Living Stones from the Rubble

Introduction

Last week, Danny gave a strong message from Galatians 6:14

Galatians 6:14 CSB

But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.

So many times I feel like I fall short of this goal, that I should have grown or be more mature by now in my faith, rid of the boasting of self and the world. There’s a song I learned many years ago that’s still sung sometimes called He’s Still Working on Me. One line that sticks out from that is “How loving and patient He must be, He’s still working on me.” How true that must be.

I read an illustration that the great artist Michelangelo described his sculpting process not as creating a statue, but liberating it. He believed the figure already existed within the rough, uncarved block of marble, and his job was merely to remove the unnecessary stone—the rubble—to reveal the masterpiece inside. Today we will read 1 Peter 2:1-10, where God is the master sculptor, and we are the “living stones.” He is chiseling away the unnecessary debris to reveal the image of Christ within us. God is at work, building each one who believes in Him into a royal priesthood. Only as He works and chisels us into the likeness of Christ will we be the people He has made us to be in Christ.

1 Peter 2:1–10 CSB

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame. So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected— this one has become the cornerstone, and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1. A Call to Love

Chapter 2 begins with “Therefore”, which every preacher I’ve ever heard says, what is that therefore there for? Immediately before in chapter 1, Peter calls believers to love one another—because of the word of God and the gospel. 1 Peter 1:22–25 “Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly, because you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God. For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.” In this passage, we see Peter referring to the gift of salvation given by God in Christ. The emphasis is that God loved us first, so much that Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin. The commentator Tom Schreiner says,

1 & 2 Peter and Jude 2.3.1. A Call to Love (1:22–25)

The emphasis is on God as the one who granted them new life, and the means by which God begat them was the seed of his word

Because God loved us, we naturally love Him if we have received salvation through Jesus Christ. Christ himself gave us the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37–40 “He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”” So Peter here argues that because God loved us and gave us salvation in Christ Jesus, we love God, and we should also love one another. And the emphasis in verse 23 on the word of God is not by accident. How do we grow and continue in this love? It is by the word of God. Everything else will pass away, but the word of God will stand. The way to grow in Christ, the way to mature in faith, the way to love God and love others is through the word of God. Followers of Jesus should long for this word, or as Peter says,

2. Longing for the Pure Milk

In the opening illustration about Michelangelo, we saw how he thought of sculpting as taking away all the parts that don’t belong to reveal the image inside that is waiting to be revealed. As we see in chapter 2 verse 1, there are things that need to be chipped away in our lives to reveal Christ within us: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander. All of these things can be like appetite suppressants that keep us from desiring the pure milk of God’s word. These hinder our relationship with God and with others. At the moment of our salvation, we become victorious over sin because of the blood of Jesus, but throughout our lives we must continue to work out our obedience to God. This includes confession our sins and laying aside those things that take away from our relationship with Christ. Schreiner again writes, “The reference to ‘newborn infants’ recalls the notion that Christians are ‘begotten’ by God, and here the result of that begetting (i.e., new life) is brought to the forefront. Peter explains one way all Christians should be like newborn babies in need of pure milk for growth in salvation.”

We see elsewhere in the New Testament that Paul chastises the Corinthian Christians in 1 Cor 3:1-3, and the writer of Hebrews in 5:11-14 for spiritual immaturity. They were writing to Christians who were not growing in Christ. But this is not Peter’s context. Peter simply desires that believers grow in Christ, and the pure milk that is needed is the word of God. Schreiner again says,

1 & 2 Peter and Jude 2.3.2. Longing for the Pure Milk (2:1–3)

The means by which God sanctifies believers is through the mind, through the continued proclamation of the word. Spiritual growth is not primarily mystical but rational and reasonable, and rational in the sense that it is informed and sustained by God’s word.

Rooting our salvation in God’s word helps us know that we are secure in our faith. Where verse 3 in the CSB says, “if you have tasted that the Lord is good,” other translations says, “now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” If seems to be the literal translation, but “now that” seems to give the feeling of the passage. Peter was not questioning their salvation through writing “if”,

1 & 2 Peter and Jude 2.3.2. Longing for the Pure Milk (2:1–3)

Peter wants the readers to contemplate whether they have in fact experienced the kindness of the Lord, and he was confident that the answer would be affirmative.

