The People of God, Part 1

Text: 1 Peter 2:4-12

Core Idea: We are the people of God – the dwelling place of God’s glory, called to interlock our lives as we mediate the nations to God through prayer and acts of service. We must build our lives, our church, upon Christ our Cornerstone who alone makes this possible. 

INTRODUCTION

Good afternoon, Lighthouse family! It’s always good to be together. I pray that you’ll taste and see that the Lord is good today. Welcome if you’re joining us online! I pray that the Spirit will minister to you over the screen but still longing for the day when we could all come to worship the Lord together. We’re going through a sermon series called the Church because we want to understand and be the kind of community that the gospel creates. I hope that God has been expanding your knowledge and love for the church – but I wonder if some of you feel a little overwhelmed because the work ahead seems daunting. If this is you, you’re not alone – I feel that as the lead pastor, trying to navigate through all the details of starting a church, but also as a father, re-learning all the details of raising a newborn. But I’m learning to take small steps forward knowing that God will equip me, strengthen me, use me for His glory as a pastor, as a father, and as a husband. It’s true that the work ahead of us may seem intimidating in many ways; but through the power of the Spirit, as we devote ourselves to one another, I trust God that He will build and sanctify our church. My confidence is in the Lord – not in myself, not even in our effort. The success of our growth and maturity is not ultimately in us. Then let us fix our eyes on Him as we learn to take those little steps forward to build this church on Christ our solid Rock. Last week, we learned that the church is the body of Christ – that there is this unshakable unity in the midst of this great diversity; that each one of us makes this church that much more glorious, beautiful, and attractive; and that we exist and work together to do what Christ our head desires. Today, I want us to turn to 1 Peter 2:4-12 to examine another metaphor that the Bible uses to describe the church, namely, the people of God. So, if you have your Bibles, please turn to 1 Peter 2:4-12. 

4 As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by humans 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 people 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, God’s special possession, 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. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

Amen. This is the Word of God for you. 

Let’s go back to verses 9 and 10. Here, Peter describes the Christians as “a chosen people” and “the people of God.” Of course, these are common images that were used to describe the Israelites in the OT. The word “people” (which can also be translated as “race”) describes those who were joined together by the fact that they descended from the same lineage. For example, the Israelites are joined together by the fact that they’re the descendants of Abraham. A race isn’t something you choose. We’re born into a race. Then how can Peter take this idea and apply it to the Christians who were both Jews and Gentiles scattered around the world? How does this apply to us today? Well, it’s true that we’re not related by blood; but we are brought together by the blood – the blood of Jesus Christ. Through His blood, God was forming, choosing for Himself a new people – a new race called Christians. Then the implication is that those who are chosen to be part of this people group cannot use race or ethnicity as the main way they relate to one another. What brings them together as a people cannot be their language, culture, social status, education, interest, life stage, or anything of this world. What brings them together must be (as pastor John Piper calls it) “our chosenness.” The fact that we’ve been chosen by God, the fact that we’ve been made one through the blood of Jesus Christ is what brings us together. 

Now, the impact of this truth is even more powerful when we read it in the context. Verse 1 says, “Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.” Peter is about to describe the glorious beauty of the church – but he begins this section by telling them first not to be rude to each other. Peter tells them, “Stop saying hurtful things to each other!” then goes onto say, “You are the people of God.” This feels contradictory. This feels uninspiring – how can these imperfect, self-centred, sin-stained people represent the people of God? Couldn’t God have chosen better people to represent Himself? Maybe. But isn’t this the story of the gospel? As far as any human reasoning goes, there’s no way anyone would ever call them a people because there’s nothing that would bind and unite them together. But Peter declares them a people – a people of God. How? Verse 10, “Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” God isn’t looking for the strong and the wise, but the weak and the foolish because His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). In other words, our weakness and sin actually highlight the greatness of His power. The church is messy because people are messy. But the fact that God chose people like us to represent Him, to build His church is not a sign of His absence but a sign of His grace. The church’s story, our story, is a beautiful story of God’s grace, God’s power. One Christian writer said, “The church gives the world a front row seat to the grace of God.” Even though we’re all different, weak, rebellious, and guilty, this is what brings us together: the fact that we’re all in need of His forgiveness and His mercy, that we’re all recipients of His grace. Being a chosen people destroys our pride but fills our hearts with great, passionate praise for the One who made that choice. This is what makes us a people of God. 

