Transcript & Slides: God's People (1 Peter 2:4-10)

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God's People (1 Peter 2:4-10)
By David Feddes

Let's continue our study of the book of First Peter. Today we're going to focus on what it means to be God's people. I remember a TV show from quite a while ago; it was a cop show, and in one particular episode, the cop was working underground. He was infiltrating a drug cartel, and during the course of being involved with all those drug dealers and various kinds of people, something happened to him. He got injured and had amnesia. He forgot who he was. He just knew that he was part of a drug cartel, and soon he rose to the top of the drug cartel and became the kingpin because he became vicious and nasty and used his skills to become the deadliest and nastiest drug dealer around—until he got his memory back. That's a bad thing if you forget who you are, especially if you're in bad company, because then you will become like those around you. You'll take your cues from those around you. You'll forget who you are and who you really belong to.

That's a danger that runs all through church history. It runs through the teaching of the New Testament—the danger of forgetting who we are and the constant need to be reminded who we are. We already, in an earlier message, saw Peter's answer in overview—who are you? There are many aspects of that that come out through First Peter, but if there’s one passage that really clarifies and states more fully than any other portion of First Peter who we are, this one is it:

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—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.’ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ 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 destined for. 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. 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” (1 Peter 2:4-10).

In this great passage, getting over our amnesia and remembering who we are, I want to highlight five things about what it means to be God’s people.

First of all, we’re a temple—we’re a spiritual house of living stones, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. We’re also a priesthood—people who offer up spiritual sacrifices to God. We’re a treasure—a people of honor who offer honor to Christ and treasure and value him, and who are also honored and treasured by God as his special possession. We are an offense—we are at odds with the world. The unsaved world rejected Christ, and you can bet that if you’re at all like Christ, you will be an offense and experience rejection by the world. And we are a nation—we are the new Israel, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy people, God’s own people. We’re declaring the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. We’re radiant with worship of God and witness to God’s great actions.

In this passage we find some of the most precious and wonderful statements about who we are as the people of God. And this isn’t just directed at us as individual persons here or there, although it matters for each of us individually, but it’s directed at God’s people as a whole, as a unit, because we’re God’s people together, not just separately.

Let’s look at what this all involves: “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—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.”

Jesus is the living Stone. He’s called the Living One. Often the Bible speaks of God as the living God. When Jesus appeared to the apostle John in a vision in the book of Revelation, he said, “I am the Living One.” He’s the Living One by virtue of his resurrection, and he is the great Stone to which all the others are connected.

You remember the name he gave to Peter: “You are the rock.” Well, the rock starts writing about the stones, and he says that Jesus is the great living Stone, and he says you are like living stones that are all being joined together into a spiritual house. What’s that mean? It means that you’re being built into a temple.

Oftentimes in the Old Testament, the temple is called the house of God. Some translations reflect that, some don’t, but it’s often called the house. So you’re being built into the house; you’re being built into God’s temple.

And Jesus is the Stone that was rejected by men but chosen by God. Peter’s letter is for people who are facing troubles, facing insults, having difficulties, facing persecution that’s just going to get worse and worse. It’s important for them to be reminded of how Jesus was treated. He was rejected—rejected by men but to God, chosen and precious.

So think of Jesus as the Stone. The experts, the important people, the world, say he’s garbage, and they throw that stone on the trash pile. God goes over and fishes the stone out of the trash and says, “This is the best stone of them all. I’m going to build everything else according to this stone.” That’s what Peter’s saying. The stone was rejected, and yet precious to God, chosen by him. And in him, you’re being built into the great temple of God.

This isn’t the only place where the Bible speaks of God’s people as a temple. The apostle Paul says, “No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:11, 16).

By the way, this is one reason some people claim Peter couldn’t possibly have written First Peter—because he sounds too much like Paul. And we “know,” they say, that Paul and Peter fiercely disagreed, that they couldn’t get along, and that they hardly had any views in common. That’s what you’ll hear. Remember a few weeks ago when I was preaching on First Peter, I mentioned this guy named Bart Ehrman who says the early followers of Jesus never believed that he was divine at all? Well, I said that on Sunday. On Monday I see a book lying on my kitchen table—Introduction to the New Testament by Bart Ehrman. I said, “Where’d that come from?” Joel says, “That’s for my theology class.” That’s the class at Lewis University—a Catholic university. They assign a book by an atheist to give you your introduction to the New Testament!

