THE LIVING STONE

1 Peter 2:4-25
Key Verse: 2:4

   "As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but
    chosen by God and precious to him."

   In chapter 1 we learned that we have a living hope of the kingdom of
God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We also learned
that Christians are holy pilgrims in this world. They have a living
hope and are holy pilgrims. Peter understood that the scattered
believers were still immature. So in chapter 2, Peter teaches them who
Jesus really is and how they can win the victory in this world as
Christians.

First, the living Stone (4). Read verse 4. "As you come to him, the
living Stone rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him...."
The living Stone is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the living Stone.
This has a historical background. When we study the Bible as a whole,
the first thing that captures our minds to see God's purpose is God's
world salvation plan. God had a precise plan to train his people Israel
in the smelting furnace of Egypt until his people grew up to be a
nation. After that, God gave them wilderness training to raise them as
humble and lowly shepherds for God's flock all over the world. Exodus
19:4-6 summarizes God's plan excellently. God wanted to make them a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation. In short, God wanted to make his
people a shepherd nation as well as a godly nation. Even though his
people had been slaves in Egypt 430 years and were deeply embedded in
slave mentalities, God's hope for his people was glorious.

   Why did God give them wilderness training? It was to lay the
foundation of world salvation work. After wilderness training, God led
them to the promised land. According to God's plan, his people had to
be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. They had to be shepherds and
shepherdesses to plant the knowledge of God in the hearts of pagan
people in the promised land. But they could not maintain God's
blessing. When they began to enjoy little comforts and little
conveniences of civilized Canaan and they began to enjoy flowing milk
and honey, they gradually melted into the easygoing life of the
Canaanites. As a result, they abandoned God and their holy mission.

   There is the parable of the tenants in Matthew 21:33-44. This
parable explains how God's world salvation plan was frustrated. God, in
his great wisdom, planted a vineyard, dug a winepress in it, and built
a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away
on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to
the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants. They
beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Finally, the owner of the
vineyard sent his son, believing that they would treat him well. But
the tenants killed the owner's son and threw him away. This parable
refers to God's people Israel. They were chosen and they were given a
mission. But they disobeyed. This parable tells us how God's people,
who were supposed to be the foundation of the world salvation plan,
crumbled. This parable also tells us that God could not use Israel to
lay the big foundation of world salvation. Instead, God chose one
living Stone through which God wanted to fulfill his world salvation
purpose.

   Who is the living Stone? The living Stone is the rejected Stone.
Look at verse 7. Peter quotes Psalm 118:22,23. It says, "The stone the
builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and
it is marvelous in our eyes." This story is repeated in Matthew 21:42,
Mark 12:10, and Luke 20:17. This repetition warns us that we should not
reject the living Stone, as the Jews rejected Jesus, simply because he
did not fit into their own blueprint for their worldly plan of
construction. They rejected Jesus because their way of salvation and
their way of eternal life did not match with Jesus. His people's
rejection of the living Stone was the invitation to their
self-destruction. The kingdom of God will be taken away from them.

   Luke 20:18 says, "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to
pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." Not only the Jews,
but also worldly people think they can reject God at random. It is
sheer ignorance which invites self-destruction. First they are crushed
in their inner man. But that is not all. An even more tragic thing is
that they would be put into eternal condemnation. They said, "God is
love, so he does not send anybody to hell." But the Bible says they
would suffer in the fiery lake of burning sulfur, which never ceases.
The most unbearable suffering to the unbelieving is that they have to
live only among the evil men. It is a universal truth that everybody
likes to look at lovely children and beautiful women and honest men.
Even a wretched man does not like to associate with another wretched
man. But these unbelieving people have to live with the ungodly, who
are unpredictable. The unbelieving have to live with liars and
murderers. What is more, they have to live with those who invent all
the evildoing.  They have to live with those who suppress the truth of
God. To live among evil men would be the most unbearable punishment.
Their eternal condemnation is not temporary. It is everlasting
condemnation. This is the reason we must not reject Jesus, the living
Stone.

