August 7th, 2024
by Dr. Josh Franklin
by Dr. Josh Franklin
1 Peter 2:4–5 says, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
In John 6:51, Jesus refers to Himself as the “living bread.” In John 4:13-14 and John 7:37-39, Jesus says He is the Source of “living water.” Well, in 1 Peter 2:4, Jesus is referred to as the “living stone.” That phrase “living stone” is oxymoronic, because it communicates something with life and something that is inanimate. Stones represent stability. Stones represent something that cannot change. Jesus is sturdy and stable. Yet, He is not a dead stone. He is alive.
Then, the next verse describes how He brings life from the dead. When you come to Him, and believe on Him, then you, too, become a living stone. 1 Peter 2:5 says, “you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices.” The process is: first you come to Jesus (the cornerstone), and then you become like Jesus (a living stone).
The King of Sparta in Ancient Greece would brag about the “mighty walls of Sparta.” How massive. How strong. One day a king came to visit. He asked, “I've heard about the massive walls of Sparta, where are they?” The King pointed to the well-disciplined soldiers of Sparta, and he said, “There are the mighty walls of Sparta!”
God is able to build up a spiritual house out of these living stones. A church is made up of people, not brick and mortar. The building may perish, but the church still exists because of the people of God. Individually, we may be a stone. Collectively, we are a building that God is putting together, one stone at a time. The building continues to grow as people continue to come to Jesus and become like Jesus. All for the glory of God.
Hebrews 3:6 says, “but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” 1 Corinthians 3:9 adds, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” Believers are the house of God. We are the building of God.
The main verb of this verse is “are being built.” Some translations mistakenly turn this sentence into an imperative, “be built up.” However, it seems to be best translated as an indicative, a statement of something that is actually happening. They were being built up. Additionally, the verb is in the passive voice, which means it was something being done to them. They were not building themselves up. Someone else was building them up. His name is Jesus.
One toy that our boys always enjoyed playing with as they were younger were Magnetic plastic tiles. They are plastic shapes, but they have magnets all around the edges. They are able to be connected pretty quickly in order to build whatever structure you may want to build. Well, what is holding these plastic squares together? If they were just plastic shapes, they would just collapse. They couldn’t hold together. However, with the magnetic force at work, you can build enormous structures as one more plastic square or rectangle is attached at the right location. Now, this is a picture of the church. Believers all over the world join together as Christians. What force holds the church together? Jesus!
Colossians 1:17 says, “He [Christ] is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (NIV). We may walk around and think, “What’s keeping me on earth?” The answer is gravity. It is a force we cannot see. In the same way, Jesus Christ, the living stone, as people come to Him, esteem Him as precious, and believe on Him, He grafts them in. He adds to the building. He holds all of His followers together as living stones being built together for His glory!
“Dear God, thank You for making me one of Your children through what Jesus did for me. Thank You for connecting me to other believers as Your church. I pray that I stay faithful to You and to Your church. I pray that others can count on me to do my part in Your church. I pray our unity glorifies You. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
In John 6:51, Jesus refers to Himself as the “living bread.” In John 4:13-14 and John 7:37-39, Jesus says He is the Source of “living water.” Well, in 1 Peter 2:4, Jesus is referred to as the “living stone.” That phrase “living stone” is oxymoronic, because it communicates something with life and something that is inanimate. Stones represent stability. Stones represent something that cannot change. Jesus is sturdy and stable. Yet, He is not a dead stone. He is alive.
Then, the next verse describes how He brings life from the dead. When you come to Him, and believe on Him, then you, too, become a living stone. 1 Peter 2:5 says, “you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices.” The process is: first you come to Jesus (the cornerstone), and then you become like Jesus (a living stone).
The King of Sparta in Ancient Greece would brag about the “mighty walls of Sparta.” How massive. How strong. One day a king came to visit. He asked, “I've heard about the massive walls of Sparta, where are they?” The King pointed to the well-disciplined soldiers of Sparta, and he said, “There are the mighty walls of Sparta!”
God is able to build up a spiritual house out of these living stones. A church is made up of people, not brick and mortar. The building may perish, but the church still exists because of the people of God. Individually, we may be a stone. Collectively, we are a building that God is putting together, one stone at a time. The building continues to grow as people continue to come to Jesus and become like Jesus. All for the glory of God.
Hebrews 3:6 says, “but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” 1 Corinthians 3:9 adds, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” Believers are the house of God. We are the building of God.
The main verb of this verse is “are being built.” Some translations mistakenly turn this sentence into an imperative, “be built up.” However, it seems to be best translated as an indicative, a statement of something that is actually happening. They were being built up. Additionally, the verb is in the passive voice, which means it was something being done to them. They were not building themselves up. Someone else was building them up. His name is Jesus.
One toy that our boys always enjoyed playing with as they were younger were Magnetic plastic tiles. They are plastic shapes, but they have magnets all around the edges. They are able to be connected pretty quickly in order to build whatever structure you may want to build. Well, what is holding these plastic squares together? If they were just plastic shapes, they would just collapse. They couldn’t hold together. However, with the magnetic force at work, you can build enormous structures as one more plastic square or rectangle is attached at the right location. Now, this is a picture of the church. Believers all over the world join together as Christians. What force holds the church together? Jesus!
Colossians 1:17 says, “He [Christ] is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (NIV). We may walk around and think, “What’s keeping me on earth?” The answer is gravity. It is a force we cannot see. In the same way, Jesus Christ, the living stone, as people come to Him, esteem Him as precious, and believe on Him, He grafts them in. He adds to the building. He holds all of His followers together as living stones being built together for His glory!
“Dear God, thank You for making me one of Your children through what Jesus did for me. Thank You for connecting me to other believers as Your church. I pray that I stay faithful to You and to Your church. I pray that others can count on me to do my part in Your church. I pray our unity glorifies You. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Posted in First Peter
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