1 Peter 2:2-10 First time parents
can read all the books—take all the classes—assure themselves they are prepared
for whatever comes--but until they bring their baby home they really don’t understand that their newborn
has a single-minded desire to be fed and nourished- a desire that immediately
becomes the top priority in their home.
That’s the picture
that God uses to tell us how it ought to be for
us when it comes to having our spiritual needs met and our souls fed by his
Word. The Bible says:
Like newborn infants,
long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if
indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Like
a baby with its single-minded desire to be fed, it ought to be our highest
priority to have our life of faith nourished.
We ought to have a spiritual hunger.
And just as there is one perfect food for newborns (its mother’s milk) --so
there is one perfect food for the child of God who desires to grow in their
faith—and that is the Word of God.
God has caused us
to be born again through his living Word and that same Word is the tool the
Holy Spirit uses to help us to grow up in our faith.
Babies yearn to be
close to their mothers and have their tummies full—and so we Christians yearn
to have our souls filled with the food God provides and be close to him as we
hear his voice and receive the real presence of our Savior in Holy Communion.
GOD wants to feed us with the pure spiritual
milk of his Word that we need to grow
up in our salvation-- because God’s plan for our lives extends far beyond just
saving us—but he nourishes us spiritually so that we can serve him and others
as his priests. The Bible says that:
As you come to him, a
living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you
yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a
holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ.
When
the faithful women went to Jesus’ tomb on the first day of the week, their
concern was how they would roll away the massive gravestone across the
entrance. But that cold, impenetrable
sign of death could not contain the living stone inside!
God raised Jesus from
the dead and rolled away the stone so that all could see that death was no
longer the last word about mankind—but God had chosen Jesus, the living stone,
to be the foundation of a living temple.
As baptized,
believing Christians we have a share in Christ’s resurrection-- and like the
living stone Jesus Christ (the foundation upon which the church is built)-- we
too are living stones that God is constructing into a spiritual house where his
people are fed-- and from which--his saving name is proclaimed for the
salvation of others.
You will note that
the Bible says that we are stones—not bricks.
Christians are not all the same—we have different qualities and
characteristics—we don’t all look the same--but we all fit together—each of us has
a particular, unique, important spot in the church that only we can fill—a
place where only we fit.
And not only are
we a part of the spiritual house that God is building—but we are the priests in
that temple--servants of God who can come into his presence by faith in Jesus --and
serve him in this world in the power of the Holy Spirit by offering up
spiritual sacrifices that serve God and our neighbor.
And so what are
these spiritual sacrifices that we offer up to God as his priests? The Bible speaks of a number of them.
There is the
sacrifice of a broken and contrite spirit that recognizes our sinfulness
and unworthiness and offers it up to God for healing. There is the sacrifice of praise that
acknowledges and stands in awe of what God has done for us in Christ. There is the sacrifice of thanksgiving
that responds with gratitude for God’s good gifts. There is the sacrifice of good works and
tithes and offerings that helps others.
And finally there is the sacrifice that encompasses all of them—the
sacrifice of our lives.
The bible tells us
in we are to offer up our bodies as living
sacrifices—that this sacrifice of our whole being is our true, spiritual
worship and the Bible promises us that when we live our lives as God’s priest,
we will never be disappointed here on earth-- or thereafter in eternity! The Bible says:
For it stands in
Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion
a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will
not be put to shame. So the honor is for
you who believe,”
To
fully understand the picture that Peter is using we need to recognize that in
the ancient world, a cornerstone was not just a foundation stone upon which the
building rested but the stone that set the direction for every other stone that
followed. If the lines of the building
was to be true—it had to follow the line of the cornerstone.
So it is with the
cornerstone that God has chosen to build his church upon—his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus’ life and example and words set the
direction for our lives.
Jesus’ words of
Law remove all rationalizations and excuses and moral compromises from our
lives. We know exactly what God’s
expectations are for us—how he would have us live—the things we ought to
value—and the truth about our great need for his salvation.
Jesus’ words of
Gospel assure us that his forgiveness earned at the cross is our salvation-that
he is the way and the truth and the life—that because he lives we also will
live—that the devil’s accusations against us will not stand in God’s sight.
Our Christian
lives—built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ—directed by his words—lived
after his example—WILL stand the test of time and eternity—will NEVER disappoint
us as we are about the work of being priests—and we will NOT put us to shame
when Christ comes again. But for those that do not believe, the
Bible says:
“The stone that the
builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a
rock of offense.” They stumble because
they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
The
Living Stone that is the cornerstone of our lives and the foundation of the
Church—the living stone that was rejected by so many of his own people and is
still rejected by much of the world today—will be the destruction of those who
do not render to him the obedience of faith and life.
The
Bible says that Jesus will be for them a “rock of offense” and the word that is
used there—skandalon—refers to a
deadfall trap—a rock placed upon a trigger with bait—that when tripped, falls
upon the prey—killing it.
The biblical
picture is this: the same stone that we
build our lives upon—the same stone that is the direction for our lives—will
serve as the judgment for those whose lives are NOT built upon him and NOT guided
by him.
So it has been
ordained from the beginning. God has
prepared for mankind “one and only one” way of salvation—and that is his Son
Jesus Christ who is the way and the truth and the life—apart from whom no one
will come to the Father.
That’s what the
Bible is talking about when it says that those who disobey the Word are
destined to stumble and fall under God’s judgment. God is not saying that he has destined
certain individuals to fall under his judgment-- but that all who turn their
backs on his salvation are destined for judgment and eternal punishment in hell.
Until that day,
there is a day of grace—a God-given opportunity for everyone to come to faith
and build their lives on the living stone and find guidance in his Word.
As God’s priests,
we have a part to play in helping others come to that place. The Bible says that we are:
… a chosen race, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may
proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once
you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
The
message that goes out from the people of the church to the people of the world
is this: at one time we were just like
you – we too were lost in the darkness of unbelief—we too were under the wrath
of God on account of sins—we too were alienated from our heavenly Father and
orphans in this world.
But God bestowed
his mercy upon us in Christ- and shone the light of his Spirit into our hearts-
and made us a part of his people--and he wants to do the same for you.
This
is the saving mission of God: to
incorporate people from every tribe and language into a chosen race—to take
those who serve false gods and make them his priests—to rescue those that are
caught up in the godless culture of our day and make them citizens of a holy
nation—and to take those who are alienated from him and adopt them into his
family. That is the saving mission of
God.
And we Christians -
who he feeds with his word- and builds into his church- and calls to be his
priests- are a vital part of that saving mission—each of us offering up
spiritual sacrifices that bear witness to him in our daily lives-- and proclaiming
the wonders and goodness and mercy of the God who has saved us and made us his
own-- so that others might hear and believe.
To this end may
God grant us his grace and help to live as his priests for the sake of his
saving mission! Amen.
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