house upon the cornerstone who is Jesus! He has made us into the image of Jesus. He has made us living stones like Jesus! And we find ourselves being placed into this
spiritual house, this temple. God has
taken us from being spiritually dead and made us alive. I have the picture of Ezekiel in the valley
of dry bones in my mind. He preached to
the bones and suddenly they began to come together as God made something that
was dead into something alive!
But there is something
that is so amazing that it stops me in my tracks. Why does God build us into this living
spiritual temple or house? “…To be a holy priesthood, to offer
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” I was dead in trespasses and sins. Dead.
Unable to do anything of a spiritual nature at all. Unable to do anything to please God. As King David wrote, “Can the dead please you, O Lord?”
So God made me alive. But
what is more, he made me a priest who is able to offer spiritual sacrifices to
God! And even more, my sacrifices are acceptable to him! But they are only acceptable to God through
Jesus Christ. Jesus took my sin upon
himself and carried it away. He left me
robed in his own righteousness. It is
through the righteousness of Jesus that I am able to offer acceptable
sacrifices to God. What are those sacrifices? I lay down my life. I offer praise and worship. And God accepts these!
How good God is! How gracious and merciful! How astonishingly powerful! He makes what is dead alive and lovingly
makes us into priests who offer sacrifices of worship to him…and then he
accepts our worship! Praise be to God!
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