Living In Christ, The Living Stone

Pray !!!

Introduction

Peter completes his instruction to the Believers, in relation to their nature as God’s people. And He does this by centring our relationship with God, and other believers, through Christ, the Chief Cornerstone, and likens Believers to the building of a temple, a spiritual house.

Jesus the Living Stone

If you could open your Bible at 1 Peter 2:4. It says, Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. The field of science has many subbranches. When I was at school I was taught the three main branches of the sciences, Chemistry, Physics, and Biology, but of course we know that within the field of science there are branches upon branches upon branches. Of these three there is only one that directly deals with life, biology. In Biology you can study animal life and plant life. There is the study of land creatures, or sea creatures. The word biology comes from two Greek words, bio meaning life, and logos, among other things, means ‘study of’. So biology is the study of living things.

On the other hand, you will never find the study of rocks and stones under biology and the simple reason is because rocks and stones are not alive. They are classed as non life. There are objects not subjects. If you cut a stone it won’t bleed out. In order to study rocks and stones you must study Geology. Yet when Peter is looking for a picture to show what coming to Christ is like, what living in the family of God is like, he says it is coming as to a living stone.

The emphasis is on the living quality of the stone, and expresses Jesus’ invincible strength and everlasting duration. Jesus Christ may have died on the cross, but He didn’t stay there. You can’t go and see His body lying in the tomb. He didn’t stay dead. He didn’t stay a lifeless stone. Jesus conquered death, was raised to life, and now has eternal life. He sits on the eternal throne and gives life to all who come to Him.

What does Peter mean by coming to Jesus?

Coming to Jesus simply means to follow Him, to put your hope and trust in Him. This living Stone, though, was rejected by men. On the first hand, ‘men’ refer to the Jewish leaders and all those people who rejected Jesus as the Messiah, and demanded His crucifixion. But everyone who refuses Jesus as their Saviour becomes part of the ‘men’ who reject Jesus.

To reject Jesus is a little like prospecting. Prospecting for gold or precious gems invloves a rigid examination of the river bed, or the dirt you are excavating. Can you imagine someone prospecting for a precious gems by throwing shovel loads of stones over their back without making a detailed search. That would be ludicrous. Instead, as you look for a precious gem, sifting through the material, washing the stones and debris away, you keep your eyes peeled for that glittering of the gem. Some who reject Jesus as the Living Stone are like they who throw it over their shoulder. They don’t won’t to know, and they refuse to accept the offer of God’s grace. While others do appear to make a detailled examination of the scriptures and still reject it as just a fictional story. They are like the person who does appear to do a careful search, looking for the glitter, but afterward they still reject it as not genuine and worthless.

Jesus, the Chosen and Precious Stone

Though Jesus is rejected and worthless in the eyes humankind, He is chosen by God and precious, and again in v6, A chief cornerstone, elect, precious. Where people examine Jesus based on human standards, and He comes up wanting, lacking the saviour quality mankind desires. God examines Jesus based on His righteousness and declares, in Matt. 3:17, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and again in Mark 9:7, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”

The world looks upon Jesus, with their eyes of flesh, and sees only a man, flesh and bones, just as they themselves are. This is why Jesus Gospel causes stumbling. But when God looks upon Jesus He sees His Beloved Son, whom He is well pleased, and calls people to listen to Him. He calls people to place their trust and obedience in His Son, the Saviour of the World. Jesus declares of Himself in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Salvation is found in no one else. It doesn’t matter whether you grew up in Asia, Africa, America, India, or Australia, there is one salvation for all people.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Chosen One, through whom eternal life comes, and is Precious as it is through His blood alone that we can be forgiven and set free from the power of sin. Jesus was foreordained by God before the foundation of the World, to be the lamb without blemish or spot.

Living Stones in Christ

Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven and all those united to Him are also alive. Verse 5 tells us, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house. As living stones Believers have a share in the eternal life offered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what Peter means in v3 of those who have tasted that the Lord is good. Romans explains that if you died with Christ, you also live with Him. Living stones do not produce life within themselves. Our new life begins when the grace God is bestowed upon us, by the Holy Spirit, we are born again. We are no longer dead ordinary stones, who belong in the earthly building, but are now living stones in Christ, being built up a spiritual house.

