North Anderson Baptist Church
1 Peter 2:4-10 NIV
Last week we looked at the first two parts of our Outline:
1.The Living Stone - v. 4
2. Living Stones - v. 5
Today we will finish the two part series with the following:
3. A Chosen and Precious Cornerstone - vv. 6-8
4. The Church and Their Mission - vv.9-10
2 Peter 2:6-8 NIV
3. A Chosen and Precious Cornerstone - vv. 6-8
The writer of this epistle is Peter, the apostle. This man knew Jesus personally and experienced unbelievable things while in the presence of the Savior. But also he knew defeat and humiliation through his actions and words before his brothers. Peter was a Jew and realized how the only Scriptures he knew pointed to Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of all mankind; so, he uses the Old Testament to make his point of who Christ is to the people of God and to those who chose not to believe in Him.
Peter was writing not to one church as some of Paul’s letters were addressed, but to believers, mostly Jewish Christians, in five different areas of the empire of Rome. They were scattered because of persecution from the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem and from the Roman empire itself.
1 Peter 1:1-2 NIV
These Christians located in these five provinces were scattered yet they were still of the“same spiritual house”which Peter spoke of in 1 Peter 2:5,
1 Peter 2:5 NIV
There was a unity in that first century church that is strange for us today because of all the different denominations. But Peter says there should be a unity among believers and local churches throughout the world that goes far beyond our individual identities.
“We belong to each other because we belong to Christ.”
“He had heard Jesus declare that he would build his church upon the rocklike confession of faith in him as the Son of the living God. Little wonder, then, that at last the veteran apostle should speak of the living stone which was intended by God to be the solid cornerstone of a spiritual house or community, composed of lively stones destined to perform redemptive functions among men and to be a unique incarnation in the social world.” Interpreter's Bible, The - Exposition - The Interpreter's Bible – Volume 12.
We have many different types of churches and lots of denominations in the Christian faith. That is not necessarily wrong but we can’t let the distinct differences in our ways of following Christ, stand in the way of the solidarity of the “spiritual house” of God and the unity that Christianity declares to the world.
John 17:21 NIV
“As citizens of heaven, we must be united.”
Our testimony to the world of the united front of what God can do for those who believe, can help change lives.
There needs to be that common, underline truth, that we all live by and stand for, that Jesus Christ is God and that He came to die for our sins and that He was buried and that He rose from the dead, to provide proof that He was God and that we who believe in Him will have eternal life with Him in heaven.
Today you can see the results in our society of those who are fragmented even within their own groups. When the people who claim to believe the same in their political view, become fragmented then we who look at them decide they are not in unity, so why would I believe what they say, they can’t agree within their own party. Or, if the President of the United States has an advisor who disagrees with him time and time again, the President can show a unified team before the country. What does the world think of Christians when they fight among themselves so much, surely it is not the love of Christ shown to an unbelieving world.
Verse 6 tells us God chose a Cornerstone long before the incarnation because we see the Old Testament quoted by Peter, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” He speaks of the church of Jesus Christ which began in Jerusalem, Zion, where God chose His Son, Jesus Christ to be the Cornerstone, precious to Him, for this spiritual building. He declares to Isaiah and to us today that if we trust in Him we will not be disappointed or be put to shame.
Romans 10:11 NIV
The Old Testament was the basis by which the Apostles built their faith in the Lord God before Jesus came and then after His resurrection and ascension, they still called upon the Old Testament to make their case for God and His Son their Savior and Lord. Even through the terrible suffering of persecution, Peter would tell all the believers that their trust in Christ would never bring them to shame or disappointment but to the fulfilment of their faith, heaven one day!
Verse 7-8 will help us to know that when you believe in Jesus, the Cornerstone is precious to you but when you don’t believe, He becomes a stumbling block to those who refuse to accept the truth.They refused to believe He was the Cornerstone of this spiritual house that was being built by Him and the building itself. Even though their rejection was such that they put Him to death, He became more important than they could conceive. These verses say that they would stumble over Him, like He was a stone left in their pathway. Throughout the New Testament we are given examples that the Jewish leaders and followers of their ignorance, continued to stumble over the truth of who Jesus was in their day. Today, not only do Jews stumble over the truth of who Jesus is but so does the world as a whole and individuals who believe they are elite and above this Jesus, they continue to stumble over Him and try to dispute the truth of who He is and what He did and the truth of what will come because they do not believe.
1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV
4. The Church and Their Mission - vv.9-10
Peter used these special descriptive phrases to let the believers know that God has chosen them for something special. The Jews were God’s chosen people, He established the royal priesthood among them, He called them a holy nation because of who their God was, not because they were holy, and then they were called a special possession by God. Now He is saying that Christians, the church are these things to God. The church has not stolen those things from the Jews but they were given as a blessing to those who follow Christ, the Son of the Living God. Are Jews no longer the chosen people of God? Yes they are, that has not changed but God has added to his heart those who have been redeemed by the blood of His Son. Peter tells each of us and particularly all those he wrote to, that they were precious before God and that they were His. They were familiar with all that God said about the Jewish Nation, but they needed to hear that God loved them and chose them as well.
