Living Stones

1 Peter 2:4-6

Immanuel – 5/16/21

The pains and sufferings of this age cannot shake the great graces that God has paid for in the blood of His Son. And we are the benefactors! How good of God to pour out upon His elect such glorious gifts of grace: new birth, a living hope, and an unfading inheritance.

So far, all that we have thus seen in 1 Peter have to do with these gifts of grace, and how we are to live in response to these gifts. But starting in 2:4 Peter shifts, no longer focusing on the works of salvation, but what these works create within us; a new identity.

Purpose

Trace stone/rock imagery through Scripture.

What is our new identity?

What are spiritual sacrifices?

Read 1 Peter 2:4-6

Though this passage initiates a transition into our new identity, Peter is sure to start – not with us – but with the Lord. He grounds our identity in the Rock that is Christ; for it is to Him that we must come.

Without a doubt, Peter could have taken this opportunity to glorify himself. Peter was born Simon; it was Jesus who named him Peter – which in Greek means rock. After renaming him, Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).”

Peter so easily could have talked about himself. Yet he knew that he was nothing but another stone built upon the Living Stone. It is to Jesus that we must go!

Whenever you translate something from one language to another, there will always be bits and pieces that are lost in translation; as is true with this phrase “as you come to Him.” The Greek verb indicates a continuing action. So this first line might be better translated, “as you continually come to Him.”

And I think it is so important to realize that Peter is not talking about coming to Jesus only at the moment of salvation; but a continual, ongoing, coming to Jesus for salvation each and every day – each and every moment. I know my sins are with me every day, and all-the-more I need His salvation to be with me every day. So I come to Jesus once again: the Living Stone.

The Living Stone

Jesus is the Living Stone. He is not some inert rock carved into an image of our making. He is not merely a set of ideals, that exists only in our highest thoughts. He is a person, living and dynamic, available for relationship, responsive and interested.

Peter is not for the first time imagining Jesus as a living stone for the sake of an illustration. He is drawing on an ancient image stretching back thousands of years, permeating Scripture, always pointing towards what God was building with history. It begins with Jacob, the grandson of Abraham.

Jacob is traveling through the land of Canaan, and one night as sleep is coming, he finds a rock to rest his head upon. While sleeping he has a dream, and in this dream there is great staircase that goes up into Heaven, at the top of the stair is the God of his fathers. God promises a great inheritance for Jacob. Listen to what happens when he wakes up.

Early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of the place Bethel…Then Jacob made a vow saying…“This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” -Genesis 28:18-22

The stone upon which Jacob rested, upon which he saw God, was to become the foundation stone for the temple of God. Hundreds of years later, as God is making a covenant of promise with Jacob’s descendants, Moses asks to see God. God replies:

“I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” He said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” -Exodus 33:19-23

Just as Jacob has seen God upon a stone, do did Moses. Jacob rested upon the rock. The rock was a refuge for Moses. In both accounts, three massive things have happened.

From a rock, God is viewed.

God makes promises.

Devotion is pledged to God.

The imagery of a rock, or a stone, continues throughout the Bible. The rock is a refuge, protection from enemies. The rock crushes the pagan kingdoms of the earth. From a rock the people of God have their thirst quenched. Upon this rock is salvation built. Upon this rock are God’s people exalted. The theme repeats over and over again.

In a most worshipful way, David brings all of these together in a single Psalm.

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. -Psalm 62:5-8

The God who is our Rock is Jesus Christ – God in the flesh - in whom all the fullness of deity dwells (Colossians 2:9). If you want to see God, go to the Rock. All the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus] (2 Corinthians 1:20).

All those Old Testament images of a rock were just pointing to Jesus. He is the rock where we find rest. He is the cleft in which we must hide. He allows us to see and experience the glory of God. We must build our lives upon Him!

Or as Peter says, we must come to Him: Jesus the Living Stone. Here, already, is a hint of our new identity. Because we do not need to go to a temple, or an altar, or the holiest of places; places reserved for priests. We just need to draw near to our precious Jesus.

