Living Stones: Our Identity in Christ
Notes
Transcript
At times it might seem like I am preaching about how special we are; about how important we are in the kingdom of God. Let me correct that idea if that message has come through.
We are not special or important or even needed by God; at least on our own merits. In the past few months there has been a lot in the news about re-establishing a system based off of merit; a system where you earn what you get by being a good citizen. For a human society, I am not debunking this entirely.
But in the Kingdom of God, we can never earn anything. We can never merit anything.
So when I am talking about being called, being chosen by God, it has nothing to do with us and everything to do with God.
But as the chosen people of God for today, we have a calling to live differently, to live for a particular reason.
Follow along as I read today’s passage from God’s word.’
4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, And the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers, “A stone which the builders rejected, This became the Chief cornerstone,”
8 and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed.
9 But you are a chosen people, 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;
10 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.
11 Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.
12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation.
1. Comprehending Call: Built Together
If I told you that you were part of the church, I doubt any would argue.
If I told you that you were a living stone in the church, you might have some questions; or you might look over at someone and think I must be talking about them being a blockhead.
I am telling you that you are a living stone who is set among the other stones and connected by the cornerstone of the church; specifically this church.
The idea of a stone or rock was a tradition in Jerusalem. There are several Psalms that talk about the rock.
The Muslim Dome of the Rock is built over a stone which is traditionally considered to be the surface of Araunah’s threshing floor we read about in 2 Samuel 24. David bought that area to be the site for the new temple.
The same place is traditionally identified as Mount Moriah, where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac.
During the New Testament times, the mythological idea was the rock on which the temple was built was thought to be the meeting point between heaven and earth but also between earth and Sheol.
In Isaiah 28, God builds His temple on a tested stone which is the cornerstone.
The cornerstone of the church is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the tested stone, the precious cornerstone of His church. Each of us are individual stones which are used in the building.
What exactly is being built with this cornerstone and the other living stones?
Today it is the church. Each of us, as members of the church, have been added to the building while at the same time we are being built up.
We aren’t being built up to simply be a part of the church. We are being built into this spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.
There are many needs within this world today. There are people starving; people without homes; people who are murdering babies; people who barely have enough food. Everywhere you turn, you can find someone with a need.
But the biggest need in this world is the Word of God, who is Jesus Christ. There is no one better suited to sharing the Gospel than the church; than you, or rather than us.
The church is made up of individual stones but are made into a community of stones. We are a community that can and should answer the needs of a lost world.
But we have to have Jesus as the cornerstone.
2. Cornerstone Conviction: Firm Foundations
Why is it so important to recognize the Jesus is the cornerstone of the church?
Today, there aren’t a lot of people who know about the cornerstone of a building. Most of us here are at least familiar with the concept in the Bible and probably in older buildings. The cornerstone, for some who might not be as familiar, is the very first stone laid. It is critical to the entire building. This one stone helps to tie everything in the building together. It makes sure the entire building is aligned properly.
No matter how well a building is constructed, if the cornerstone is off, that building will not last. This is why it was common to have a special ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone. In times past, there were celebrations and at times even sacrifices in some cultures when the cornerstone was set.
This is why having Jesus as the cornerstone of a church becomes so critical. Just about any church that turns away from biblical Christianity, first rejected Jesus as the cornerstone. I was listening to a pastor of a United Methodist Church. He held the Bible and said he was going to show his congregation every book written in the Bible which was written by someone who knew Jesus.
He quickly flips through the OT commenting of course that Jesus didn’t exist then so no one could have known Him. Then he flips through the NT and says not a single writer of the NT ever knew Jesus. He then makes some wildly inaccurate claims about the writers and the dates of the writings to prove his point.
The problem is that Jesus, the Son of God, is what holds everything together, not just the church but everything and then especially the church.
16 for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Without Jesus as a cornerstone, nothing can ever stay together.
Paul explained it this way in Ephesians.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
Would you rather be a part of a building with a firm foundation or a part of a building that has no foundation?
With the cornerstone laid, the foundation set, and us being added as living stones, what now should we do?
3. Chosen Calling: Proclaim His Praise
Paul told us that the heavens proclaim the glory of God.
As God’s children, we must also proclaim God to others.
The idea of being called as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a people for God’s own purpose gives us responsibilities.
The first is to praise God. We should be able to talk about how great God is, how He has protected us, how He has provided for us, how He has been our everything.
The second is to proclaim God’s glory to the world.
There are two types of motorcycle sales people. Those who ride and sale motorcycles and those who simply sale motorcycles. You can talk to sales people and get a pretty good feel for which ones they are just by listening.
My preference is always to buy from someone who actually rides. The reason is simple; if they ride they have a better understanding of what a bike is like and what it is not like.
This works with just about anything you sale. Imagine if you went to an insurance sales person to buy insurance. During the conversation you learned that not only did this person not have the insurance he was recommending to you but they didn’t even have any insurance at all. How likely are you to take their advice?
We are called by God to be living stones in His temple He is building and that means we are in a living relationship with Him. Being in a living relationship with Him means we are uniquely suited to praise God for what He has and is doing in our lives as well as to proclaim God to others.
4. Conduct as Christians: Illuminate the World
This is why Peter sternly warns us about fleshly lusts.
I know the word “lusts” will bring to mind sexual misconduct but he is talking about more than that. A better understanding would be to “renounce your unnatural impulses.”
This might confuse you. I refer to them as unnatural impulses because we were not created to have sinful impulses. While we are born into the consequences of sin and because we are born spiritually dead, our impulse is to sin. However, God did not create humanity to live like this.
In the context of the original creation, sin did not exist in humanity and that was to be our natural state. Sin entered into humanity and we began to live unnatural lives; we live in an unnatural state.
So Peter warns us to turn away from the unnatural and to live as if we are foreigners to fleshly lusts.
The world will accuse us of living unnatural lives but in reality, it is the Christian who is trying to live a holy and natural life. It is a life foreign to people who are fallen and depraved.
By living as foreigners, we will proclaim the glory of God.
In 1990, I was attending the IOAC at Ft. Benning. As the class leader, I was the sponsor of an officer from Nepal. The dominate religion in Nepal is Hinduism and as you are aware, they have certain dietary restrictions based off their religion. This officer was here without his family but his wife was going to come for a visit. We had him over for dinner one evening and we asked him what he could and could not eat. He told us he wanted to eat whatever we normally did. He wanted to experience being in America and do American things, such as eat what you want. But he did tell us that when his wife came, he would appreciate it if we didn’t tell her what he ate.
At the time I thought that was funny. However. I now look at that memory and sadly, it reminds me of how we as Christians too often live. We want to be holy in God’s house and then be unholy after the two hours we were in God’s house.
This passage shows us a critical error in looking at the world this way. We don’t just simply attend God’s house for a couple hours a week but we are being built as God’s house. We are His house and we must live as living stones being built into His house.
Are you part of God’s house? If you aren’t then now is the time to answer God’s call.
If you are, then now is the time to live the holy lives as a priesthood which we have been called to live.
Let’s pray.