A Holy Priesthood

Verse 5 continues, saying that we are a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Those who have new life in Christ have a distinct advantage over the rest of the world. The Bible talks of believers as spiritually alive, whereas the rest of mankind are spiritually dead. As Believers, we have a distinct advantage even over the priests of the Old Testament. A preist would have access to the holy of holies, God’s throne, is on one day every year. We have direct access to the throne room of God where ever and when ever we please. When God pronounced His verdict of justified upon His people, He provided the way by which we can stand before God in confidence, The curtain was rent in two.

But just as the priests in the Old Testament needed priestly garments to cover their filthiness, so too do we. You wouldn’t dare meet with the queen in your everyday clothes, so why do we think it is ok to meet before the throne of God in our dirty garments. When Christ died for our sins there was a double imputation. Christ took all our sins and debts we owe God for transgressing His holiness. While at the same time we were given His righteous robes. That is, His right living He did while He was on earth, was given to us as a cloak. A garment to cover our sinfulness. The result is that we are now priests of God.

We are to offer up to God acceptable, spiritual sacrifices through Jesus Christ. The spiritual sacrifices we offer are our praises to God and refer both to the corporate worship at Church adn to the holy living that the Holy Spirit generates in the Believer. I won’t go over them again, suffice to say that our lives are to begin to show possession of the faith we now own and profess, in all parts of life.

Jesus, the Chief Cornerstone

Not only is Jesus the living stone, but in v6 we are told He is also the most important Stone. Verse 6 says, Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” The cornerstone of any ancient building was put in place with the greatest of care because the rest of the biulding, the walls, the roof, etc, was measured for plumbness off it. If you didn’t take your time and effort to place the chief cornerstone in the correct position you would find a biulding out of square and soon to fall down. A buiding which is of no use and no good for any purpose.

Jesus is the chief cornerstone who was carefully placed so the whole church may be built straight and true. God had planned Jesus to be the true and only way to salvation. His life, death and resurrection was so meticulously planned so there would be no mistaking who the Saviour is, nor His gracious role in redemption history. The Christian faith is not something to be ashamed about because we are built upon Jesus Christ, the Chief Cornerstone. Jesus is both central to the faith and vital to the wellbeing of the Church.

Those who believe in Christ’s earthly ministry, His death and resurrection, have no cause to be ashamed while living in this world. Christian values may be disappearing at the speed of light. We as followers of Jesus Christ may be belittled, or even persecuted in some countries, but we can be assured that we do not have to be ashamed because we have the Lord Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone, His Word will keep us true and straight.

A little after Jesus pronounces that He is the way, the truth, and the life, we have this confidence. In john 14:18 “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you... Because I live, you will live also.”

Stumbling Stone, Rock of Offense

We see Christ as the living stone, the Chief Cornerstone, who gives life and structure to Believers. But we also see that Peter has mentioned a second group. This group consists of all the people who reject Christ. 1 Pet. 2:7-8, Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” All those who reject the chief cornerstone, and place a inferior stone in His place, stumble in disbelief. If any person does not believe that they are saved by the death and resurrection of the God-man, Jesus Christ, then they are not part of the spiritual house, spoken of in verse 5. There can be no union between them and the living stones, nor is their future residence squared up upon the Chief cornersone.

Romans 9 gives an example of what stumbling is like for one who lives according to the law. I will read from v30, What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.

When you reject, and take offense at, the perfect stone for building your life upon then you stumble because you do not have God’s mercy. The bible says that you remain under God’s wrath. you remain in darkness.

Conclusion

Ultimately we may have confidence in the finished work of the One who is the Chosen, Precious, and Living Stone. Why? Because Christ was the Chosen of God and precious, who went before us through the gauntlet of the enemy, who suffered rejection by His own creation, and His own people. He was imputed with our sin, paid the price of our freedom with His death. It is Jesus Christ who conquered death, was raised to life, and ascended to Heaven, who now reigns on high, as the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the Living Stone, who gives life to all who put their faith in Him. God is creating a spiritual house where Christ is the chief cornerstone. Without Christ the Bible falls, the way to redemption falls, and our very meeting here every Sunday is at best a social club, and at worst, a waste of time.

But Christianity is not an empty religion, because after Christ died for our sins, He was raised to the righthand of God, is interceding for the saints, and sends His Spirit to both comfort and preserve His people. We, therefore, can have confidence and boldness in the face of the trials because we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Verse 9 tells us that we are His own special people, that we may proclaim His praises. The praise of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Let us pray.