And we come to Jesus, and we continually come to this Living Stone, precisely because of how verse 3 ends. We have tasted that the Lord is good. Remember from last week, Peter is referencing Psalm 34.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. -Psalm 34:8

The only reason that we can taste and see that Jesus is good, is because the Holy Spirit has awakened us to the beauty and satisfaction pouring forth from the great living stone. And when our souls thirst, we come to Him who was smitten, broken for the people, and we drink.

But the vast majority of humanity cannot see, cannot taste, that the Lord is good. To them, Jesus is nothing but odious.

Read vs 4

Jesus’ perfection is an instant indictment of humanities wickedness. He is a perpetual reminder that their judgement is coming. And so they reject Him, like an unwanted stone in their shoe, like some worthless rock that holds no value.

Jews and Gentiles together took Jesus and nailed Him to a tree – crucified like an enemy and criminal. And the Jews and Gentiles of that day stood in the place of all fallen humanity, just as Jesus stood in the place of all the elect. Is there any greater rejection than being killed simply for being who you are?

If anyone rejects Jesus, it is just a further indictment of their wickedness. And as we will see next week, those that reject Jesus were destined for such horrifying disobedience, which is where verse 8 will take us.

Though many reject Jesus, how precious He is in the sight of His Father. Peter references Isaiah in verse 4, which he directly quotes in verse 6.

Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’” -Isaiah 28:16

Notice how Peter has added a phrase to his quotation. When Peter quotes this verse he adds: “Whoever believes in Him.” He is again drawing our attention to the fact that Jesus is the precious cornerstone, the living stone. It is in the person of Jesus that we must believe, that we must continually come to!

For God sees Jesus as so very precious; like Peter said earlier in chapter 1, the Father has deeply loved the Son into the ancient depths of eternity past. Jesus is – and always was – most beloved.

And God chose Jesus to become the rock for humanity, the foundation for our lives; though it would mean that the vast majority people would reject Him. It was all according to His great plan.

Again, Peter says that God has chosen Jesus to be the living stone, the cornerstone. Chosen, in Greek, is “eklektos,” the same word translated as elect in 1:1. You can hear the word elect in “eklektos,” can you not?

Ecclesia

And now we come to the shift, for Peter turns his attention to our new identity in Christ. And we who are given this new identity are the church. The Greek word for church is “ekklesia,” deriving from the word we have just looked at: “eklektos.” The Greek word for church literally means “the called out ones,” or “the summoned ones.” It is the gathering of the elect.

How grateful we should be – who taste and see that the Lord is good – for we have received the mercy of God and have been born into a living hope. Not because of anything special within us, but because of God’s eternal love and His righteous election. Just as God said to Moses, which we read earlier:

“I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” -Exodus 33:19

Oh, 1 Peter is absolutely shot through with the doctrine of election. And this doctrine should lay us on our faces as we worship the God who so generously gives what we do not deserve! He is our Rock!

Read vs 5

This is what we have been elected, called, to become: living stones and a holy priesthood. O there is so much here!

Jesus is the Living Stone, and we are living stones. How does this work? I think the prophet Isaiah is very helpful here.

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me my holy nation.” -Isaiah 51:1,4

The ecclesia have been hewn from the Rock. For when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we value what God values, and the Spirit unites us to Jesus. His Spirit dwells within us and we become one with Christ. We now bear the image of Jesus. Or, we have been hewn from the Living Stone to become living stones ourselves.

And we a being built up into a spiritual house, meaning the house of God. Peter is saying that we, the church, are the living stones forming the new temple of God. Paul writes a similar thing to the Ephesians:

You are…members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for the God by the Spirit. -Ephesians 2:19-22

The church is the temple of the Living God. But it is also so much greater than that. Isaiah 28:16, which Peter quotes in verse 6, says that the cornerstone is laid in Zion. Yes, the Old Testament talks about the temple being on Mount Zion, But Mount Zion is primarily the city of God.

