What Are You Building On?
The Living Stone
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans 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.
The language of the Living Stone and being built into a spiritual house has special meaning for Peter. After all, upon Peter's confession of faith Jesus said, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." And the rock was Peter's confession of faith in Jesus the Messiah. When Israel has a physical temple, they met with God offering sacrifices to Him. But when the temple was torn down they lost their identity. Jesus was building a new temple in which He was the cornerstone upon which the church was built.
And Peter is saying, as you come to God through the sacrifice of Christ, your very lives are a sacrifice. In fact, as the priest was the one to offer sacrifices, now the believers are forming a holy priesthood. So while the believers were being persecuted, Peter gives them a vision for the permanence of their calling. Importantly this building had its foundation in Jesus Christ. In fact when Jesus commissions Peter he says, "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
As you come to Jesus the Cornerstone, realize that you too are being built into a spiritual house that will endure anything that tries to tear it down. Even the gates of hell can't overcome it. You are a part of a building project that has been going on for 2,000 years, and one day will be finished when Jesus returns. But the project is not yet finished. As God's priests he uses us to continue to build the church, with Jesus as the cornerstone. As you confess Jesus as your Lord, you can be the rock for the next stage of the building project.
So a natural question I would ask you today? What are you building your life on? What is its foundation, it's cornerstone? When the storms of life come our security and what we trust in will be revealed by what we built our house on! May we say with Joshua, "As for me and my house we will serve The Lord!"
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans 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.
The language of the Living Stone and being built into a spiritual house has special meaning for Peter. After all, upon Peter's confession of faith Jesus said, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." And the rock was Peter's confession of faith in Jesus the Messiah. When Israel has a physical temple, they met with God offering sacrifices to Him. But when the temple was torn down they lost their identity. Jesus was building a new temple in which He was the cornerstone upon which the church was built.
And Peter is saying, as you come to God through the sacrifice of Christ, your very lives are a sacrifice. In fact, as the priest was the one to offer sacrifices, now the believers are forming a holy priesthood. So while the believers were being persecuted, Peter gives them a vision for the permanence of their calling. Importantly this building had its foundation in Jesus Christ. In fact when Jesus commissions Peter he says, "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
As you come to Jesus the Cornerstone, realize that you too are being built into a spiritual house that will endure anything that tries to tear it down. Even the gates of hell can't overcome it. You are a part of a building project that has been going on for 2,000 years, and one day will be finished when Jesus returns. But the project is not yet finished. As God's priests he uses us to continue to build the church, with Jesus as the cornerstone. As you confess Jesus as your Lord, you can be the rock for the next stage of the building project.
So a natural question I would ask you today? What are you building your life on? What is its foundation, it's cornerstone? When the storms of life come our security and what we trust in will be revealed by what we built our house on! May we say with Joshua, "As for me and my house we will serve The Lord!"
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