1 Peter 1:3 - ...born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
John 3:3 - Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:4-7 - Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
3 steps to take in order to offer sacrifices acceptable to God
I. Recognize that Jesus Christ Is the Cornerstone
Mark 13:1-2 - As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”
John 2:19-21 - Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
1 Peter 2:4-5 - And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
A. Understanding the cornerstone imagery
“[The] cornerstone, [was] most often the large stone placed in the foundation at the principal corner of a building, but occasionally the top or final stone of a building.” (Robert A. Wild, The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, 156)
“The most significant stone in important buildings is the cornerstone. Usually it is the first stone laid at a formal ceremony. Often it is engraved with the date of the building and perhaps some other ascription, honoring a person or an event. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Jesus is called the gōnia or ‘cornerstone’ of the church.’” (Eugene E. Carpenter & Philip W. Comfort, Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words, 259)
1 Peter 2:7 - …The stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone…
B. Rejection from men and exaltation from God were both prophesied
Mark 8:31-32 - And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He was stating the matter plainly...
II. Go to Jesus so that He Can Use You in His Redemptive Construction Plan
Romans 3:10-12a - …as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless…”
A. Jesus makes you (individuals) into living stones – like him (v.5)
1 Peter 2:5 - …you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1. In suffering and rejection by men
1 Peter 4:12 - Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you…
Hebrews 13:12-14 - Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
2. In preciousness and honor from God
1 Peter 2:6 - And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.
1 Peter 2:7 - This precious value, then, is for you who believe...
B. Jesus builds living stones into a spiritual house – the church
1 Corinthians 6:19 - Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
Revelation 21:3 - And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them…”
John 13:35 - By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
III. Live Out Your Exalted Purpose in Christ
A. A multifaceted identity in Christ
1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession...
1. A chosen race
2. A royal priesthood
3. A holy nation
1 Peter 1:16 - You shall be holy, for I am holy.
4. A people for his own possession
B. Offer acceptable spiritual sacrifices (v.5, 9)
1 Peter 2:5 - …you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:1 - Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…
This year’s annual theme is Hope for Everyday Life
The broad challenge Peter presents could be stated in this way: where is your hope grounded?
If it’s in circumstances, we have very little control over life and its events
If it’s in others, we have even less control over them
If our hope is grounded in comfort, riches, future, love, or any other created thing—those can be lost in an instant
We need a better hope to build our life upon—one that’s capable of immovably and eternally weathering any storm
Please turn to 1 Peter 2 (pg. 181) – we’ll be walking through vv 4-10 together this morning
On of the predominant themes that has run throughout the book so far has been the theme of rebirth
Those who are in Jesus have been…
1 Peter 1:3 ...born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
Verses 1:14, 1:23, & 2:2 each discuss this concept as well—we are born into a new family—one that’s eternal and capable of bearing the hope of anyone who would receive this new birth
Peter is likely borrowing from Jesus’ description of salvation according to his discussion with Nicodemus as recorded in John 3 –
John 3:3 – Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus is understandably confused by this (imagine hearing it for the first time) (*explain – thought rightness w/ God was attained rather than given)
Thus, he replies by asking the question that would like likely been on the mind of anyone who thought this was a feat accomplished by oneself…
John 3:4-7 – Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
So far in our letter, Peter has expounded on several implications regarding this “new birth”
Again, one of the more dominant implications is the unqualified hope we can have, based on the security we enjoy in being a part of this new family
But in our passage, Peter changes the metaphor a bit
In short, we go from BORN to BUILT
Peter transitions from new-birth language to construction language
Now that we’ve been born again, what does it look like to build our lives upon this new foundation?
How should this new birth impact my current life and my future hope?
How do I go from BORN to BUILT?
That’s one of the matters Peter will address for us during our time—let’s turn now to our passage…
*Read Passage (1 Pet 2:4-10)*
The title of our message this morning is the Hope of a Spiritual House and Better Sacrifices...
