Living Stones


1 Peter 2:4-5
4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

A visit to the Holy Land would reveal multiple sites where stones have been erected by people of the past. It was (and perhaps for some, still is) a part of their worship lives. Throughout the Old Testament, we find stories of God’s people who commemorated His actions in their lives with “standing stones”. These solitary rock pillars, or smaller piles of rocks became reminders of what God had done for them or with them. Peter builds this section of his letter around that concept, expanding on the idea of Jesus as “the Living Stone”. Perhaps the reason that this stone metaphor so appeals to him is that it reflects his own nickname—he was Peter, a rock-man built on the Rock.

Now we too are called living stones. But as such, we don’t just stand out on the plain as reminder of God, but instead are His hands and feet into a dark world, bearing the Light of His truth and salvation. And isn’t it interesting that we are not the bricks that make up His house, but instead, stones. Stones are each unique and some of them are quite irregular. But we are notched together by God to create that which pleases Him, His Bride, the Church.

As the new temple, if you will, we are now called upon to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. This calls to mind the many references in the Old Testament that tell us what kind of sacrifices God requires and it’s not the blood of animals, but instead a broken spirit and a contrite heart. We come with repentance and offer our bodies as spiritual sacrifices. In the Old Testament system of sacrifice, the believer would come into the Temple and offer their animal on the altar and then walk away from the experience to live their lives. In Romans 12:1-2 we are told to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. There is no walking away from that experience. We are living stones … acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. It’s an amazing picture.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more