In these verses God gives those who are believers in Christ a mission that must be carried out. Because Christians were chosen, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people belonging to God, then we must go forth to declare to all mankind the praises of God, the One who called us from the darkness into the light.
We are to have a mission of thankfulness for all that God has done for us in Christ. Go and tell!
Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
We were all in darkness once! But because Jesus came to save those in the darkness, when we were saved we came into the light of Christ and that is the message we bring, that we are now saved and live in the light of Jesus Christ.
A little street girl was taken sick one Christmas and carried to the hospital. While there she heard the story of Jesus' coming into the world to save us. One day the nurse came around at the usual hour, and "Little Broomstick" (that was her street name) held her by the hand and whispered, "I am having real good times here, ever such good times. S'pose I'll have to go 'way from here just as soon as I get well; but I'll take the good time along—some of it, anyhow. Did you know about Jesus' being born?"
"Yes," replied the nurse, "I know. But you must not talk any more."
"You did? I thought you looked as if you didn't, and I was going to tell you."
"Why, how did I look?" asked the nurse, forgetting her orders in her curiosity.
"Oh, just like most o' folks-kind o' glum. I shouldn't think you'd ever look glum if you knowed about Jesus' being born." —Christian Evangelist.
Believer-priests should live so that their heavenly Father's qualities are evident in their lives. They are to serve as witnesses of the glory and grace of God, who called them out of darkness into His wonderful light.
A Guide In Total Darkness
Some years ago my family visited a cave in the state of Kentucky. The guide led us through many beautiful and winding subterranean passageways.
Suddenly he turned off all the lights and said, "I'm the only one who knows how to get back to the entrance. If I left you here, you'd probably never find your way out. Anyone lost in this cave would no doubt become insane within a week from the oppressive loneliness. Be quiet for a moment and feel the darkness!" I remember my youngster clutching my arm.
After about 30 seconds, someone in the party could endure it no longer and cried out, "Turn on the lights! I'm going crazy now!" The guide laughed, but we'll not soon forget that frightening experience.—Henry G. Bosch
Our lives were full of darkness and when we were saved we are transformed into a person of light because we have the Light of the World in our lives. Matthew Henry said of these verses, “Their first state is a state of gross darkness, but they are called out of darkness into a state of joy, pleasure, and prosperity; that they should show forth the praises of the Lord by their profession of his truth, and their good conduct.”
Again, Matthew Henry speaks of all these verses,“The stone, which the builders rejected, has become the head of the corner. The stone is, of course, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. When He came into the world He was rejected by His own people -- "He came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11). Not only then was He rejected, but you and I live today in a Christ-rejecting world. At the time this is being written, we are in the Christmas season. I don't know about your town, but in my town Christmas is being celebrated, but Jesus Christ is being rejected. About the most hypocritical thing in the world is to reject the one whose birthday you are celebrating! My friend, the Lord Jesus Christ is to you today either a stepping stone or a stumbling stone.”
I want to close this morning by using the last word of these verses, mercy. There was a time that all of us had not receive the mercy of God. We were all lost and the mercy of God was not placed upon our lives but the wrath of God. But once we did receive Him in our life, He gave us mercy and by the grace of God we were saved. I really deserved hell for the life I lived, even boys and girls, all of us were born sinners and when we accepted the free gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ, then the mercy of God is extended to us through the grace of God. I deserved hell but the mercy of God didn’t give me what I deserved but the grace of God extended to me what I could not earn on my own and did not deserve. God showed me His favor through saving me from my sins by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of His blood that brought forgiveness of sin.
If today, you are lost and without Christ, would you consider receiving Christ as your Savior by expressing your faith in Him? He will receive you and take you from darkness into His glorious light! Let me pray with you right now. If you are a believer please pray that those here today who are lost will give their hearts to Christ.
Pray this prayer with me if you would like to have Christ in your heart. “Dear God, I need you because I am a sinner. I know Jesus died for my sins and I ask that He come into my heart and cleanse me and forgive my sin and become my Master, Lord and Savior. I believe Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and then arose from the dead to live for eternity in heaven. Please, Jesus come into my heart and save me.”
If you have prayed that prayer with me, I am asking that you stand and come forward to make a statement that you did receive Christ as Lord and Savior. I ask you to do this publicly because God has asked us to profess our faith before others.
If you received Jesus as Savior and Lord at some other time in these last few weeks, I ask you to come and make your faith public and join this fellowship if that is your desire. If you were saved during VBS or RA Camp or GA Camp recently, you come too. God has changed lives and we are so thankful for His moving in and among us.