Now that we’ve read the passage, we know a number of things:
1) we know what we are to build our life off of: Jesus, the Cornerstone
2) we know how we are to build our lives: it’s a work of God through conforming ourselves to Christ (the Cornerstone)
And I would argue that 3) we know why we are to build our lives in such a way
In other words, just as you’d never go to the trouble of constructing a purposeless building (would you?), God doesn’t corporately build us up for no particular reason
He’s conforming us to the image of His Son for a purpose that may be shocking to us—but not to an audience who would have experienced the OT system of worship
Based on our passage, we’re going to venture into 3 steps to take in order to offer sacrifices acceptable to God.
This first step involves…
I. Recognize that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone
One of the centerpieces of the OT systems of worship came in the form of a building
What was the building called? (temple)
In Jesus’ time, it was quite a thing to marvel at:
Mark 13:1-2 – As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”
The obvious issue with a building is its temporal nature
The temple they were looking at was by no means the first of its kind
The Jerusalem Temple had been built, torn down, rebuilt, and renovated
If we’re looking for hope that lasts, Jesus compels us to turn our eyes away from the building and fix them on the Builder
This is another point He makes while in the presence of the Temple:
John 2:19-21 – Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
Jesus was compelling them to place their hope and direct their worship towards the King of and indestructible Kingdom—the Cornerstone of a building that would only be torn down once—for our sake
And then, once resurrected, never to be torn down or renovated for all eternity
Similarly, Peter is constructing a temple of a new kind in our opening verses:
1 Peter 2:4-5 – And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The Temples constructed in Jerusalem had a specific function
But before we get too far into why they were built, let’s spend a little bit of time on the “what”—what are we to build our life upon?
I’m sure you caught the heavy use of the word “stone” in its many forms in the first half of our passage
8 different words for “stone” are used to describe Christ and His followers
Most significantly it’s important to…
A. Understanding the cornerstone imagery
We’ve sung it a bunch of times here at church: Christ alone… Cornerstone
Peter uses this language for Christ in a number of ways here in our passage
Christ even refers to himself as the Cornerstone several times in Scripture as well
As such, it may be good to start here: what is a “cornerstone” and what was its function?
According to Wild,
[The] cornerstone, [was] most often the large stone placed in the foundation at the principal corner of a building, but occasionally the top or final stone of a building – Robert A. Wild, The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, 156.
Carpenter and Comfort also say…
The most significant stone in important buildings is the cornerstone. Usually it is the first stone laid at a formal ceremony. Often it is engraved with the date of the building and perhaps some other ascription, honoring a person or an event. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Jesus is called the gōnia or “cornerstone” of the church – Eugene E. Carpenter & Philip W. Comfort, Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words, 259.
So Jesus is described as this crucial cornerstone, or keystone
To help explain this title, I tried to avoid the temptation towards talking about my landscaping days but found it inescapable…
*description of keystone + significance during a paver/wall project
Depending on the version of the Bible you’re reading out of, you’ll notice quite a bit of Old Testament referenced in this passage.
In 6-10 (just 5 verses), Peter references Isaiah 8, 28, 43, 61, 66 | Psalm 118 | Deuteronomy 4, 7, 10, 14 | Exodus 19 | and Hosea 1, 2
Peter’s calling upon Patriarchs and prophets alike to show that Christ is the One that’s been spoken of for generations
In effect, their all saying this: Jesus functions as the primary and foundational entity of the house of God
And this is a rather shocking turn of events, because…
1 Peter 2:7 ... “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,”
And from this passage, we see that…
B. Rejection from men and exaltation from God were both prophesied
Sticking with Peter’s construction illustration, imagine how scandalous this would have been!
The expert builders—those who had gone to the right schools, worked tireless hours, acquired all the right internships, earned all the proper certifications and qualifications, led countless projects, and had all the necessary skills and knowledge—these same experts had rejected the Cornerstone
This is no small thing—the cornerstone would have been the most vital element to any ancient building
If you had a poorly keyed cornerstone, you wound up with a bad building
Ensuring you had the main thing correct would have been one of the most elementary issues to address
And yet, when the religious leaders of Christ’s day looked at Him, they saw a man unworthy of consideration—even for the people of God, let alone someone to be the cornerstone or foundation of the faith
Moreover, Mark 8 records that…
Mark 8:31–32 31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And He was stating the matter plainly...