And we “know” that Peter and Paul couldn’t agree on anything. When Paul said, “I don’t know whether I’d rather go on living and serving Christ or die and go to be with him,” Ehrman claims Paul was thinking about suicide. Okay, I’ll get off that book and get back to the main topic. I’m just saying that when you read the Bible, you better be aware of what’s going on nowadays in the supposed theology textbooks at supposedly Christian universities. This is a Catholic school, but Catholics are supposed to believe the Bible. They’re supposed to believe that the apostles wrote the books of the New Testament. But this is an example of why “Peter couldn’t have written First Peter,” even though the first word of the book is Peter. That’s how the unbeliever operates—you take the very first word of the book and say, “No, not Peter. Couldn’t have written it because he sounds too much like Paul.”

Did you ever think that maybe they were writing about the same Savior, and that the apostles were actually on the same page, being guided by the same Holy Spirit? No, the unbeliever says, they were fighting. And when Paul was thinking about heaven, he was actually thinking about suicide—not about how great it was to serve the Lord while alive and then go to be with him when you die. That’s how the unbelieving, wicked mind operates—an example of people stumbling over the Stone.

Well, Paul says Jesus is the foundation. You’re the temple. God’s Spirit lives in you. That’s what Peter means when he says you’re a spiritual house. He doesn’t just mean you’re a kind of airy, nonphysical house—though it certainly isn’t the literal structure of the old temple—but that you’re filled with the Holy Spirit. That’s what makes you, and all of you together, a spiritual house—the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, among his people.

The apostle Paul says elsewhere, “You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20-22). That’s the best commentary you can possibly find on the meaning of the phrase “spiritual house.” You’re being built into a dwelling place for God by the Holy Spirit.

Now, there are other passages of Scripture that speak of the individual person and your very body being a temple of the Holy Spirit. But these passages I’ve been referring to—from Peter about the living stones and from Paul—are about the whole church together as the dwelling place of God, where he lives by his Holy Spirit. That makes you a spiritual house.

By the way, one other thing to keep in mind: the word for “house” that’s often used for “temple” is also the very same word that gets used for “household” or “family.” So when the Bible speaks of the family of faith, it’s the house of faith—it’s the house of God, the household of God. It’s sometimes translated “household of God,” sometimes “house of God,” but the words really overlap a lot because the family of God and the building of living stones go together. We’re a temple, and we’re also a family. We’re God’s house—a spiritual house.

What’s it mean to be a cornerstone? Well, we’ve already talked about how God took the stone that was rejected by some and made it the most important stone of all. That means the cornerstone is honored above all other stones. It’s considered the most valuable and the most significant. Even today, sometimes you’ll see buildings with a stone engraved on it near the corner of the building. It’s largely an honorary thing now, because it’s not really the key to the whole structure, but it’s still that stone which tells you what the building’s all about—and it’s an honored stone.

In those days, the cornerstone was also selected because it would set what happened to all the other stones. It shaped the entire building and the position of all the other stones. When you set that cornerstone, it set the level at which all the other stones would be built. It set the angle of the walls that would go out from that cornerstone. It set the plumb line and the direction upward for how that temple would be built and how the walls would rise.

The cornerstone was the one that shaped all others. Usually the cornerstone wasn’t shaped like the one in this illustration—this is an illustration to show that Jesus Christ, especially through his cross and resurrection, is the one who shapes the entire building.

This passage also switches metaphors. In your English class they’ll tell you, “Don’t try this at home—don’t mix your metaphors in the same sentence.” But if you’re a biblical writer, you can do it, because there are too many things to be said about God’s people and about Christ to fit into just one word picture. So you’re living stones being built into a temple—but you’re not the temple only. You’re actually the priests as well. You’re the priesthood in the temple, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The temple of old and the priests of old have given way to something better in the new covenant. The Jerusalem temple is no longer the main key. Jesus said, “My body is the temple, and you can destroy it, and I’m going to raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). Then he says to his people, “You are the temple.” The temple is the place where God and his people meet and where God’s presence dwells in a special way. The priests are those who offer the sacrifices; they represent the people to God and God to the people.

