Come to the Living Stone.
1 Peter 2:4-8
Introduction
The Bible is full of stories about stones: Jacob used a stone as a pillow, Joshua set up memorial stones, David chose 5 smooth stones to fight Goliath, Elijah took 12 stones to build an altar.
Today we want to look another stone the bible describes as a Living Stone. In this passage that we will consider today the apostle Peter in writing to this group of people who are severely persecuted wants to remind them and us as well we need to check and make sure what foundation we are building our lives on.
I am reminded of a passage in the scripture in the book of Luke 6:46-49 “Why do you call me, ’Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
This is the idea of this message today, I really want you to do a major heart check up today and figure out what is the foundation of your life, then I will invite you to come to the Living Stone.
Read Scripture: 1 Peter 2:4-8
I. Jesus is the Living Stone.
Vs. 4 “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him.”
Jesus Christ is the Living Stone. How can a stone be living? It cannot. This is simply a picture of how God looks at Christ and His followers: they are like a building that is being built by God Himself. The foundation of God’s building is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If a person wants to be a part of God’s building, he has to place his life on the foundation Stone, Christ Himself. But note what this verse says: “the living stone was rejected by men.” When men looked at the Stone (Christ)...
• it was not wanted.
• it did not fit in with their plans.
• it was useless and unsuitable for what they were building.
• it was not worth the price.
People reject Christ because they want to build their lives like they want. They want to do their own thing. Therefore, they cast the Stone of God aside. What we must understand is the stone has been chosen of God. It is the very stone that God has chosen to be the foundation stone for life. It is the only stone that can support and bear the weight of life.
The stone chosen by God is a living stone. What does this mean? God is eternal; so, the building of God will last forever and ever. Therefore, the cornerstone laid by God is bound to be eternal; it will never deteriorate or waste away. The cornerstone is living and will exist forever and ever.
The cornerstone is the supportive stone. All other stones are placed on it and held up by it. They all rest on it. It is the preeminent stone in position and power. So it is with Christ; He is the support and power, the Foundation of God’s new movement called the Church.
II. When we come to the Living Stone, then we become living stones.
Vs. 5-6 “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. For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”
When we place our lives on the living stone of God, the living stone supports and holds us up eternally. We become living stones, stones that will exist forever and ever. I want you to notice three important facts.
A. Believers are being built up into a spiritual house. This is a picture of the church that God is building all over the earth. It includes all believers of all generations. What does this mean? It means that God’s house is spiritual as opposed to physical. A physical house is not permanent; it ages, deteriorates, and wastes away. But not God’s spiritual house.
When we turn to God and lay our lives upon the foundation stone of Christ, we become a part of God’s spiritual house. We will never die or waste away, but we will live permanently, forever and ever in God’s spiritual and eternal house.
The fact that believers are being built into a spiritual house also means that there are many stones who are going to live forever with us. It takes many stones to build a great building, and the same is true of God’s spiritual house. We are only one of many who are being placed into God’s great spiritual house. The point is this: there is no room for pride, arrogance, envy, jealousy, criticism, backbiting, anger, accusations, discrimination, prejudice, or wrath among God’s building; no room for a stone to become puffed up over another stone.
B. Believers are a holy priesthood. The chief function of the Jewish priest is to stand between God and men, to represent men before God and to present men to God.
Every single believer now stands before God as a priest. We can now approach God on our own. God is not far off and removed from us. Any person who turns to God and lays his life upon the foundation of Christ becomes a part of God’s spiritual house. That person is in the very house of God itself. He can talk and share with God whenever he chooses. He can worship and praise God and cry out for God’s help and deliverance any time he wishes. As believers we are now a priest before God.
The priesthood of the believer is one of the great teachings of Scripture. Just imagine! We stand before God as a priest, as one who has access into God’s presence any time of any day. There is no reason whatsoever why we should ever be overcome by any problem or trouble in this life. We are in the house of God. We can approach Him anytime and receive whatever we need to meet the demands of life: wisdom, provision, resource, or strength.
C. Believers are a fulfillment of prophecy. The prediction that the Messiah would be the chief cornerstone of God’s building was made centuries before Christ ever came into the world. Note the four great things predicted:
The point is this: believers—their salvation in Christ—are the fulfillment of this prophecy. God predicted that He would be building a spiritual and eternal house for believers. He laid the foundation when He sent Christ into the world, and believers have been laying the stones of their lives upon Christ ever since. How? By believing in Him, that is, by laying their lives upon Him or by building upon Him.
The result has been phenomenal: those who have built upon Christ have experienced something amazing. All the confusion, shame, and disappointment in this life and the fear of judgment in the next life have disappeared. As Believers we are flooded with life, a life that has the potential to overflows with love, joy, peace, victory, and triumph and with confidence and assurance that all things will be well in the future. Because we are promised in this scripture that “we will never be put to shame”.
III. Those who reject Jesus, the Living Stone, are disobedient builders.
Vs. 7-8 “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,’[and, ‘A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were”
Jesus has done so much for us. He should be the most precious thing in our lives. But the greatest tragedy in all of history is that He is not considered to be precious by some people. He is to believers, but they are a small minority of people. The vast, vast majority of people are unbelievers. They just do not believe that Jesus Christ is the foundation stone for their lives. The four points of the Scripture state it well.
Unbelievers disqualify the stone. They look at the various foundation stones of life and...
• they do not want the Stone [Christ].
• they do not think that the Stone will fit in with their plans.
• they do not believe the Stone [Christ] will suit what they are building.
• they do not believe the Stone [Christ] is worth the price. They just do not think the Stone [Christ] is worth all they are and have.
The point is forceful: they reject and disqualify the stone. They do not want Christ enough to give all they are and have in order to get him.
Christ is made the Head of the corner anyway. Despite the rejection of men, Christ is made the chief cornerstone whether we believe it or not it really doesn’t matter to God. Jesus is the Savior, He is the only way to heaven, only He can reconcile sinful people like you and me to a Holy God.
Unbelievers stumble over the stone of Christ. He is a rock that offends them. What does this mean? When people look at Jesus Christ, they stumble over Him; they do not understand...
• how He could be anything other than a man just like the rest of us.
• how He could be born of a virgin, God incarnate in human flesh.
• how He could live a sinless life, live without committing a single sin.
• how His death could be any more than the death of a martyr who died for a great cause.
• how His resurrection is anything but a tall tale made up by His followers to secure more and more followers.
Simply stated, many people do not understand nor believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He was sent into the world by God to save men; that He was able to live a sinless life because He was the God-Man who had come to earth for that very purpose; that He died and arose from the dead as the Perfect and Ideal Man so that His ideal death and resurrection could cover man.
People just stumble over the facts or else they are offended by Christ because He lays the burden of total commitment upon us. After all, if Jesus Christ is truly who He claimed to be, we owe Him our lives—all that we are and have. Most people are not willing to give up the right to their lives and what they own.
What we are stumbling over. We are actually stumbling over the Word, the very Word of God itself. If we reject the glorious gospel of God’s Word, the glorious gospel that Jesus Christ is the Foundation Stone of God’s building, then we are rejecting the only hope of living forever. We are appointing ourselves to a state of unbelief and disobedience to God.
Conclusion
Let me ask you today why don’t you give your life over to the Living Stone, maybe you have rejected Him in the past, but today the running and the rejection is over.
(Thanks sermoncentral contributors, preachers sermon and outline bible)