In this passage, there are five distinct images that Peter draws up:

• Living Stones Being Built into a Spiritual House 

• A Royal Priesthood 

• A Holy Nation 

• God’s Special Possession 

• Foreigners in this World 

And each image will teach us a unique aspect of what it means to be a people of God and what we’re called to do. We’re not going to be able to go through all of them today. So, we’ll just look at the first two for today – and the rest, next Sunday. 

1) LIVING STONES BEING BUILT INTO A SPIRITUAL HOUSE

Let’s look at verses 4-5 again: “As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by humans 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.” Peter begins by inviting the readers to imagine a Stone. It’s bizarre yet astonishing because it’s a Stone that’s alive. Now, there are other stones scattered as well; but suddenly, these stones are drawn to, gathered up to this Living Stone. And as they come, they themselves become living stones as they’re built into a building – a spiritual house, which can also be translated as “a temple of the Spirit.” What does this mean and why is it significant for us?

When we read through the Bible, one thing that’s clear is that the Temple of God was where God’s presence dwelt – this is where you met God. It’s where the glory of God came down. What’s glory? Pastor Tim Keller defines it this way: “The glory of God is the brilliant, infinite greatness, power, beauty, and presence of God.” In other words, it’s God’s weighty presence in our lives. Then do you see the magnitude of Peter’s words here when he tells the Christians, the church, “You are being built into a spiritual house”? It means that God’s glory dwells in us. God’s presence is here with us right now as we gather together. 

What happens when the glory of God fills the place? Everything else fades away as He becomes the only thing that really matters. Last Saturday, I had the privilege of officiating a wedding. When the ceremony began, I could see that the people were still distracted. Some were looking to the back to see the wedding party enter, some were looking at the front where the groom was, and some were on their phone. But everything changed when the bride entered. At that moment, everyone stood and every eye in that room was on her. There was silence. No one was distracted. Everything seemed to be moving around this one person. In a similar way, when the glory of God falls, where the presence of God dwells, everything else fades away – and all eyes are on Him. Everything else becomes negotiable – career, relationship, family, wealth, our convenience, and safety all become secondary as He becomes the primary. Everything revolves around Him. Everything becomes about Him. Brothers and sisters, that glorious, weighty presence of God is here with us – the same glory that was in the burning bush; the same glory that came down on Mount Sinai; the same glory that terrified the Egyptians and the same glory that brought Isaiah to his knees, trembling; the same glory that brought life to those dead bones in the valley, making them into a vast army of God, is here in our midst. We the people of God are the dwelling place of God’s glory and His presence. Then we must ask ourselves: who do we exist for? Who does Lighthouse Toronto exist for? Do we exist for God and His glory? Or does this church exist to fit the desires, comfort, and preferences of the people? Let us continue to pray that we would be captivated by the beauty of His glory – that we would exist to make Him known; that we would exist to magnify and sing of His greatness knowing that we will be satisfied completely as He is glorified in us. 

Now, there’s another implication to the people of God being described as the living stones being built into a spiritual house. We’re not just stones that assemble once in a while into a random pile. No, the image we see is that these stones are being interconnected, linked and weaved together to form a beautiful building. Imagine a brick wall, where the bricks are put together in a way that each brick is bearing the weight of another. Each brick is important to the form and the stability of the wall. Then in the same way, Peter is sharing that this is the kind of interdependence that we must have as a church. He is showing us that we’re to intentionally arrange our lives so that we’re setting up our lives in such a way that will bear the weight of each other, in a way that we actually need each other. This idea is very countercultural considering that this world values self-sufficiency and independence. But this is the power of the gospel – it turns self-centred, self-focused, self-sufficient people into other-centred, other-focused servants in the Lord. 