Our priestly calling is that God has chosen us, his people, to represent him to the rest of the world. We are the priesthood to the surrounding world, just as Israel was meant to be representative to the surrounding nations—to draw them to God and to show them who God is and what he’s like. That’s the purpose of the temple but also of the priesthood. The priests would teach the Word of God, and they would also offer up sacrifices. We’re called to be that kind of priesthood because Jesus is our great high priest.

The Bible says elsewhere, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Hebrews 13:15). We don’t kill the lambs and the bulls and the heifers anymore. We offer a sacrifice, but it’s a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. When you sing praise to God, when you speak of God’s goodness and what he’s done for you, when you give testimony of what God has done for you and of your love for him, then you are a priest. You’re part of God’s great priesthood, offering up a spiritual sacrifice to God—praise, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

There’s another way that you can offer a spiritual sacrifice: “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:16). We’re offering spiritual sacrifices. As I said, it’s not the animal sacrifices that were offered before Jesus came, but that doesn’t mean we stop being people who offer sacrifices. We offer testimony and worship, and we offer generosity and deeds of kindness, because God is pleased by that kind of sacrifice.

Jesus, quoting the Old Testament prophets, said, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). But the New Testament can express it in another way—your sacrifice is acts of mercy; your sacrifice is acts of praise. This is a wonderful calling, because you’re called to do this in a way that people who don’t know God can’t. They just can’t. They can’t give him the praise he deserves. They can’t be generous in the same way that people who have the self-sacrificing Spirit of Jesus Christ in them can.

So you are a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. You’re the temple. You’re a priesthood. And you’re also a treasure. In one respect, you’re honored—you get honor from Christ to give honor to Christ. And you are also an offense. You are at odds with an unsaved world, and that is a difficult situation and a glorious situation to be in.

“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.’ Now the honor is to you who believe” (1 Peter 2:6-7). That’s the literal sentence in the Greek: he timē oun tois pisteuousin—“the honor is to you who believe.” It can be translated a couple of different ways. The version we’re using, the NIV, says, “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.” That’s a possible translation, but I don’t think it’s the best one. If you look at some other translations, you’ll see it’s more literally, “The honor is to you who believe.”

When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it’s true to say that to you he’s precious. To you who believe, you honor him; you find him honorable. You’re not like those who want to throw him away. The Bible emphasizes that to you who believe, this stone is precious—that’s part of it. But really, the honor is to you who believe. Earlier it says that Jesus, the living Stone, was rejected by men but chosen and precious to God. The honor—God honors that Stone, and God honors the stones that are connected to him. The honor is to him, the living Stone, and the honor is to you who believe.

If you remember, chapter one of First Peter says that when you believe in him, God is strengthening your faith, even though you go through trials, and that results in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:7). Your faith brings you into a position of praise, glory, and honor—of being honored by the Lord Jesus Christ and treasured by him and treasured by his Father because of your connection with Christ.

That’s the opposite of being put to shame. “The one who trusts in him will never be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6). Rather, there is honor for those who believe. You see how those two things are set up together? When you trust Jesus, you can count on it—on the day of judgment you are not going to be embarrassed. You’re not going to say, “Oh, I wish I hadn’t identified with Jesus,” or scuff your toe and say, “Man, I wish I hadn’t been a Christian.” There will be no shame on that day for those who believe. Instead, there will be praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

The honor is for you who believe. And for those translations that go the other way, I’m not saying they’re wrong, because it’s certainly true that to us who believe, this Stone is precious. It is honorable; it is worthy of honor. We honor Jesus Christ because we believe in him. So whichever translation is best, they both indicate honor—honor for the living Stone, honor for all the stones that are connected to him in God’s great temple. God treasures Jesus, and he treasures those who are built into Jesus Christ.