Piecing it all together, Jesus is the long-foretold cornerstone, rejected by those who should have otherwise identified Him as the most pristine keystone imaginable, crushed and destroyed by those who imagined themselves to be the set-standard, yet He was unable to be permanently displaced
Rising from His seemingly irrevocably crushed state, He is established as the foundation, the standard, the cornerstone of the true building of God
And notice what the passage is doing!
Peter calls Him a “living stone” in verse 4; then calls us living stones in verse 5!
Verse 7 says Jesus was the stone that was rejected before becoming the cornerstone
Then, verse 10 says we were once “not a people, but now [we’re] the people of God; [we] had not received mercy, but now [we’ve] received mercy
Let me simplify the point: just as Jesus was the rejected stone who now serves as the cornerstone, so now WE are the formerly rejected stones who are inexplicably selected to build off of Christ
But in order to build off of Him, you must…
II. Go to Jesus so that he can use you in his redemptive construction plan
What are you in this illustration?
A brick—one. single. brick.
Peter is more kind in calling you a “living stone”
But before God saved you—presuming you’ve gone to Him for salvation—you and I were sad sites, indeed!
Dejected and lifeless bricks, building futile structures that would crumble like the Temples of Jerusalem
Romans 3:10-12a – as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless…”
Looking through the lens of Peter’s illustration, when God saves us, two things happen:
1) we go from lifeless bricks building lifeless buildings to living stones, vivified for God’s divine purpose
2) we are invited to partake in Jesus’ master construction project
Both are key—we need Christ to enliven us and we need to join to Him and join His people
A brick by itself does not a building make
How about you?
Have you gone to the Cornerstone for life?
Or have you rejected Him, as the other imposter builders had done?
Peter describes Him as “choice and precious in the sight of God”—is Jesus all of these things to you as well?
(*invitation)
And to those who have gone to Christ—are you “being built up as a spiritual house” alongside your fellow living stones?
Let me make it a bit more practical: are you functionally living as a single brick, or even a small cluster of stones?
(slowly) Jesus saved us that we would key our lives off of Him and grow alongside one another
I hope you find Jesus to be precious in your sight, and that you’re keying ALL ASPECTS of your life according to His will
And I hope you’re doing this alongside your fellow living stones
Because the passage makes it clear that…
A. Jesus makes you (individuals) into living stones—like him (v.5)
1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The question then becomes: how is Jesus making us more like Him?
First…
i. In suffering and rejection by men
We’re not quite there yet, but 1 Peter 4 says…
1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
Suffering will make us like Jesus, because Jesus Himself suffered greatly
Just as a brick is shaped in the fiery heat of a furnace, so we are forged through suffering
But only if we actively seek to emulate our Savoir in the midst of our fiery ordeal
If you treat it as though something strange were, in fact, happening to you, it will serve to drive you further away from the Cornerstone and His likeness
Hebrews 13:12–14 – 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
But the Christian walk is not all suffering and sadness—we also emulate our Cornerstone…
ii. In preciousness and honor from God
Peter reminds those of us who have accepted Christ as the foundational Cornerstone of our lives that…
1 Peter 2:6 ... AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
And…
1 Peter 2:7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe...
Disappointment (or “shame”, according to the Greek) is quite a powerful word
As we’re keying our lives off of Jesus, the world would have us believe that the product is something to be ashamed of – a cause of disappointment
“you believe that? You’re such a bigot…”
Or claims that the Christian life is one of oppression and suppression
The world looks at our Cornerstone and still rejects Him
God looks at Him—as well as those built off of Him—and sees it as precious, totally devoid of shame, and a foundation that will never disappoint
