Monday: The Living Stone
Read 1 Peter 2:4-8 (see also Isa. 28:16; Ps. 118:22; Isa. 8:14-15). What crucial truth is Peter referring to here? What is he saying to us about how we should act in response to Jesus?
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After telling his readers to seek spiritual nourishment, Peter immediately directs their attention to Jesus Christ, the Living Stone, most likely a reference to the Jerusalem temple. In 1 Peter 2:4-8, he cites three Old Testament passages that highlight the significance of cornerstones, which represent the role of Jesus in His church. Peter is not alone in linking these verses to Jesus. Jesus Himself uses Psalm 118:22 at the conclusion of one of His parables (Matt. 21:42). Peter does likewise in Acts 4:11, in his speech to the Jewish leadership. And Paul uses Isaiah 28:16 in Romans 9:33.
Peter’s point is that even though Jesus was rejected and crucified, He was chosen by God to become the cornerstone of God’s spiritual house. Christians, then, are living stones that are built into this spiritual house. By using the terminology of the cornerstone and building blocks, Peter is presenting an image of the church. The church is founded upon Jesus but is made up of those who follow Him.
Notice that becoming a Christian means that you become part of a Christian community, or local church. Just as a brick is to be built into a larger structure, so also Christians are not called to be followers of Jesus in isolation from others. A Christian who does not worship and work with other Christians to further the kingdom of God is a contradiction in terms. Christians are baptized into Christ, and by being baptized into Christ, they are baptized into His church.
Peter also talks about the function of the church. It is to form a “holy priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:5) that offers “spiritual sacrifices.” In the Hebrew Bible, the priests mediate between God and His people. The words of Peter and others in the New Testament often use the language of temple and priesthood to present the church as the living temple of God and His people as its priests. He is pointing to the Old Testament system of worship in order to reveal truths about how Christians should live and act today.
| Read 1 Peter 2:5 again. What does it mean to “offer up spiritual sacrifices”? How do Christians, as part of a community at worship, do that? |
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If we are founded in Christ we can become a Christ-like foundation too. A strong foundation helping to build up a community of believers. By being connected to the fountain of Life we can live as stones to last! Contributing not only to this world but to eternity.
To offer up spiritual sacrifices is to give up our will for what God Wills in any given issue or circumstance. His Holy Spirit is to be allowed to motivate our thoughts and feelings in any and all issues and situations of life. This is the sacrifice of our will to God.
In allowing the Holy Spirit to motivate our thoughts and feelings, His will BECOMES our will as well.
The steady, firm, calm,strength of a Christian is the glue that even holds the rest of this world together. Because without it the degraded heart of unbelievers would have lost control long before this. The devil can't help but be distructive and so the same with his followers. To think the Satan convinces the world that the cause of all war is believers, as he did with convincing the leaders of Jesus day that Jesus is the cause of the problem.
The Living Stone lesson is a very interesting point from Peter. Jesus Christ is our true church and He is the chief the corner stone. As Peter said, "we are as Christians followers of Jesus, we are the bricks, Jesus, He builts His church with the ones that follow Him."
When Peter was referred as the chief of The Corner of stone , he indicated that our spiritual food for nourishment is from Christ. He is the spiritual word for our daily lives.
The living stone represents Jesus Christ and The Chief of The Corner Stone is the Lord, Jesus, He is our Ruler.
A spiritual sacrifices is us as Christian. We need to have Jesus's image so other communities can follow our path
The peace of God bless us as always.
Don and Robert, can someone amplify further the 'Offer up Spiritual Sacrifices" in terms of Priesthood mediation as mention in the last paragraph of this lesson. If we are to go back to the work of the priest those days- mediating on behalf of a sinner to God. Is it not in the same thought you and me who are in the 'light' are to do to reach out to our brothers and sisters who have not yet heard about the saving grace of our Lord?
Please shed more light.
Thank you.
In 1 Peter 2:5, Peter tells us that we are the living stones and that Jesus is the cornerstone. As a cornerstone He sets the shape and bears the weight of the building. We are stones that together with the Cornerstone make up the temple.
As a temple we must become a place of refuge, a place that gives and sustains life, fizzing with the Spirit of God. Jesus says we become living pieces in His temple and standing out as a beacon of hope to the world, and telling them that God lives in our hearts and minds. Of course one stone by itself cannot achieve much, but many stones built upon each other and locked into the cornerstone of Jesus we become a house that is able to withstand the storms of life. As a solid household we become a shelter to those in need.
We must, therefore establish ourselves so that there is no question as to whom we belong, who we are part of, and thus who we are. When people see us they should instantly recognize us as people in whom dwells the spirit of God. We are not only temples, but priests to the Lord. As priests we are to be like the moon is to the sun, reflecting the light, reflecting the holiness of God. We are not only to show the goodness of the Lord through our lives; we are to teach others how to live the same, building them into stones strong enough to support other stones in God’s living temple.