We should all contemplate the goodness of God and his gift of salvation in our lives. This will get us through the good times and bad. Verse 3 quotes Psalm 34:8. Psalm 34 has the superscription, “The Lord Delivers the Righteous Concerning David, when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech, who drove him out, and he departed.” Psalm 34 See if you can identify with David and his troubles when you hear the words of this Psalm.

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will boast in the Lord; the humble will hear and be glad. Proclaim the Lord’s greatness with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me and rescued me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him! You who are his holy ones, fear the Lord, for those who fear him lack nothing. Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is someone who desires life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry for help. The face of the Lord is set against those who do what is evil, to remove all memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit. One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all. He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken. Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished. The Lord redeems the life of his servants, and all who take refuge in him will not be punished.

Peter was obviously impacted by Psalm 34. The themes of this psalm help us understand today how we grow in the Lord through his word, through adversity, and through love. Tom Schreiner concludes that the main idea 1 Peter 2:3 is,

1 & 2 Peter and Jude 2.3.2. Longing for the Pure Milk (2:1–3)

Believers should long for the Lord if indeed they have tasted or experienced his kindness. Longing to grow spiritually comes from a taste of the beauty of the Lord, an experience of his kindness and goodness. Those who pursue God ardently have tasted his sweetness. Christian growth for Peter is not a mere call to duty or an alien moralism. The desire to grow springs from an experience with the Lord’s kindness, an experience that leaves believers desiring more.

Desiring more and more of God, receiving the pure milk of the word, we become ready for the work of God, being chiseled into the image of Christ.

3. The Living Stone and Living Stones

Verse 4 calls Jesus The Living Stone. As we grow in Christ, we are then called “living stones,” becoming the likeness of Christ. Peter is clear that Christ being the Living Stone was rejected by men, yet God made Him the cornerstone. As Christ is our cornerstone, we as living stones are being built into a “spiritual house”, we are the new Temple of God. In this we are both the Temple where worship happens, we are the holy priesthood representing God in the world, offering acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4 that a time was coming when God would be worshiped not in Jerusalem, or on the mountain of the Samaritans, but the worship of God would be in spirit and in truth. Christ building his living stones into a spiritual house and holy priesthood fulfills this scripture. No longer is worship of God tied only to a place, though we still worship corporately at a time and at a place. Worship of God is through the people of God through the work of the Holy Spirit within.

The intention of God for his people from the beginning is that His name would be declared before all the peoples of the world. This continues, as Schreiner says,

1 & 2 Peter and Jude 2.3.3. The Living Stone and Living Stones (2:4–10)

The priestly calling of the church is understood from 2:9 to be evangelistic, a praising of God’s name so that people from all over the world will join in worshiping him.

Though the Israelites in the OT could not keep this command, we, through Christ, can fulfill God’s purpose as his church. As we are built into a royal priesthood, it is not for our glory or praise. Back to Danny’s message last week, we boast in the cross of Jesus Christ. We are, as 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

1 & 2 Peter and Jude 2.3.3. The Living Stone and Living Stones (2:4–10)

Now God’s kingdom of priests consists of the church of Jesus Christ. The church is summoned to mediate God’s blessings to the nations as it proclaims the gospel.

Verse 10 closes this passage with a reminder that it is our great privilege to be counted as God’s people. In our sin, living in darkness, we did not deserve to be included in the people of God. Romans 5:8 reminds us, “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Two weeks ago, Jeremy preached here reminded us of the whole metanarrative of Scripture, that we were cut off from God by sin, but from Genesis 3, we can see the plan that God had in place before the foundation of the world.

Because of this work of Jesus Christ on the cross, even when we did not deserve it, God began the work of chiseling His masterpiece out of the rubble of our lives.

Let’s pray.

Today, you can respond to God in these ways. 1. If you feel that your life is only rubble that has not been transformed by the work of Christ, if you have not “tasted and seen that the Lord is good,” you can be transformed today. If the Holy Spirit is calling you to turn to Christ for the first time, He is ready to receive you, and you can begin to be transformed by Christ and his word. You can come and talk to me or one of the other IBC members here who can help you follow Jesus. 2. You can commit to spending more time in God’s word. Desiring the pure spiritual milk of the word, you can grow into the likeness of Jesus as God, through his work chisels away the rubble revealing the image of Christ in your life. 3. You can worship God as His Royal Priesthood - with a sacrifice of praise and the proclamation of the goodness of God to the world. You can take the gospel of Christ with you in your life throughout the week - showing your love for God and others as you represent Christ to the world around you.