“But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall’” (1 Peter 2:7-8). There are too many who do not believe. They rejected Jesus, but he is the cornerstone, whether they wanted him to be or not, because God gets the final say. God raised him from the dead, and after that, human verdicts don’t matter very much. The builders rejected him, but he’s the cornerstone—and that’s that.

“A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” Here, in one breath, Peter is quoting from Psalm 118 and also from the prophet Isaiah, whom he also quoted earlier. He’s a master of weaving the Old Testament Scriptures into what he says without stopping to announce it: “I’m quoting from Isaiah” or “I’m quoting from the Psalms.” That’s left to preachers like me to mention. But Peter is so saturated with the Bible that he simply talks the way the Bible talks.

That, by the way, is another reason why you can’t trust those critics of the Bible. The people who are full of the Holy Spirit just sound like each other—sorry, that’s the way it is. They may want to say there are huge differences, but if you read carefully and pay attention, Paul sounds like Peter, and Peter sounds like Isaiah and the writers of the Psalms, and like Jesus—because, of course, he spent more than a little time with Jesus and echoes him.

Peter says they stumble. Why? Because they disobey the message. They don’t do what God says, and the main form of disobedience is that they don’t believe the message—they don’t believe the Word. Sometimes the word for “disobey” and “disbelieve” in Greek is the exact same word. They disobey the message; they won’t take what God says. And then comes this terrible, at least to many people, statement: “which is also what they were destined for” (1 Peter 2:8).

That’s a terrible word. It’ll offend an unbeliever and make them madder and madder if they take it at all seriously. But Peter says, do you think you’re frustrating God? Do you think you’re wrecking his purposes by rejecting his cornerstone and by persecuting the other living stones? Consider the possibility that you were appointed for that. The very same word that says he “put” the cornerstone in place is used here for “they were destined for” or “appointed.”

If you read Peter’s sermons in the book of Acts, he says that the Roman leaders and the Jewish leaders did what God’s hand and plan had predestined. They did what God had already appointed (Acts 4:27-28). Does that mean they weren’t responsible? No, they were responsible for their wickedness, and yet somehow your wickedness and your unbelief—if that’s the path you choose—cannot thwart God. It cannot mess up his plan. It’s part of his appointed way.

He destined some people who were going to do that, just as in old times Herod was that way, or in older times Pharaoh. Pharaoh hardened his heart, God hardened his heart, and we’ll never be able to figure all that out. I’ll put it this way: God is God, and God doesn’t take a break when unbelievers decide to do their unbelieving thing. He’s still God, and he’s still running the whole thing whether you want to agree with it or not. Peter says that’s what they were headed for.

Now, that doesn’t mean that everybody who disbelieves for a time is destined forever to remain in unbelief. Thank God, he has other plans for people as well. But when you disbelieve God and reject Jesus Christ, you’re not wrecking his whole plan. Some of us would like to think we can mess other people up by being a jerk or by rebelling. Rebellion against God, in one sense, is just about impossible, because he’s too good at what he does, and he will find a way. In fact, he already appointed the way. That’s a better way of saying it—he already appointed the way that your unbelief is going to serve his purposes and his glory.

Those people who crucified Jesus did what God had destined them to do, and people who continue to disbelieve in God in our time and reject Jesus Christ are actually doing what God has appointed. Jesus himself used the language of the rejection of the cornerstone. Peter is just echoing the Master. Jesus looked at the Jewish leaders and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed” (Luke 20:17-18).

Right before Jesus said this, he told a story. He said there was a man who went off to a distant country and rented out his vineyard to some tenant farmers, who were to take care of the vineyard and pay him a portion as their rent. After they took care of the vineyard for a while, they stopped paying. So he sent a servant to collect, and they laughed at the servant and told him to get lost. He sent another one, and they beat him up. He sent another one, and they killed him. They treated a whole series of servants that way. Finally, he said, “I’ll send my son. Surely they will respect him.”

And so he sent the son, and they said, “There’s the son. He’s going to inherit it all. If we kill him, we get it.” And they killed him. Jesus said, “What will the owner do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” They understood that he was talking about them.

