1 Peter 2:1-12 1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him– 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: “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.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, 8 and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message–which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
On Sunday, we asked ourselves who we are as the people of God.
Our Identity-Who Are We?
God is the Builder, and we are the Living Stones He is using to build His Kingdom. (Vs. 5)
We are living stones because Jesus is alive! We stand in the power of His resurrection. His life has become our life. He is alive forevermore, and He is the chief cornerstone in God the Father’s master plan.
We are living stones because the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, lives inside of us. God is recreating the life of Jesus inside of us as the Holy Spirit has room to live and breathe in us, and every time someone comes to faith in Christ, another stone is quarried out of the pit of sin and is cemented by grace into God’s eternal building.
Ephesians 2:19-22 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
We are also Living Stones because we stand upon the Word of God. Verse 8 tells us that the people who rejected Christ did so because they rejected the Word of God. They rejected the message. We live because we embrace the Word of God that gives life. Just as Jesus is alive, His Word is also alive. Hebrews 4:12 reminds us, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
We are Living Stones who adjust our lives according to the truth of God’s Word.
We are alive because Jesus is alive. We are alive because His Spirit lives in us, and we are Living Stones because we follow the living Word of God.
God is a builder. What will He continue to build in and through your life and mine as we have now come together in this lighthouse on the hill?
