Sermon (30-Apr): "Who We Truly Are" 1 Peter 2:2-11

Scripture:

1 Peter 2:2-10 NIV (SLIDE)

2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—

5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6 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 cornerstone,”

8 and, “A stone that causes people 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, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

10 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.

Big Idea:

The objective of this message is to realize our true identity as God’s people

(SLIDE) Introduction

- Whenever you look at Peter and his recorded interactions with Jesus,

- We can say that he was a hothead, to say the least, or that…he needed to grow up

- So, it’s interesting that in this letter, that Peter says those exact words but, in this context “grow up in your salvation”

- For any of us who have children or even think back on ourselves,

- Growing up was not instantaneous

- You didn’t go from infant to toddler, overnight

- You didn’t go from teenager to adult, overnight

- When I look back at the lives of the disciples,

- You can see that even at the end of Jesus’ life that they didn’t get it and truly grow up into all things Christ

- My thought and it’s backed by Scripture; they weren’t even sure if the empty tomb was the end of the story

- But, as Christ came back, over the course of 40 days after the cross

- It convinced them otherwise

- And, I pick on Peter here but the other disciples had some growing up to do but don’t and didn’t we all

- Peter may be the most visible because we know his story

- We know his doubts, ups and downs

- New Testament wise outside of Paul—Peter and his faults and intricacies are hard to miss

- Yet, even when we look back on Peter, let’s not forget ourselves

- We aren’t born naturally into Christianity

- Just like we aren’t born knowing how to walk

- Infants need nourishment to become toddlers that stand upright and eventually walk

- And that nourishment, on most accounts, comes through milk—

- Which, essentially is what we need when we come into a relationship with Christ

- Some of us may come in with a little more awareness of Christ and the Kingdom

- Still, there’s a pure spiritual milk that we all need and in some ways we all should crave that’s needed for us to grow

- I know that I can trust Peter’s words because, first, God allowed them to be so…as part of the canon

- But, Peter writes from what he has learned over time

- Day in and day out, he spent time with Jesus;

- Taking in God’s words as nourishment, that pure spiritual milk

- I don’t think Peter learned to walk on his own until He had to do so; Christ had been crucified and was gone

- But Peter’s status in the church is still highlighted today

- Our duty as believers and disciples is for our lives to be built on a solid foundation;

- Foundations take time—we all know Rome wasn’t built in a day but neither were mature, responsible, biblical Christians

- Peter outlines for us who we truly are in Christ

- Those of us who have believed and accepted Christ

- We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good but it does not end there

- I believe that Peter clues us into a few different points if you are a believer:

-- We are Being Built

-- We have a Precious Foundation

-- We are His People

Transition: So, if you can follow me for a few minutes, we’ll go through Peter’s words to the Jewish Christians facing persecution

1) We are Being Built (SLIDE)

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 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.

- Zig Ziglar, Motivational Speaker, once said,

“You need a plan to build a house. To build a life it is even more important to have a plan or goal.”

- There’s so many times that I reflect back on what my mother-in-law shared with me

- When I was very, very young in the faith and trying to find the way,

- She passed on that becoming a believer was not the end goal of life but more so the starting point…to eternal life

- In other words, if we’re banking on some type of last minute confession at the end of our lives to choose Jesus,

- We’ve already missed what God’s original plan for us in the beginning

- To build our lives, our plan should include His plans for our lives

- God’s plan and goals for our lives include us being transformed and conformed to the image of Jesus

- Now, specifically and individually, He may have something for each of us to do

- The bare minimum is for us to allow Him to grow us into Christ’s image

- Sometimes we misunderstand…

- The “being built” process was never meant to be easy

- I’ve heard some preachers make it seem like there is an easy “believism” that exists—

- That once you believe there’s no more stress, challenges, doubts, etc.

- But, when adversity comes, as easy as the believism came in…it departs

- Believing in Christ and maturing in Him was meant to be transformative—giving us His Spirit and transforming us wholly

- The idea is that we are becoming a place in which He can dwell

- The Apostle Paul lays it out this way in Ephesians 2:22 (SLIDE),

“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

- God’s desire is to make a home in us

- One of my favorite songs recently is Jonathan McReynolds’ “Cathedral”

- Listen to his lyrics,

I don't have a perfect record

I still have a blemished heart

I don't have much worth without Ya

I am good because You are

Take this lump of clay and

Build Yourself a place in it

Make a cathedral out of me

- (SLIDE) Every time that I think of a cathedral, I think along the lines of Saint Peter's Basilica in Italy or Saint Stephen's Cathedral in Austria

- But, the greatest cathedral and temple that was ever built...was the one God built called You

- So, it makes sense when you see throughout Scripture how God desires that we honor our bodies and how we use them

- It’s a place that He deems holy

- Then, when you add to it that He calls us to be a hoy priesthood;

- That changes the narrative that we can live our lives any old kind of way

- I honor God by how I live my life in this body

- Has anybody else thought about it this way?