Jesus said, “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” Some of the people said, “May this never happen!” But the leaders understood that he was talking about God’s vineyard being mistreated by the leaders—about their not giving God the honor he was due, and then killing his Son.

What happened? In AD 70 the temple was destroyed, Jerusalem was destroyed, and judgment fell on the keepers of that vineyard. That fulfilled the words of Jesus: “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Now, Jesus’ parable of the wicked tenants is connected to this story. When Peter mentions “the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” he’s quoting Isaiah via Jesus—the lips of Jesus Christ himself. And he’s writing to people who are facing opposition. When Jesus told that story, how did they respond? It says they went out and began plotting to kill him. That’s how they responded to the story about them killing the Son—by deciding to kill the Son.

Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on. We sometimes have too sentimental a view of Jesus—he’s just nice, kisses a few babies here, is kind to a few people there, and heals them. He does all that, but there are people whom he offends, and they are crushed.

Some of you know Michael Card, a Christian singer who was popular a number of years ago. One of his albums was called Scandalon, and here’s a chorus from a song on that album:

He will be the truth that will offend them one and all,
A stone that makes men stumble and a rock that makes them fall.
Many will be broken so that he can make them whole,
And many will be crushed and lose their own soul.

So even in the midst of talking about who you are as the people of God, Peter brings the news that there are some who aren’t. Those who will not build on that Rock will be crushed by that same Rock. You’re God’s temple, you’re the priesthood, you’re the treasure, you’re an offense—and you need to understand this will be developed more and more as Peter continues writing in this letter. If Jesus is an offense, don’t be shocked if you are. Jesus himself said that a servant isn’t above his master. “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). “The reason the world hates you is because I chose you out of the world” (John 15:19).

So, as Peter later says, “Don’t be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). Come on—you should expect people to oppose you if you’re true to your Master. If you’re not true to him, then you might be getting along with them a little too well.

After describing what happens to those who don’t accept the Rock, he says, “But you.” Those are some of the greatest words in the Bible—probably second only to “But God.” The Bible will often tell what a mess we’ve been in and then say, “But God, because of his great love for us, made us alive with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-5). Here Peter describes some being crushed and destroyed by God’s judgment, and then says, “But you.”

“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” (1 Peter 2:9).

Here Peter is echoing what the Lord God himself said on Mount Sinai just before giving the Ten Commandments: “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6).

So when Peter says to Christian believers in Jesus Christ, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a treasured possession of God,” the short way of saying that is: you are Israel. There is no other conclusion you can reach. Compare the statement made to Israel under the old covenant and then the statement Peter makes to those believers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (1 Peter 1:1). He says, “You are the treasured possession. You’re the kingdom of priests. You’re the holy nation.”

We need to understand that Peter is saying that just as Israel was called to be God’s temple and his presence among the nations, now you who belong to Jesus Christ are the chosen race. If you’re a Jewish person and you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re part of the chosen race. If you’re a non-Jewish person and you believe in Jesus Christ, you’re part of the chosen race. You are the new Israel—founded in Jesus Christ under the new covenant.

The book of Revelation says, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6). There again—you’re a royal priesthood. You’re kings. You’re priests. You’re royalty, and you’re the ones offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. He made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father. To him be glory and power forever.

Jesus is glorified as our great Prophet, Priest, and King. But when you bear the name Christian—“Christ” means anointed, and “Christian” means you share in his anointing—you share in his prophetic calling to speak God’s Word, in his priestly calling to offer spiritual sacrifices of praise and mercy, and in his royal calling to reign with him. You are a royal priesthood—agents of his kingdom here on earth. You’re his representatives in the world.

To put it another way, you are the nation of light. In old times God chose Abraham and the people of Israel out of all the nations to be a light to the rest—not because he had cast off the other nations, but because he wanted one special nation to serve as light for all the rest. Now those who follow Jesus Christ and trust him are that light to the nations.

We are chosen people for a purpose. You’re chosen not just to be saved—though that is a wonderful truth—but you’re chosen to be the people who shine, who declare “the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” The phrase “declare the praises” can literally be translated “proclaim the excellencies”—to evangelize, to announce the good news of the excellencies of him who called you. Worship and witness—that’s what we exist for. When you’re part of the people of God, you’re here to praise him for all the marvelous things he’s done.