   The living Stone is also our cornerstone of salvation. Isaiah 28:16
says, "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.'" The living Stone is the rock
of salvation. The living Stone is the foundation of God's world
salvation purpose.

   The living Stone is the Sovereign Ruler of the world. Daniel 2 is
the story about Nebuchadnezzar's dominion of world history. Nations of
the world are likened to gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay. They
would be broken to pieces, and at the same time become like chaff on a
threshing floor in the summertime. The wind would sweep them away
without leaving a trace. It is an allegory of the dominion of world
history that King Nebuchadnezzar should know. But there is a rock which
was not cut out by human hands. It will crush all those kingdoms and
bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever (Da 2:44). God
sent his Son Jesus to fulfill his world salvation purpose. He was the
living Stone, but rejected by men. Finally he died on the cross. But
God did not abandon him. God raised him from the dead on the third day
and made him King of kings and Lord of lords and the Sovereign Ruler of
history.

Second, a spiritual house (4-8). Look at verse 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." Peter admonishes God's flock of sheep that they should
be like Jesus. They also, like living stones, are being built into a
spiritual house to be holy priests. What does "spiritual house" mean? A
spiritual house is likened to a Christian. According to Peter,
Christians must imitate Jesus, the living Stone. Christians should not
be afraid of rejection and slander and persecution from enemies of God.
Christians should be a community, being built in the name of Jesus.
Christians are individual persons. Of course, one must have his own
life. And at the same time, he should be a part of the body of Jesus
Christ.

   A spiritual community makes the difference between Christians and
worldly people. Of course, in a suburb, worldly people have a
community. But it is for the sake of the safety of their garages and
lawn mowers. But the Christian community is to build up the body of
Christ. Therefore, one Christian is like a brick to a building. And at
the same time, one Christian is like a whole building. Ephesians
2:14-16 says, "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one
and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by
abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.
His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus
making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God
through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility." Christian
community destroys the dividing wall of hostility through the blood of
Christ.  Christian community is a unit. Christian unity is like a body.
Though it is made out of many parts, and though all its parts are many,
they form one body. So it is with Christ. Therefore if one part
suffers, everybody suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part
rejoices (1 Co 12:1-26). A Christian community is a family.  There is
one Father, Jesus, and we are all everlasting brothers and sisters.

   The word "community" is so good, so there are more than 3,000
community colleges in the United States. But without the spirit of
community, community is nothing. Even a little child has a sense of
community. There was a young woman whose son was one year old. This
child made a big smile whenever so many UBF members were bustling in
his small rented room. On the other hand, when his grandmother from his
mother's side came into his room, he began to cry at the top of his
lungs and never stopped until his grandmother went away. I don't know
how this little boy discerned between Bible-believing people and the
unbelieving grandmother. Because he cried whenever his grandmother
came, she has held a grudge against the little child for the last 19
years. When the boy was accepted to Harvard, this grandmother should
have given him a scholarship. But, to get even, she refused to give him
a scholarship. All people are precious. But those who have fear of God
are very precious. We must love fellow Christians deeply from the heart
and meet the need of needy brothers and sisters.

   These days unemployment is very serious. Those who have earned
Ph.D.s scarcely have job opportunities. One day a handsome-looking
young man was emitting a bad odor in the center. Someone asked, "What
is your job?" He said, "I am working in the government." Later, we
found that he was one of the public aid recipients. There are too many
public aid recipients. But the most serious problem is there is no
sense of community. Many a person is poisoned by his selfishness.  We,
the children of God, must know that we are a community.

Third, a royal priesthood (9-12). Look at verse 9. "But you are a
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light." Here the words, "chosen people"
mean a lot. Mr. Clinton is chosen as President of the United States to
defend this nation, to enhance the moral standard, to uphold
educational endeavor, not to abuse the law but to keep the spirit of
the law. He is also chosen to advance the economic situation. But we
Christians are chosen by God, not by vote, but by divine choice. We did
not choose God, but God chose us and appointed us to bear much fruit
(Jn 15:16). According to verse 9, God chose us to shepherd the flock of
God of the whole world: the American flock of God and the Russian flock
of God and the whole world. God chose us to teach them the Bible so
that they may not perish but have eternal life. God chose us to teach
them the word of God so that they may live according to God's law. God
chose us to raise his children to be holy, as God is holy. God chose us
to win them over to God so that they shall not perish but have eternal
life.