Then let me ask you: are we intentionally building our lives into the lives of others in this church – that if you were removed from this spiritual house, your absence would have a huge impact on the rest of us? Or are we so disconnected, self-sufficient that we’re not missed if we remove ourselves and we don’t miss others when others are removed? In one of the courses that I took in the past, my professor often used stories from the time when he was serving as a missionary in the Middle East. One story that caught my attention was that whenever he moved into a new neighborhood, he would intentionally knock on the neighbor’s door to ask for salt. It’s not that he couldn’t afford to buy salt; but by making himself vulnerable, he was inviting them to be a blessing in his life – and he shared how something about that led to cultivation and deepening of relationships. Too many of us are not good with receiving help, making ourselves vulnerable – I’m not talking about exploiting others’ generosity but receiving help when we actually do need it. It could be pride or our desire not to burden others. But here, Peter is showing us, inviting us to interlock our lives in such a way so that we are generous to love and humble to receive love. It’s true that being vulnerable is scary – what if I’m rejected, judged, ignored? But when you’re embraced, protected, and covered in your vulnerable state, it will build trust that will be hard to break. Then practically speaking, what would it mean for us to open up and arrange our lives so that we need others and others need us? These are just my examples – you could come up with your own. First, listen to each other. How can we help when we don’t give people a chance to share their needs? Second, honestly share our struggles and pains. This is not easy, and I can’t force anyone to do this. But unless we share, we will continue to be isolated, suffering alone. Third, offer help that reflects you. Don’t try to say things you don’t mean. Don’t try to solve the problem. If all you can do is pray with them, do that. If all you can do is offer to spend time with them an hour every week, do that. Maybe it’s by cooking or delivering a meal, or babysitting, or financially if you’re able. The ways of helping can be endless because we’re all uniquely made with different strengths and gifts. Lastly, receive help from others with humility and gratitude. Don’t let your pride become an obstacle for someone to love you. Receive with joy because God will call you to be a blessing to others one day. Friends, can you imagine if we lived this way? Let us order our lives in such a way so that there’s this healthy rhythm of serving others and being served. This is the kind of church I’m praying for. 

2) A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD 

In verse 9, Peter calls the Christians “a royal priesthood.” He doesn’t say, “You have a royal priesthood.” He says to the church, “You are a royal priesthood.” What difference does it make? It means that everyone who’s part of this new race is a priest, has a priestly role. Now, what role did a priest play in Israel? A priest stood as a mediator between God and the Israelites. A priest represented God to the Israelites by the words he spoke. And a priest represented the Israelites to God through prayer and sacrifice. In general, a priest connected God to the people and the people to God. Now, if that’s what a priest does, what happens when every single person in that nation becomes a priest? What role would these priests play? Who is left in the nation to mediate for? Nobody. No one in the nation needs mediation; then who do they exist for? It must be for those who are outside of that nation, that race, that people. In fact, that was exactly the call given to the Israelites and now the same call is given to us, the church. What does this mean? First, it means that we have immediate access to God. We have direct access to God Almighty, the One who not only created the universe but also governs and sustains it. Everything exists for His glory, and we get to have an intimate relationship with this God. He hears us and we hear Him. Second, it means that we as a church don’t exist for ourselves; we exist for others. William Temple, an Anglican Archbishop, once said, “The Church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not its members.” This is what makes the church unique. This is at the heart of what it means to be a royal priesthood. 