“God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). And again, Paul is agreeing with Peter—he called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.

That word “called,” remember, doesn’t mean a weak invitation. When God calls, he makes it happen. He called people out of darkness into his light. Just as he originally said, “Let there be light,” and the next words in Genesis were, “And there was light” (Genesis 1:3)—that’s how things work when God calls.

When Jesus spoke to the daughter of Jairus, who was lying dead, and said, “Little girl, arise” (Mark 5:41), she arose. When he came to the funeral of a young man whose mother was a widow and said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” (Luke 7:14), the man rose. When he calls, they rise.

That’s how we became living stones. He went up to a chunk of stone, dead as a doornail, and said, “Live.” And we live. He called us out of deadness into life. He called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, so that we may be a nation of light. He said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), and he also said, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), because he is the light of the world and he lives in us.

So God’s people are a temple, a priesthood, a treasured possession, and at the same time an offense. We are the nation chosen—a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s very own possession—that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.

And then Peter concludes this section on what it means to be the people of God by giving us a before and after: “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” (1 Peter 2:10).

Unless you know your Old Testament fairly well, you’ll just think Peter is saying some inspiring things here—but he’s actually echoing what God said through the prophet Hosea.

Some of you may remember the story of Hosea. He was a prophet, and prophets sometimes had to act out their message. God told him, “Go, marry a woman who will be unfaithful.” So Hosea married a woman named Gomer, and together they had a child. Then she had a couple more children—but not with Hosea. She was running off with different men, living a life of unfaithfulness.

As that was going on, she had a daughter, and God said to Hosea, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will have no more mercy on the house of Israel to forgive them at all” (Hosea 1:6). Hosea said, “That’s not my child,” and God said, “Exactly—no mercy.” Later, she had another baby, a boy, by some unknown father, and God said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God” (Hosea 1:9).

That was the message unfolding in Hosea’s tragic marriage: a daughter called No Mercy and a son called Not My People. You might not want to grow up with those names, but that was the burden of being the child of a prophet and a prostitute. Gomer’s life kept deteriorating until she became a slave. Then God said, “Okay, Hosea—go buy her back.” Hosea went to the slave owner and bought her back for fifteen shekels and some grain—half the price of a typical slave, because that’s about all she was worth by then. He brought her home and said, “Stay with me. Stay away from other men. Let’s make this right.”

Hosea redeemed that unfaithful woman and showed what God’s grace is like. Then God gave him a promise to proclaim: “I will have mercy on the one I called No Mercy. I will say to those called Not My People, ‘You are my people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God’” (Hosea 2:23). What a story!

“No Mercy” and “Not My People.” When the Tower of Babel happened and people tried to rise to God in their own power, God said, “I’ve had it with the nations,” and scattered them. He separated himself from them and called one man—Abraham—to be his own. But even that nation, Israel, broke covenant. God had married an adulterous people. In Hosea, he was saying to Israel, “You’re going to go through exile and separation, but not complete divorce. I still have plans. The one I called No Mercy will receive mercy. The one I called Not My People will be called My People.”

God fulfilled that first for Israel and then for the world. At Pentecost, he undid the separation of Babel. He sent his Spirit so that people from every nation heard the gospel in their own language. Those who had been “not my people” became “my people.” Those who had known no mercy suddenly received mercy.

That’s what Peter’s talking about when he says, “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” (1 Peter 2:10).

All through Peter’s letter, he draws these before-and-after contrasts. Before: evil desires, ignorance, an empty way of life, like grass that withers, in darkness, not a people, no mercy, sheep going astray, following urges and idols. After: redeemed, reborn, free, walking in Christ’s steps, healed, beautiful, heirs and stewards, the Spirit of glory resting on you, God’s family, God’s flock, royalty, partakers of the divine nature.

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” (1 Peter 2:9). 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.

You were the child of unfaithfulness—rejected, undeserving of anything—and yet you have received mercy.