I say this, because of where history is headed. In Revelation 21 John is shown a vision:

I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.” -Revelation 21:2-3

Then came one of the seven angels…and spoke to me saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God, having the glory of God. -Revelation 21:9-11

The John goes on to describe the beauty of the new Jerusalem in terms of precious stones: gold, jasper, sapphire, emerald, topaz, amethyst, and so on. But these stones are so much more precious than things dug from the ground, these are living stones, chosen and precious, hewn from the one glorious Living Stone.

All of this is describing the same thing; that which was spoken of by Isaiah, by Paul, by Peter: the ecclesia, the church, the dwelling place of God.

And there is more. Not only is the church the temple of God, we are also the priests of God.

Read vs 5

I will spend less time on this today simply because Peter will dive more fully into this idea in verses 9-10. But I will mention a few things.

First of all, we cannot think of the new temple of God, or this city of God, as merely some square, unmoving object. The stones are alive. Though the cornerstone was laid in Zion, these living stones move about the earth, mixing like leaven into the whole lump that is the world. Everywhere we go, we are the priesthood.

In the church, there are not special individuals given the role of priest. There is no one that has greater access to God. There are no robes of distinction. We all – who have been born again to a living hope – are the priests. The New Testament teaches a priesthood of all believers. Just as the Old Testament anticipated.

“If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all people, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” -Exodus 19:5-6

In Christ I am a priest, and so are you. Where only a very select few in Israel had access to God, we all have an even greater access. Where only a select few in Israel worshiped God on behalf of all the people, we each can worship with far deeper intimacy; and offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God.

Spiritual Sacrifices

Should this not lead us to ask, what are spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God? In the Old Testament they sacrificed animals and their belongings. What is it that we, the priesthood of all believers, must sacrifice?

We give our bodies to Christ.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. -Romans 12:1

Paul then talks about how we can serve one another in the various ways that God has gifted us; whether it is teaching, or exhorting, or contributing, or acts of mercy, or just plain serving. In other words, the ways we love each other is how we worship God.

The writer of Hebrews says a similar thing, but then adds a bit more.

Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. -Hebrews 13:15-16

Again, we see serving one another as our spiritual sacrifices of worship. Additionally, there is something about having the name of Jesus upon your lips that is worshipful. That is actually a thread that is woven through each one of these verses about spiritual sacrifices. They are only acceptable to God when they are offered “in Christ” or “through Christ.”

You do these things because you love Jesus. The person you are serving may grate on you, you might disagree with them, they may even have offended you; but you are not ultimately serving them for them. You are first serving Jesus.

And the nature of a sacrifice means that it will cost you, it may not be easy to give.

Before you serve, ask Jesus to give you eyes like His, and see people as He sees them. While you serve, even though it is unnatural and costly, ask Jesus to fill you with joy; for He served His enemies by dying for us. And after you have served, draw your greatest satisfaction in a Son reflected and a Father well pleased, rather than in the compliments and compensations of men.

All the while, let Jesus be on your lips. Speak of Him and His great works. You will indeed have been a priest to the one whom you were serving. This is what it looks like to be a living stone, cut from the Rock of Ages.

Spiritual worship that is acceptable to God is anything we do that would honor Jesus – anything in these bodies. It starts here in the gathering of the church, and then it radiates outward from here.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. -Colossians 3:16-17

Once again we see that the church is supremely essential. Here, among these living stones, we teach and admonish one another with all the wisdom that God graces us with. We sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We serve one another. And from here we will go out, as a humble priests, and help usher others into the holiest of places where God dwells.

But for all this, how we need to be hidden in the Living Stone, and stand upon the Rock! How we need to come to Him in this very moment, and in the next, and in the next! Let us never forget that it is Christ, died and risen, who has come to dwell in our midst and make out of us a living temple and a holy priesthood. It is only because of Him that these lives may be acceptable to God; and not just acceptable, but precious.

Let us go to Him once more.