Reading 1 Peter Together, Day 10 - 1 Peter 2:4-8

Today is day 10, meaning we're 1/3 of the way through our month long reading of 1 Peter.  Today is the tenth day in a row you should have read 1 Peter in its entirety.  Hopefully by now it's becoming very familiar to you.

Today's focus is on 1 Peter 2:4-8.

⁴ As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in Scripture: 

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, 

a cornerstone chosen and precious, 

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 

⁷ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, 

“The stone that the builders rejected 

has become the cornerstone,” 

⁸ and 

“A stone of stumbling, 

and a rock of offense.” 

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 

In the verses preceding 2:4-8 Peter has told his readers that they are to love each other and crave the pure spiritual milk of the word of God.  In these verses he begins to tell them more about who they are as a people in Christ, and how they will share in both Christ’s suffering and reward.

Jesus was “a living stone” rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.  He was rejected during his earthly ministry by the Jewish religious leaders who denied his claim to be the Messiah and put him to death, just as it was foretold in the Old Testament that they would.  He is rejected still today by all who do not believe the gospel.  Jesus told his disciples in John 15 that the world would hate them just as it hated him.  If Jesus was rejected, we can expect to be rejected as well.

But in the sight of God, the only one whose opinion ultimately matters, Jesus was chosen and precious.  So are we who are united as one in Christ.  We, the church, are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  

Though the world may shame Christians, we will not be put to shame by God.  We have honor in the sight of God.  

For us, Jesus is the cornerstone.  For those who reject Christ, he is a stumbling block and a rock of offense.  This is cited from Isaiah 8:14, one of the prophecies that Isreal would reject her Messiah.  Peter then finishes the thought with an interesting statement, “They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”

Here are your questions to consider today.

Do you expect the world to reject and despise you because you are identified with Christ.  Why or why not?

Why did the people of Israel reject Jesus as their Messiah?

What hope do Peter’s words in these verses give believers, especially believers facing persecution and suffering for the faith?

What does Peter mean when he says that those who disobey the word were destined to do so?  How should this inform our thinking about those who reject Christ?