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God’s Building Project

God’s Building Project
August 14, 2016

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:4-10

I. You are special because you are connected to Christ the cornerstone.

A. Peter describes Christ in 1 Peter 2:4: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.” Even though Jesus was God’s chosen cornerstone the Jewish people still rejected Jesus. So in 1 Peter 2:6-8 Peter quotes directly from three Old Testament Scriptures about the rejection of Jesus to show that this rejection had been prophesied. In vs. 6 Peter quotes from Isaiah 28:16 to say that Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s building project. This stone is of the highest quality.

B. Peter quotes in vs. 7 from Psalm 118:22 to say that it was predicted that the builders of the Jewish nation would reject Jesus. But Peter says in vs. 8 that there is a price to be paid for rejecting Jesus. He quotes in vs. 8 from Isaiah 8:14 to say that Jesus is a stone of stumbling. If you reject Jesus as the foundation for your faith, then God will reject you. If you believe that Jesus has died for your sins, you also will be a living stone (vs. 5). You will be a living stone in the church that God will add to the building, and you will be connected to Christ the cornerstone.

II. You are special because you are connected to the church.

A. You are united with all of the other living stones in the building of the church. This picture of the church as a spiritual house in vs. 5 is an updated picture of the temple from the Old Testament. The temple in Jerusalem was the place where the Jews would go to meet God. But now Peter says if you want to be in the presence of God, where do you go? You don’t go to a building in Jerusalem. In fact you don’t even go to a church building. If you want to meet with God, you meet with God’s people the church.

B. It was the living stone of Jesus that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about in Daniel 2:44-45: “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold.” We are bringing in God’s kingdom as the church.

III.  You are special because you are connected to all of God’s people throughout history.

A. Peter identifies the church in verse 9: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.” These statements that Peter makes about the church are statements that God made about Israel in Exodus 19:6 and Isaiah 43:20-21. So, the promises that God made to Israel are promises that God also makes to the church. You have a connection to God’s chosen people from history the Israelites. We who have faith in God and in Christ are all God’s chosen people.

Application:
Let’s add some more living stones to God’s building project by being witnesses about Jesus.

Sources:
The letter of 1 Peter
Commentaries on 1 Peter by Karen Jobes and I.H. Marshall and David Helm.