1 Peter 2:4-10 (Chosen, Holy, and Loved)

"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."

We left off on Friday talking about the idea of craving pure, spiritual milk -- choosing to desire to grow with the Lord more than we desire anything else.  So it is with this background that we continue reading in 1 Peter today.

"The living Stone" in verse 4 refers to Jesus, who was, as the verse says "rejected by men but chosen by God."  We know that Jesus was not loved by all -- in fact, he was hated by many!  Remember that Peter is speaking to all the new Jewish Christians, and this idea of a "living stone" would not be a new term for them.  The passage Peter is about to quote in verse 6 comes from Isaiah 28:16, which was written by the prophet Isaiah.  Peter is saying, "He is the One!"  On Jesus, the foundation and the cornerstone, will be laid the means to your salvation.  Yet, these verses say that many will reject him and stumble and fall because of what He teaches.  Much of what Jesus taught was counter-cultural in His day, and it remains counter-cultural in our day.  People don't think they need to be saved from anything, so they don't need a Savior.  They want to keep acting in the way that seems to be working for them today, but they are deceived.  In a second, we will see God's plan for reaching these lost people...

But not only is Jesus mentioned here.  We are mentioned as also being "living stones" that are used to make one, large spiritual house and community.  We are part of the bigger picture that God is using to redeem the world!  And I like the idea of a "spiritual house" because a house is where something dwells, and so we are the dwelling place for God's spirit in this world.  God will use us to declare this salvation to the world.  And how will He do it?  Look at verses 9-10, "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.  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." We are to declare how he brought us out of darkness and into his wonderful light and mercy! I know that I have surely been brought of some serious darkness.  Thank you, Lord!  Now that is something to tell other people about, is it not?!

Does it not invigorate you to know that you are part of this enormous picture and plan that God has been working on since the beginning to time?  You are a part of this, a chosen, holy, and loved part of it!