“So as you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—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.’ Now the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and, ‘A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the word—which is also what they were destined for. 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 marvelous 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” (1 Peter 2:4-10).

Thank God!

Prayer

O Lord, help us never to get amnesia. Help us not to forget who we are in you, in our Lord Jesus Christ. May we rejoice that we are part of that holy temple, that priesthood that serves you in this world. May we not be afraid when we are found offensive to others because we belong to you, but know that, like Jesus, we are chosen and precious to you through faith in him. May we truly be that people of light, offering spiritual sacrifices and bringing your Word, your message, and your gospel to people all around us, that they too may receive the mercy they’ve been missing—and that they too may have a place among the people of God, treasured by you. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

God's People (1 Peter 2:4-10)
By David Feddes
Slide Contents

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—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.⁶ 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.” ⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”⁸ 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 destined for.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.¹⁰ 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.

God’s people

• Temple: spiritual house of living stones with Christ the cornerstone

• Priesthood: offering spiritual sacrifices

• Treasure: honor for Christ, from Christ

• Offense: at odds with unsaved world

• Nation: chosen, royal, holy, God’s own, radiant in worship and witness

Living stones

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—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. (2:4-5)

God’s temple

No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ… Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you. (1 Corinthians 3:11, 16)

God’s dwelling place

You are … built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Cornerstone

• Honored above all other stones

• Shapes building and position of all other stones

House and priesthood

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—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. (2:4-5)

Spiritual sacrifices

Through Jesus let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrews 13:15-16)

God’s people

• Temple: spiritual house of living stones with Christ the cornerstone

• Priesthood: offering spiritual sacrifices

• Treasure: honor for Christ, from Christ

• Offense: at odds with unsaved world

• Nation: chosen, royal, holy, God’s own, radiant in worship and witness

Treasure

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.” Now the honor is to you who believe. [NIV: Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.] ( 2:6-7)

Offense

But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 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 destined for. (2:7-8)

Broken and crushed

Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.” (Luke 20:17-18)

Scandalon

He will be the truth that will offend them one and all:

A stone that makes men stumble

And a rock that makes them fall.

Many will be broken so that He can make them whole,

And many will be crushed and lose their own soul. (Michael Card)

God’s people

• Temple: spiritual house of living stones with Christ the cornerstone

• Priesthood: offering spiritual sacrifices

• Treasure: honor for Christ, from Christ

• Offense: at odds with unsaved world

• Nation: chosen, royal, holy, God’s own, radiant in worship and witness

God’s chosen people

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. (2:9)

God’s chosen Israel

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exodus 19:5-6)

Kingdom and priests

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (Revelation 1:6)

Nation of light

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. (2:9)

God’s people

• Temple: spiritual house of living stones with Christ the cornerstone

• Priesthood: offering spiritual sacrifices

• Treasure: honor for Christ, from Christ

• Offense: at odds with unsaved world

• Nation: chosen, royal, holy, God’s own, radiant in worship and witness

Before and after

God 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. (2:9-10)

Children of adultery

“Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all… Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.” (Hosea 1:6, 9)

Mercy for my people

I will have mercy on the one I called ‘No Mercy.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” (Hosea 2:23)

Who were you?

• Evil desires … ignorance (1:14)

• Empty way of life (1:18)

• All men are like grass (1:24)

• Called out of darkness (2:9)

• Not a people, no mercy (2:10)

• Sheep going astray (2:25)

• Following urges, idolatry (4:3)

Who are you?

• Redeemed (1:18)

• Reborn (1:3, 18)

• Free (2:16)

• In his steps (2:21)

• Healed (2:24)

• Beautiful (3:4)

• Heirs (3:7)

• Stewards (4:10)

• Spirit of glory (4:14)

• God’s family (4:17)

• God’s flock (5:2)

• Royalty (5:4)

• Partakers of divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)

Before and after

God 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. (2:9-10)

God’s people

• Temple: spiritual house of living stones with Christ the cornerstone

• Priesthood: offering spiritual sacrifices

• Treasure: honor for Christ, from Christ

• Offense: at odds with unsaved world

• Nation: chosen, royal, holy, God’s own, radiant in worship and witness