The House That God Builds

Fourteen years ago, I was shopping for my first apartment. This apartment was the first home Marci and I would share together. We had the benefit of the internet and could do much of the heavy lifting before we drove all over town looking at properties. If an apartment complex did not have floor plans listed on their website, they went to the bottom of the list. That’s when I learned I am a nerd when it comes to floor plans and blueprints. The floor plan gave me an idea of what I was going to see before I got there. We found our first apartment and stayed there for two years, then rented the house we lived in until we moved here. Every place we have lived has been good to us.

Choosing a home is important. It is likely the biggest purchase you ever make, so you want to choose well. But there is a home that is far more important than the home you currently live in. All believers are a part of the house of God. I’m not talking about the building we are currently sitting in, but a spiritual house made up of all believers. This morning we are going to talk about the house that God builds.

The foundation of God’s house is Christ.

Every house begins with a good foundation. Peter says,

1 Peter 2:4–5 NASB95

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The coming to him at the beginning of verse four is not referring to the initial coming to Christ at the moment of salvation when one realizes he is a sinner in need of forgiveness. This coming implies the continual coming to him in fellowship. You have come to him for salvation, but you continue coming to him in relationship as you foster intimacy and constant connection to your Creator.

Christ is compared to a living stone. The type of stone Peter is talking about is revealed through the passages he quotes in the following verses, which we will get to in a moment. But Christ, the living stone, is the cornerstone of the spiritual house mentioned in verse five. He was rejected by men, his own people, as they shouted “Crucify him!” But he is chosen and precious in the eyes of God as the solution for the sin problem of mankind.

We, like Christ, are also living stones. We are made living stones by being connected to the living stone, Jesus Christ. We are being built up into a spiritual house. We are the family of God in that we have been made brothers and sisters in Christ. We should understand the house not as physical location, but by the name of the one who established the house. The church is a house regardless of physical location.

We are a holy priesthood. To be holy is to be set apart for God’s purposes. We discussed that back in chapter one. God has called us to pursue holiness. But we must all realize that everyone in the house of God is a priest. This means whether you feel like one or not, you are a priest, just not in the vocational sense. A spiritual house is what we are. Priests are who we are. Offering up spiritual sacrifices is what we are made to do.

In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was divided into tribes. Tribal assignment was based on heritage. You were born into it. If your ancestry was tied to Ruben, you were a Rubenite. If Gad, a Gadite. If Judah, a Judahite, and so on. So If your ancestral grandfather was Levi, you were a Levite. Now, not all Levites are priests, but all priests are Levites. Their life was centered around facilitating worship to God. They worked in the temple, but they also worked in every part of the nation.

We are like the Levites in that we are all priests. You do not outsource your walk with God to me or anyone else. We all must have our own walk with the Lord, and then together we walk with the Lord.

You are already in a relationship with Christ. The intimacy of that relationship is dependent on what you pour into it. But know that you are already a spiritual house. You are already priests. You are made for spiritual sacrifice, and when you catch a vision for your life and what God wants to do through you, its the most satisfying thing you can experience.

Our hope comes from being anchored to God’s house.

We continually come to Christ the living stone who is the cornerstone of our faith. Look at what Peter says in the next couple of verses:

1 Peter 2:6–8 NASB95

For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

Peter quotes verses from Isaiah 28, Psalm 118, and Isaiah 8. All of them are prophesying Christ. He is compared to a cornerstone, which in ancient structures was the first stone laid. The cornerstone of a structure was critical in determining how the structure would be built. If it wasn’t level, the structure wouldn’t be level. If the cornerstone was off by a centimeter, it would lead to catastrophic effects on the rest of the structure. It would be similar to foundations today. If the foundation of the building is off, the rest of the building is going to have problems. If the foundation is good, the rest of the building is good.

Christ, the cornerstone of our faith, is firm. Our house is built on a firm foundation. This ought to provide us a great sense of security and a great hope in times of doubt. The storms are raging. The wind are beating against the house. The windows are rattling, the trees rustling, and we are often left wondering, “Are we going to make it?” But we ought to remember our hope is not in this life but the life to come and we are connected forever to a cornerstone that is sure, steady, firm. He is not going anywhere, and even if we pass from this life, he will raise it up again on the last day.