   Most importantly, God chose us to advertise the precious name of
Jesus. In the past, we were in the darkness of sin. In our ignorance we
tried to find a kind of joy in the world. As a result, we piled up the
wrath of God. In the darkness of sin we damaged others' lives in order
to gratify our sinful desires. When we were in the darkness of sin, we
were afraid of losing a life of sin because we thought that if we don't
commit sin we would have no fun. We were spiritually blind. We did not
know that there is a heavenly joy in Jesus through rebirth by the
precious blood of Jesus. In short, by the grace of God, we came out of
the darkness of sin into the wonderful light of Jesus. Now each of us
can love his wife and his kids and the flock of God's sheep and pray
for them. God's grace through his Son Jesus Christ is so marvelous that
we cannot ignore it. We must advertise his marvelous grace that he
called us out of darkness into his wonderful light as our first
priority.

   This seems to be a very small matter. But when we have a clear
experience of new birth and advertise the marvelous grace of Jesus,
then the course of the world will change little by little. Why do we do
this? It is because in the past we were the children of the devil. We
were not the people of God. But now we are the people of God (10). In
the past we were not worthy of God's grace. But through his Son Jesus
Christ, we received mercy through his precious blood. Why do we do
this?  Look at verse 12b. "...they may see your good deeds and glorify
God on the day he visits us." We advertise the marvelous grace of
Jesus. We live the way God wants us to live so that the pagan people
may glorify God.

   We are chosen to advertise the name of Jesus who brought us from
darkness to the wonderful light. We advertise the name of Jesus so that
they can see the light of Jesus and come to God in order to be saved.
This is a part of participating in God's world salvation purpose.

   There was a high school senior. By day he was a straight A student.
By night, he was a heavy metal guitarist. He was sincere. But he did
not study the Bible and he did not know Jesus personally. So he was
groping in the darkness of sin. But through Bible study he met Jesus
personally. Since then he began to advertise the name of Jesus, not
with his mouth, but with his life of faith. He overcame the peer
pressure of Harvard University, which was either famous or notorious.
At the age of 28 he became a professor at Penn State University and
married a beautiful and artistic woman. As she is beautiful, so she is
delicate and nagging. But the young professor takes care of her so well
that all the neighbors envy the family. In this way, one young boy
became an advertiser of Jesus Christ. We must remember that God chose
us and appointed us to bear much fruit. We must remember that God chose
us to advertise his wonderful name.

Fourth, submission for the sake of good influence (13-25). Look at
verse 13.  "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority
instituted among men:  whether to the king, as the supreme
authority..." They say that in Peter's times there were 160,000 slaves
under Roman rule. Most slaves were war prisoners.  Prisoners were the
possession of their owners. They had no human rights. They had no right
to marry. If children were born to slaves, they became the owner's
possessions. But there were all kinds of slaves: writers, musicians,
architects, cleaners, wagon drivers and so on. At that time, Christians
were categorized as slaves. It was not easy for Christians, who have
the kingdom of God in their hearts, to serve pagan masters. But Peter
did not encourage slaves to revolt against their masters. Peter
encourages them to submit themselves for the Lord's sake. It is because
freedom is more precious than a better situation. So Peter says in
verse 16, "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up
for evil; live as servants of God." Man has to live in the world. There
is always a situation he cannot fit into or cannot like. There is no
one in history who did not complain about his personal situation. But
there is one. He was Albert Schweitzer. He was in Lambar^n^, Gabon, in
Africa. He was confined in a medical clinic of an African desert. But
he once said, "I am indeed free because I can freely serve God. I can
freely help the needy. In addition, I can freely think limitlessly."
His situation was so bad that he lost two of his family members. But he
did not complain about the situation. Rather, he enjoyed freedom in
Jesus. This is what Peter encourages the flock of God under his care to
do.

