1 Peter - Following Jesus Sample

God is at work on a building project. He is building a community of people who trust in Christ. Now we learn that this new ‘temple’ was foretold by God’s prophets long ago.

The prophet Isaiah pictures God working on a building site in Zion, another name for Jerusalem (v. 6). God is laying a ‘cornerstone’. This is the first stone in a building’s foundation. Christ is God’s ‘chosen and precious cornerstone’. God’s whole new temple depends on him.

• What do we learn about those who trust in Jesus, this ‘cornerstone’ (v. 6–7)?

Jesus is not just precious to God; he has become precious to believers too. On the last day, those who trust in Jesus ‘will never be put to shame’.

But what of those who reject Jesus? In verses 7–8 Peter quotes two more sentences from the Old Testament about stones or rocks. The apostle sees both sentences as pointing forward to Jesus.

• What do we learn here about people’s reactions to Jesus and why our response to him matters? 

In the first sentence (v. 7) unbelievers are pictured as builders. They are picking stones to use in making their building. One stone they throw away; they don’t want it. But look! This stone will be used. It seems as if one day these unbelievers will turn round and see that they have been building the wrong building entirely. The stone they rejected as useless has become the cornerstone of another building. It is the foundation stone of the building that God is building for himself to live in.

In the second sentence (v. 8) we learn that this rock or stone will be the downfall of some people. To Christians, Jesus is the precious cornerstone. Believers are building their lives on Jesus. To us, Jesus is good news. But Jesus is not good news for everyone. It all depends on how you respond to him. To those disobeying him, Jesus is like a boulder in their path that makes them trip and fall headlong to their doom.

Do you see Jesus as precious or useless? Will you come to him in worship and obedience, or will you reject him? It matters now because it will matter a very great deal in eternity.

Pray

Thank God that those who trust in Jesus will not ‘be put to shame’ and pray for those you know who need to stop rejecting him.