And as mentioned before…
B. Jesus builds living stones into a spiritual house—the church.
The image Peter is wanting to conjure up is that of the temple
The primary purpose of the temple was that was intended to be the meeting place between God and man
Elsewhere, Paul applies this to the individual:
1 Corinthians 6:19 – Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
Peter, on the other hand, is showing us that this building that’s being constructed off of Christ is comprised of the men and women He’s purchased for His purpose
And it ought to be a place where God dwells
We’ll certainly imperfectly live out our calling to be a “holy priesthood” as verse 5 describes us, but there will come a time when God will dwell with us in perfect unity…
Revelation 21:3 – And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
Again, there is a heavy amount of fellowship and togetherness—even in the eternal Kingdom
It’s not just “you and Jesus” here—it won’t just be just “you and Jesus” there
If this comes as a surprise or a disappointment to you, allow me to challenge you with the words of Christ Himself:
John 13:35 – By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
If you find yourself lacking in love for your fellow Christians, you may need to pause and ask if you’re truly a disciple of Christ!
That may sound harsh, but so is verse 8 of our passage
I’d rather give a hard shove to a lone-Christian towards Christ and His people than miss an opportunity to warn a non-Christian of the pending doom to come
Again, key yourself off Christ—our only Cornerstone
But lastly…
III. Live out your exalted purpose in Christ
In the final section of our passage, Peter writes out a list that ought to describe God’s people
This speaks to our…
A. A Multifaceted identity in Christ –
Verse 9 provides this list:
1 Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION...
The first point is a rather humbling one—Christians are…
i. A chosen race
“genos” in the Greek—translated here as “race”—has a much broader rendering than “race” as we understand it
But that’s not the point I want to fixate on:
We are “chosen”
In other words, we didn’t choose us, we didn’t earn this election, but God inexplicably chose us—seemingly out of a pile of bricks that are altogether the same
But he chose us, nonetheless—and it was far from a purposeless election
Peter gets more specific when he says we are…
ii. A royal priesthood
Even with this, our illustration gets a bit more descriptive
This building that Christ is constructing is populated with a royal priesthood
Royal in the sense that we are heirs of the King of the Universe through the aforementioned election
We are priests by way of calling and commission
We’ll get to the duties of a priest in a minute or two
Next, we’re described as…
iii. A Holy Nation
Loosely speaking, holy means “set-apart”
Because of Jesus (our Cornerstone) we look different from the other bricks around us
We are to be living stones—and I emphasize once more—a nation of living stones
Not scattered abroad, but gathered together to the Holy One
As it was written of Him earlier in our passage…
1 Peter 1:16 ...“YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
And this setting apart is so that we may be…
iv. A people for his own possession
It’s His building—His name is on the front
And we would want it no other way
But there’s a key element of this identity that I’ve saved to the end, since it serves as our most direct application
The middle of verse 5 and the end of verse 9 give us the purpose of this building
Not just to be a reimagined Temple, not just to be the meeting place between God and man, but that we may…
B. Offer acceptable spiritual sacrifices (v.5, 9)
I’m currently reading through Leviticus
One thing that jumps out about that book is the job description and general duties of the Levitical priests
If God’s people were faithfully obeying the commandments set forth by Yahweh, the priests were busy slaughtering a ton of animals to the Lord
Drawing our attention to verse 5:
1 Peter 2:5 – you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Why are we being built up into this holy priesthood?
To offer up acceptable spiritual sacrifices
The temple was a place filled with blood—a reminder of our sin
The church is filled spiritual sacrifices—a reminder of our Savior
Paul phrases it like this…
Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Jesus tells the woman at the well, in John 4, that the Father is seeking such worshipers—those who would worship in spirit and truth
These are the living stones that comprise the church
This is the royal priesthood that populates the reimagined temple
So, talking to my fellow priests: what are the spiritual sacrifices you are offering up?
If it is our very life we are to surrender, then dissect your life into categories and interrogate each one
Is my job on the alter? Is my comfort on the alter? Are my finances on the alter? Is my sense of security on the alter
However you need to parse it—is all you upon the alter, as a living sacrifice to the Lord?
What’s the end-goal of all these sacrifices?
1 Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
God gets the glory—it’s His building, after all
Are you a part of it?
If so, let’s make much of our Savior—the Cornerstone—by giving our very lives to Him and those whom He has saved
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