   Look at verse 18. "Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with
all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also
to those who are harsh." Here, "slaves" obviously means the flock of
God. Peter encourages them to submit both to those who were good and
those who were bad. It is because when they suffer they are conscious
of God. They can deepen the grace of Jesus they had received and they
can come to know the mysterious love of God (19). Peter encourages them
that it is good to submit to both good and bad masters because they can
experience the suffering of Jesus and follow the footsteps of Jesus.

   These days people think they would rather die than to be submissive.
As human beings, in one sense, what they think is reasonable. But look
up at Jesus.  Verse 22 says, "He committed no sin, and no deceit was
found in his mouth." He was not only submissive, he was insulted,
threatened, wounded, and crucified in order to take care of God's flock
of sheep. But Jesus did not open his mouth because of what they were
doing to him. Here we learn from Jesus that Jesus was the Son of God.
He was from heaven. In short, he was a spiritual man. Jesus did what
God wanted him to do. In short, Jesus submitted himself to the will of
God to die on the cross for the sin of the world. So all other things
could not be a problem to him at all.

   There are two pastors in a country. One is in his 60's and the other
is in his 90's. The younger one has a half-million church members. He
is very famous. The older person is now too old to do anything. So he
is sitting in his house on the slope of a mountain and praying. But he
began his ministry as an orphanage worker. He contracted T.B. from an
orphan and had one lung removed by an operation. All his lifetime he
never criticized or felt bitter toward others. He was always silent and
prayerful. As a result, he received the Templeton award, together with
Billy Graham and Mother Theresa. His church members are not so many.
But his influence is very great. At this Peter encourages the flock of
God. In that difficult situation Peter wanted them to be men and women
of encouragement.  Christianity is the religion of influence.

   Of course, Jesus came to this world to save men from their sins. For
this, he obeyed God's will for the world salvation unto death, death on
the cross. Because of Jesus' obedience to the Father, even the secular
people give Jesus first place among the saints. Do you know why people
give Jesus first place among the saints? It is because of the influence
of Jesus. The influence of Jesus came from God. Whatever he did, he
prayed to God and listened to God and practiced what he should do.
Jesus loved God and loved God's children more than his life. To the
present and in the future, there will be no such good example which
influenced man to love him. The lifegiving power of Jesus is more than
just what he said, it is his influence through practice.

   Today we studied who Jesus is. Jesus is the living Stone. Even God's
chosen people failed to be a foundation of the world salvation plan.
Jesus became the living Stone. A stone is too small for the foundation
of world salvation work. But because of his obedience, one small living
Stone became greater than the large foundation of world salvation work.
We also learn that Christians must rule and overrule the situation and
give victory to God. Christians must follow the footsteps of Jesus,
especially in Jesus' influence. May God richly bless you.



STUDY QUESTIONS

1.  Read verses 4-5. Who is the "living stone"? What is the paradox
    about him?  How does God work in us as we come to him? What does it
    mean to be a holy priesthood? What are the sacrifices acceptable to
    God?

2.  Read verses 6-8. What does Scripture say about this living stone?
    Why is Jesus called the "stone the builders rejected"? (7) To whom
    is he precious?  (4,6,7) When does he become a stone that causes
    men to stumble?

3.  Read verse 9. What is God's purpose in choosing his people? What
    does it mean to be a royal priesthood? A holy nation? (cf. Ex
    19:5,6) What is the life purpose of all believers?

4.  Read verse 10. What is the special grace and mercy which we have
    received?  What difference does it make to have a sense of history?
    Read verses 11-12.  How can we live lives that glorify God?

5.  Read verses 13-17. What should be the Christian's attitude toward
    those in authority? Why? How can one submit to masters and at the
    same time live as a free man? How should we use our freedom?

6.  Read verses 18-21. What does Peter teach about two kinds of
    suffering? Read verses 22-25. What was Jesus' example and how can
    we follow him? What has he done for us?