As followers of Christ, we are never alone in our struggles. Drawing from 1 Peter, we discover that Jesus himself went before us, experiencing rejection and pain, yet chosen by God. This shared experience with Christ brings comfort and hope. We learn that as Christians, we are part of a greater community - living stones being built into God's spiritual house. This reminder that we are surrounded by fellow believers who understand our journey can be incredibly reassuring when we feel isolated in our pain.
BUILT IN COMMUNITY - 1 Peter 2:4-10
October 6th, 2024
I. Introduction/Review: Not at home, but not alone
III. The Living Stone - Jesus Christ
1 Peter 2:4 "As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him"
IV. Christians Together as Living Stones
1 Peter 2:5 "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."
V. The Church as God's Building Project
Conclusion: Our Identity in Christ - Chosen people, royal priesthood, holy nation, Called to declare God's praises
1 Peter 2:9-10 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, 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."
BBCC Verse of the Week:. 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:4-10 Study/Discussion Guide
We have some great devotionals in the lobby -- pick one up and read devotionally each day. This is a different tool to encourage your growth in scripture. 1) Some notes that go a little deeper than what I can talk about on a Sunday morning. 2) Some questions to go a little wider as you talk to people and think about how the Spirit may be making you more holy through his word. Use the first section as a springboard to learning more about the Bible, use the second section to talk to others about what you’re learning. Talk in the car on the way home, chat with folks during the week.
2:4 As you come to him indicates a daily personal relationship with Christ, beginning at but not limited to the time of conversion. As believers continue in fellowship with Christ, they “are being built up as a spiritual house” (v. 5). Just as his followers suffer persecution, Jesus also was rejected by men. Still, he is risen from the dead and hence is the living stone—the foundation of God’s new temple. He is God’s elect (chosen) one, and as the exalted Lord he is honored above all. (ESV Study Bible)
The stone image is found in three OT passages (Ps. 118:22–23; Isa. 8:14–15; 28:16), and all three of them are quoted in 1 Pet. 2:6–8. When Jesus applied the rejected stone of Ps. 118:22 to himself, he was probably drawing on the well-established tradition in Judaism that identified the stone with the Messiah. In Isa. 8:14–15, the LORD Almighty is a sanctuary, but he will also be for both houses of Israel “a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall” (NIV). The stone image occurs again in Isa. 28:16 to refer to the object the LORD places in Zion, “So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed’” (NIV). In pre-Christian interpretation, the stone image of these three passages came to be understood as messianic. (Baker Exegetical Commentary)
The phrase “a chosen race” echoes Isa. 43:3, which announces that God himself is Israel’s only savior, who will deliver his people from their exile in Babylon. Peter frames his letter in the motif of the historic Babylonian exile in order to identify his readers with the OT promises of deliverance. In Isa. 43:20–21 God declares he will provide water in the desert to give drink to “my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” The LXX of Isa. 43:20 includes the phrase “my chosen race, which is echoed in the words of 1 Pet. 2:9, “you are a chosen race”. The term genos refers to people descended from a common lineage, in the case of Isa. 43 the descendants of Abraham. Isaiah 43:21 states the purpose for which this race has been chosen: that they may proclaim God’s praises. Peter directly applies the same mandate to his Christian readers of first-century Asia Minor: “that you may proclaim the mighty acts of the one who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (2:9). As Peter later teaches, this declaration of praise is not simply verbal but a life lived righteously.
In biblical theology, Israel’s deliverance from exile in Babylon is the typological forerunner of the greater deliverance achieved by Jesus Christ, deliverance of God’s people out of darkness into light. Peter here makes the radical claim that those who believe in Jesus Christ—whether Jew, Gentile, Greek, Roman, Cappadocian, Bithynian, or whatever—though from many races, constitute a new race of those who have been born again into the living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here is the foundational cure for the evils of racism in human society. (Jobes)
Discussion Questions:
next week – Read 1 Peter 2:11-20 (John Leavitt) Pastor Samuel Sutter // sam@BBCCOnline.org
