Plainly Speaking
Title: You are a Part of Something Big
by Karl J. Forehand
You are a Part of Something Big
And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but
choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are
being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained
in Scripture: "Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone,
And he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed." This precious value,
then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, "The stone which
the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone," and, "A stone
of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient
to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession,
that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now
you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have
received mercy. (1 Peter 2:4-10)
Everybody wants to be a part of something. Even the most rugged individualist
inwardly wants to be a part of something significant. We want to be associated
with the right friends – we want to be a part of the right club – we want
to be a part of something. The first part of this passage says “Coming
to Him…” It all starts, for the believer, when we come to Him. My first
football coach said, “You can’t be a part of the team if you don’t come
to practice. There is no couch potato club, because they would never meet.
But, belonging in the body of Christ is not just about coming to church
– it IS about coming to Jesus (for our salvation and our service).
In
the past few weeks we have looked at the Living Hope, the Living Faith and
the Living Word. Those are all things that we have. This week we want
to look at what we are as believers. We are living stones – what does
that mean?
1. We are part of a building
It is interesting that Peter uses the term “stone.” If you remember Jesus’
conversation with Peter, you remember that Jesus called him “Peter,” meaning
“little stone.” He also told Peter that his confession was a “massive stone”
that the church would be built upon. Now, Peter says that we are living
stones. Jesus is the cornerstone to our building. It says, He is living,
choice, and precious to believer and a stumbling block to believers. There
is only one building in the Kingdom of God – it is the worldwide body of
believers. This passage says that it is a spiritual house.
Let me give a little Greek lesson. Spiritual is translated from the word
pneumatikos. The root word for this is pneuma which means “spirit.” The
opposite of this word is pseuchikos, which means “natural.” It comes from
the root word psuche, meaning soul. Your soul is your mind, emotions and
will. Spiritual and natural are complete opposites. When something is
pneumtikos (spiritual), it is not pseuchikos (natural).
You are living
stones, not stationary (fixed) stones. Some of you may be very surprised
that your area of service in the church is not what you imagined it would
be. It may not be what you aspire to do. You may be surprised when the
pastor suggests you do something that you would have never aspired to do.
You may do something for others and say “that was nothing – that was easy.”
It was easy because God gifted you to do it and worked through you. Many
times, the body of Christ is full of people doing things they are not gifted
to do. We are trying to do things that we do well at work, but God may
want to do something totally different through you.
The health of the building is determined by each of the living stones
discovering their spiritual gifts and using them. You may desire to be
in leadership, but God may want you to serve meals to the poor. If you
are a living stone, you have to start living (using the gifts God has given
you). Do you know what yours are? Are you using them?
2. We are part of a priesthood
Notice that this passage references the priesthood twice. In verse 5,
it says that we are a Holy priesthood; and, in verse 9, it says we are a
Royal priesthood. This is significant. In the Old Testament times, the
king was not the priest and the priest was not the king. The priesthood
and the monarchy was separated from the time Saul became King. Jesus reconnected
the two when He died and rose again. He became priest and king. Since
we are seated with Him, we are a part of royal and holy priesthood. The
Old testament folks HAD a priesthood – we ARE a priesthood.
Being a
part of the priesthood (as believers) gives us the privilege of offering
sacrifices. What type of sacrifice can we offer? We offer a sacrifice
of praise (Heb. 13:15). We also offer a sacrifice of our good works (Heb.
13:16). Hebrews 10:19-21 offers some insight into our position in the
priesthood.
Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the
holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated
for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest
over the house of God,
We have the privilege of intercession. We have the privilege of approaching
God and entering the most Holy place. But maybe just as significant is
that we can offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.
I urge you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to resent your bodies a living
and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of
worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
How do we operate as priests? We come to our mediator (I Tim 2:18).
We come to Him – we sacrifice to Him – we serve Him – and we are priest
of His.
Does being a priest of God frighten you? It does me – but with the honor,
God provides the power.
3. We are part of a nation
Most people are proud of the country in
which they reside. Even if their country has problems, they hope for better
times and try to make their country better. In the U.S. we have states,
of which we are also citizens. These states are supposed to be independent,
but that is another discussion. I also live in the town of Stella. Actually,
it is more accurately termed a ‘village.’ With my citizenship in each of
these places comes a responsibility to obey the laws and try to impact them
for the better.
This passage says first that we are a chosen race (generation).
We have been grafted into the Jewish nation by the blood of Christ. He
chose us because He loved us (Duet. 7:7-8) and because he wanted to (John
15:16). We are also a holy nation. We are primarily citizens of heaven.
We obey heaven’s laws and seek to please the leader of our nation, Jesus
Christ. This passage also says that we are people of God – why? – because
He purchased us. We now belong to him and are a part of His kingdom because
of His mercy.
Are you proud to be part of the nation of God – the Kingdom of God? Are
you obeying its laws and are you making it better?
Jesus is the center of what we have been talking about. In the building,
He is the cornerstone. In the priesthood, He is the high priest. In our
nation, He is our king. If we center our attention upon Him, then we will
walk in unity. If we focus on ourselves, we will be divided. If Jesus
is the center of our worship, we’ll have unanimous worship. If He is the
center of our service, we’ll have viable programs. He must be the center.
Here are some attitudes that focus on self and divide:
“I’ll bet I’m the most important stone.” - pride,
“I’ll bet I’m the least important stone.” - self-degradation – false humility
“I’ll bet I’m the most important priest.” – pride again
“I don’t think I could be a priest” – failure to recognize God’s enabling
“I’m my own boss.” – self-reliance
“I’m unwilling to submit to Jesus as King.” – misplaced authority
All of these attitudes pull us apart and subvert God’s order for our
lives. Jesus is the cornerstone – we are living stones. He is the High
Priest and we are part of the priesthood. He is the King and we are the
Kingdom.
Something to think about: we will all be in heaven together
a long time. Shouldn’t we start learning how to behave and work together
now.
Karl J Forehand
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