What would you say is the greatest, grandest building in the world? Peter has a surprising, and wonderful, answer.
Read 1 Peter 2 v 4-10
Peter doesn’t tell us to do anything at all here. He just tells us who Christ is, and what His church is. It’s as if Peter wants to show you your church in a mirror. And as we look in this biblical mirror, church starts looking very different to how the world sees it, and even how Christians often see it!
- - Who is Jesus (v 4): to humanity? to God?
Jesus may be dismissed by the smartest people, the influential people, the cool people. But the truth is, He is the corner- stone of a whole new world God is build- ing. Jesus is God’s foundation stone for His renovation of the entire universe.
- - What is God using to build on teh cornerstone of Jesus (v 5)? Why is this exciting?
The singer Johnny Cash once sang of his life: “You could have it all, my empire of dirt”. That’s all we manage to build for ourselves. When we come to Christ, what does God do? He takes us, whoever and whatever we are, and builds us into something magnificent.
He builds us into church—into a spiritual temple, where God puts His presence. Into a holy priesthood, connecting people with God. Into a spiritual sacrifice, worshipping and pleasing God. What a building! What is the grandest structure in the world? Peter points at true believers in Jesus and says: You are.
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APPLY
- - How do verses 4-5 make you feel about being part of church?
- - How does it motivate you to be a useful, helpful stone in your local church?
- - How will the grandeur of God's spiritual building project be made plain by your attitutde towards it?
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- - How do believers vew Jesus (v 6)?
- - And what do God's chosen people, His church, exist to do (v 9-10)?
How we do church reflects how much we value Jesus. The more we see how wonderful He is as we drink in His word (2 v 2), the more we will see how privileged we are to belong to Him, to be built on Him, to be able to talk about Him. And the more we’ll love being part of His church, a small stone in the great grandeur of God’s cosmic, eternal building!
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PRAY
Father, Thank you for Jesus. Help me to see more today of how precious He is. Thank You for building me into Your church. Please help me to see my church in the same that You do. Amen.
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This devotional is taken from Explore—a daily Bible-reading devotional from The Good Book Company which enables you to engage with Scripture and which will encourage, equip and inspire you to live for Christ. Explore features contributions from pastors such as Dr Timothy Keller, Mike McKinley and Tim Chester.
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