Then how do we accomplish this? Let’s turn to verse 5 again: “You are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” What are these spiritual sacrifices? They’re not physical sacrifices like animals or grains that we find in the OT. One commentary defines it as Spirit-filled actions. Then here are two things that we’re offering as a priest for the nations: first, prayer. We must pray. If we’re to represent our workplace, school, neighborhood, if we, as a church, are to represent the city we’re in to God, we must pray. Do you truly believe that the reason God placed you where you are is so that you would be a priest for those people that God is bringing into your life? If so, how often do you pray for the people in your workplace, your neighborhood? How faithfully are you living out this priestly responsibility, calling in your lives? If you are, that’s amazing. But if you’re not, let this truth move you: “God is calling you to exist for others.” So, we pray for their genuine good. We pray for blessings. We pray for flourishing. But most importantly, we pray that they would come to know the saving love of God. In 1 Samuel 12:23, as Samuel was stepping down from his leadership role, this is what he said to the Israelites, “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you.” Even when his role was coming to an end, this is the kind of heart he had for the people. Then brothers and sisters, my prayer is that we would have this kind of heart toward one another in this community but beyond it as well – not out of guilt, but because of this deep love for one another. Now, another spiritual sacrifice we offer is our acts of love and service. We don’t just pray for the people God places in our lives; we’re also compelled to act, pouring out our lives sacrificially, willingly, joyfully to bring healing to the brokenness, fallenness, and hurt we see around us. 

This is what it means to be the people of God: we are the dwelling place of God’s glory, being knitted together as we mediate for the nations through prayer and acts of service. But more to come next week.

3) THE GOSPEL

As we end, let me ask ourselves: how do we make people who are naturally self-protective become vulnerable to one another? What power would be needed to make people who are usually self-interested to realize that they can’t live for themselves (for their own comfort and safety) so that they begin to pour their lives for others even at this great cost to themselves? It’s by coming to Him. Verse 4 says, “As you come to Him, the living Stone” this kind of transformation happens. Then what makes this Stone so special? Verse 6 says, “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.’” A cornerstone was the foundation stone, usually placed at the corner of a building to guide the builders in their work. A cornerstone was usually one of the largest, the most solid, and the most carefully constructed stone in a building because it became the basis for determining every measurement in the remaining construction. Everything was aligned to it. Everything happened with the reference to the cornerstone. And here is Peter telling us that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the church. Then this is what it means: Jesus is foundational to our lives. Without Him, there is no church. Everything is built around Him and for Him. Our identity, our experience, and our understanding of life and purpose are shaped and informed by Christ and Him alone. Our identity as a church is bound up in the person and work of Jesus. He is what makes the church possible.   

If this is true (and it is), did we make Him the cornerstone of our lives? No, we rejected Him. But despite our rebellion, sin against the Builder of the church, He made Himself radically vulnerable by leaving His safety, privilege, and power to pour His life for us as He died on the cross in our place. The True Builder of the Church didn’t just welcome us when we were broken and weak but He Himself became broken and weak so that we would be called the people of God. Then as the chosen people of God, saved by grace, how can we build our lives on a completely different cornerstone? All other building projects – the life that we were trying to build for ourselves (success, fame, wealth, family, power, or money), all those crumbles down because there’s a new Cornerstone upon which we’ll rebuild our lives. 

Peter goes on to say that if you put your trust in this Cornerstone, you’ll never be put to shame. If you build your life on this Stone, your life will not crumble in the storm. If you hide behind this Stone, you’ll be safe. What’s even more encouraging is what Peter says in verse 7: “To those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.’” Listen to what Pastor John Piper says on this: “Human unbelief does not frustrate or defeat the ultimate purposes of God. If God plans for Jesus to be the chief cornerstone, humans can betray Him, desert Him, deny Him, mock Him, strike Him, spit on Him, hit Him with rods, crown Him with thorns, strip Him, crucify Him, and bury Him – but they cannot stop Him from being what God destined Him to be, the Living Cornerstone of a great and glorious people.” 

Then let me ask you: Is Jesus Christ really the cornerstone of your life or is He just a brick that makes up a part of your life? Is it really Jesus that we’re after as a church – or are we after community, friendship, family, or anything else more than Him? 

CONCLUSION

Lighthouse family, we are the people of God – the dwelling place of God’s glory, called to interlock our lives as we mediate the nations to God through prayer and acts of service. This is made possible only through the person of Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone of our lives and this church. Verse 7 says, “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.” I pray that you’ll find Jesus precious in your lives – the One you love, admire, yearn for, and pursue after. And let us build our lives, our church upon this solid Rock.