- Because I know that it took me years to understand it

- For me, knowing that my life wasn’t my own anymore…it was confusing

- I had to realize that living life my way would only lead to frustration

- I had some level of “success” but was it worth it to have the empty feeling on the inside

- God desired so much more for me—not in quantity but quality

- As I began to grasp that mindset, life began to change significantly

- Think about this: If God can get our attention and obedience, our potential in Him is limitless

Transition: God has already accepted that we are a work in progress—we are being built…additionally, we have a precious foundation

2) We Have a Precious Foundation [SLIDE]

6 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 cornerstone,” 8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

- Today, you don’t hear much about the importance of the cornerstone

- In many respects, past and present,

- The cornerstone marked the geographical location by orienting a building in a specific direction

- On the cornerstone, the total weight of the edifice rested on this particular stone

- It was the key to keeping the walls straight (SLIDE)

- So, when we consider—orienting in a specific direction, the weight resting on it, and keeping the walls straight…

- That’s exactly a bit of what Jesus does…not did

- There will never be One more reliable than Jesus; there will never be One to provide more stability than Jesus

- There’s a song that says “I searched all over and couldn’t find nobody…I looked high and low and still couldn’t find nobody”

- The crux of Scripture is that we won’t find any other precious cornerstone and foundation than Jesus

- After our own ways have failed for the umpteenth time, God’s plan of Jesus dying for our salvation…

- It will always be His best plan

- The thing about that plan…is that everyone won’t accept it

- Now, whether that is out right rejecting or subtle rejection (if that’s possible)

- It’s rejection nonetheless

- God has equipped each person with free will

- We all must come in at the Door and that Door is Christ

- Jesus, as the Cornerstone, has caused many to stumble—

- Stumble at the truth that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life

- Stumble that He is the Son of God

- And to stumble that His death was God’s plan and meant our salvation

- It’s so easy a concept but so hard for many to grasp

- Rejecting Jesus as Savior causes a stumbling like no other

- And that is something that we do not want to be our destiny

- God’s desire for all of humankind was more than that

- I think back on the course that I was on many years ago

- And if it came down to it, if I had to stand before God…

- I would have no excuse to how I lived my life

- Yes, I received the nature of Adam, my parents, and ancestors

- But, by nurture, I wasn’t guiltless

- There was a whole lot that I did to add to my “guilty status”

- And it wasn’t that I found Him—it was more like He found me

- My direction and destiny became changed by the Cornerstone

Transition: So, we know that we are being built, we have a precious foundation and we know who we truly are because…

We are His People [SLIDE]

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 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.

- Picking up from the last section, Peter calls believers out…

- To essentially remind us of who we truly are

- Each of us has the opportunity to look at ourselves in the way God looks at us

- Our identity—initially—is not what we think it is

- It’s not based our rank or status in society

- He calls us chosen, royalty, holy and His special possession

- God treasures His people and guides them

- God has thought this way from early in the Old Testament

Exodus 19:5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’

- Though He thought this way, He doesn’t “magically” make this happen without our consent

- It’s up to us to believe—that’s where we become His people

- And in our believing, the expectation is that we will declare His praises in whatever manner we can—

- Simply because of what He has done

- The mistake and assumption we can make;

- It’s that when we repent and believe is that every problem is solved, every situation is dismissed—

- Life should be so much better

- God isn’t into waving a wand over all your situations and issues

- But He is in to changing the destination in which you are headed

- God did something only He could do; He called us out of the darkness away from the path to eternal separation from Him

- Yet, He didn’t stop there

- He led us into the marvelous Light which sets us heaven bound

- Whenever I think on how I almost missed out on Heaven,

- It still blows my mind

- The reality of Heaven should always be weighed against the cost that one pays for Hell

- And to think that we don’t have to earn or qualify for Heaven because Jesus did it for us

- That should be enough for us to continue declaring our praises for Him

- Think about it, we were detached from His privilege, His promises—we were not His people

- We went from being at war with God to being at peace with God—receiving His mercy

- Peter grabs this thought from Hosea (Hos 2:23); the same Hosea whose wife had no devotion to Him

- Much like we didn’t have any devotion to God

- But for us—God turned it all around; then He uses Peter to remind us of who we truly are

- That’s the blessing!

Closing:

- So, as I begin to wrap this message up

- I think of how necessary it is to grow up in our salvation—we’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is good

- Peter reminds us that we are being built—in other words, God desires to shape us along the way

- He does this based off of the precious foundation of His Son Jesus Christ

- And God doesn’t just do this for anybody—He does this because we are His special possession, His people…

- That’s if you have decided that His way is better than yours

- Will you pray with me please?

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins known and unknown, I renounce them all. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me and arose and sits at the right hand of God praying for me, interceding for me. Lord Jesus, I give you everything. I thank you for saving me, delivering me and setting me free, in Jesus’ name!