This hope is not a hope the world understands. Jesus was rejected by the very people who should have understood him. The gospel of Jesus Christ is an offense to those who don’t believe. To accept the gospel as true is to realize we are not the center of our own universe and we are accountable to one who has all power and authority. The world wants to do it their way, not his way. So therefore Jesus is a rock of stumbling and offense. But to those who believe, it says we will dot be disappointed. That word disappointed come s from a Greek word meaning put to shame. We will not be put to shame. In other words, our faith will be vindicated. It is anchored to an everlasting hope. The house of God will not fall.

Your house is forever connected to the house of God. I am the head of my household, but like every brick of this building is connected to the foundation it sits on, all of our houses are connected inseparably to Christ, the cornerstone. As he goes, we will go. It is a stone of stumbling for those who do not believe, but it is a great hope for us. We are a spiritual house that will not be moved. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church!

Accept your high calling to proclaim the excellencies of God.

Peter revisits our identity in Christ. We are saved not so we will attend church, but so we will be the church and fulfill our calling as priests.

1 Peter 2:9–10 NASB95

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

God has chosen us to be a royal priesthood. You may not feel like it most of the time, but you must understand for as long as you have been a believer in Christ you have been part of the royal family. You are the son or daughter of a very real king. We carry royal titles.

Did you know you can go online and buy a square foot of Scottish land and can therefore call yourself a Scottish Lord or Lady? It’s true! But let me save you $100 by telling you that you already have a title and it is worth far more than $100. Remember your salvation is worth far more than the world’s wealth and your inheritance is secure for you in heaven. You are already royal. You are already getting a crown. You are already in! But your title bears a level of responsibility.

We are a royal priesthood and a holy nation. We are a kingdom without borders because all of it belongs to Christ anyway. The whole earth is subject to him. Right now, and until he comes, we have outposts of his kingdom all over the world and there is coming a day when every kingdom and nation will bow and he will establish his kingdom on the earth. No longer will we look at a world map and see names of hundreds of nations. It will all be the kingdom of Christ.

Our responsibility is to proclaim the excellencies of God among ourselves, and among the nations with a primary focus on the people just outside our walls. God has called us from darkness into his light! We were lost, but now we are found! We were crushed under an unbearable weight and now it has been lifted!

I’m a Dave Ramsey fan, and I listen to his show fairly regularly. Dave has helped millions over the last 35 years get out of debt. He has a debt free stage where people from all over the country come to celebrate debt freedom after they have paid off all debts including the house. They arrive to celebrate a momentous achievement. I love watching people’s lives change. It’s why I get up in the morning. When someone comes to faith in Christ, they step into a debt freedom that is like no other. The weight of sin is cast off. We are no longer slaves to it. God frees us from the chains that keep us back from experiencing true life and the life we get to live is glorious because we are debt free. Every day you have the privilege of proclaiming the excellencies of God by screaming, “I’m debt free” because every day you wake up, you are. Proclaim the excellencies of God.

We are a spiritual house, a royal priesthood, called to make spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the excellencies of God. We are the people of God, bought with a price and for a glorious purpose. When we live in that calling, we are the most satisfied. This is the house God builds.

It begins with knowing Christ personally. There might be someone here today who is still living under the unbearable weight of their own sin. You may not have realized it until now. You are carrying this weight around and you tried everything to get rid of it. But you still find yourself carrying this thing around. The only answer to be released from the weight is to let someone else carry it for you. I have good news for you today. Jesus can carry that weight. Through his death on a cross and his resurrection, he has paid the price for your sins, and now offers to take that weight off you if you will simply let him. The debt you owe God has already been paid. You can be debt free today. You can walk out of here proclaiming the excellencies of God who can rescue you.

Whether you have been a believer for five minutes or for eighty years, there is an uneasiness in your spirit when you stray from biblical principles. Is there an uneasiness about you this morning? Has the Lord brought something to mind that needs addressing? How might you proclaim the excellencies of God day by day this week? What is God doing in your life that you can celebrate? You don’t have to be financially debt free to be spiritually debt free. Walk out of here remembering you are debt free. Proclaim the excellencies of God.