Grosey's Messages

Holiness… its about who you are      1 Peter 2:1-12

 

Jesus is the foundation. Through the prophet Isaiah, God promised to choose and lay a precious cornerstone in Zion. Zion is a word for the temple area of Jerusalem.

I Peter 2:4-8 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 in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (Isaiah 28:16) Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone." (Psalm 118:22) and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." (Isaiah 8:14) They stumble because they disobey the message–which is also what they were destined for.

Peter used to two words to describe this cornerstone: lithos (which means rock) and akrogoniaios which means "the best cornerstone." A cornerstone provided the foundation for a building. It was the first stone to be placed and all the other stones related to it. If the cornerstone was not perfectly square and perfectly laid, the entire building would be flawed

Jesus is the capstone. In verse 7 Peter quotes Psalm 118 to give us another rock picture of Jesus. In this description, Jesus is seen as the capstone. A capstone was different from a cornerstone. A cornerstone was used for a foundation guide, and was the first stone laid. In contrast, a capstone was the last stone laid.

When Solomon's temple was built, all the stones were quarried at a remote location so there was no sound of chiseling heard on the holy ground. A powerful Jewish legend tells the story of a strange-shaped stone being brought to the construction site early in the process. The head builder looked at the stone and couldn't figure out where it fit, so he figured it was a mistake, so the stone was rolled away to the side and forgotten. It took several years to build the temple, and when the building was almost finished the builder sent word to the quarry that he was ready for the capstone. The quarry master sent word back that he sent the capstone years earlier. The capstone was the stone that had been rolled aside and by now it was covered with dirt and vines. That's what the Bible means when it speaks of how "the stone which the builders rejected has become the capstone."

You may wonder how Jesus can be both the cornerstone and the capstone. He is both the foundation of your life and the crowning achievement of life. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. And we are fitted into Him!

Jesus is the stumbling stone. The third picture of Jesus, the Rock is that of a stumbling stone. Verse eight says to those of us who believe, the rock is precious. Jesus is more precious than diamonds, emeralds and gold to those of us who know Him. Peter quotes Isaiah 8 to show the other side of the rock. He says to those who disbelieve, Jesus is a stone which makes them stumble and a rock that makes them fall. The word "fall" is the Greek word skandalon from which we get our English word "scandal."

Jesus is the rock, but now let's consider our role. Who are we and what are we to be doing in light of the fact that Jesus is the cornerstone, the capstone, and the stumbling stone? The Bible answers this question in verse 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. Jesus is the living stone and we are living stones. During the days of Greek power, the Spartan king boasted to a visiting monarch about the walls of Sparta. The visiting monarch looked around and saw no walls. Puzzled, he asked the king, "Where are the walls about which you boast so? I see no walls!" The king pointed to the Spartan soldiers and said, "These are the walls of Sparta and every man is a brick."

You are Selected.

You are Shaped.

You can sacrifice to God. Peter changes metaphors in the middle of the verse as he writes that we are "a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Who are we? We are living stones. What do we do? We are priests who offer sacrifices to God. We are all priests before God! You can approach God and make sacrifices to Him. But these sacrifices are only acceptable when offered through the Lord Jesus Christ. There are different kinds of sacrifices we offer to God. In Romans 12:1 we are told we should offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. In the Old Testament, the priests offered dead animals as sacrifices. Today, God is looking for living sacrifices.

People either come to the Lord Jesus and find Him to be the captstone and found ation stone for their lives, or they reject Him and one day will discover Him to be the stumbling stone, the One they could not do without. I was talking with the Bishop's assistant from Armidale on Wednesday at a meeting. He said that it is very difficult. The very gospel we preach condemns those who will not receive it for themselves. Our Lord Jesus is both the best news they could ever hear and the worst news they could ever hear!

But I you come to Him, He gives you life, and a whole new self-identity.

The way we see ourselves determines, to a large degree, the way we act and react in life. If we see ourselves as worthless, we may act accordingly. On the other hand, if we see ourselves as successful, then we tend to repeat successes that we've had in the past. This is not a new discovery. The Bible teaches very clearly that what we think about ourselves affects our happiness and behaviour. Many of us go through life with a distorted image of ourselves because of difficult childhood experiences, pain resulting from ridicule, or the sense of failure due to our not measuring up to someone else's standards. All of these experiences appear on the tape of our memories. And some of us have played the tape over and over so many times that we now function according to a distorted self-image.

A sense of self and the developing self, will set the agenda for children and youth to determine their own trajectories.  Self-concept is comprised of a complex system of distinct and multiple elements. A young person's self develops around the worldview of those contexts in which the self is articulated. Self-concepts are complex things, negotiated in community with others, articulated from conceptions of the good, developed through interpersonal relationships, dependent upon spirituality as young people negotiate their own innate morality, the good, and those conceptions of the good articulated by others in their various communities and relationships.

Self-concepts arise from our associations with people.

1 Corinthians 15:33,34 Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals."  Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

This line of poetry occurs in Menander's comedy Thais.

It picks up on several themes in the book of Proverbs

Proverbs 1:10, My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. 15,16 my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, for their feet run to evil..

Proverbs 2:12,  delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, 16 So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress

Proverbs 22:24,25 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,
lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

Proverbs 23:19 Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat.

The book of Proverbs tells us not to travel with foolish people

It clarifies why Israel had to be separate from the nations.

Deuteronomy 8:17-20 Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.  And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 12:1-4 "These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.  You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.  You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way.

Deuteronomy 18:9  "When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations.

Where you find acceptance is the place you find your value.

Where you find acceptance is the place where you will draw your values.

Values are not virtues. Virtues are the understandings of good and bad that are firstly innate, given by God as a "virtue" of our being created in the image of God, as an innate conscience of right and wrong. Virtues, conscience, is guided and directed by God's Word given in His commandments. Values are relativistic, derived from people around us. They often conflict with Scripture. Consider those values that have become laws in Australia.  Each succeeding generation will have greater difficulty distinguishing between relativist values and conscience and scripture-directed virtues. Commitment to these values can override scriptural convictions.  This could be termed "encroaching cultural Marxism."

Self-concepts arise from our personal convictions.

The Lord Jesus calls us to live counter-culturally. He has called His people to be separate from the world, to be different.

John 15:18,19 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

John 17:14-19 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.   Sanctify them  in the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself,  that they also may be sanctified  in truth.

It is time to throw away the old tape and replace it with a message grounded in truth. In the section of the Bible we come to today, the Apostle Peter mentions five descriptive titles regarding who and what you are if we are believers in Jesus Christ. Each title meets a need in our lives.

 

Who are you really? 1 Peter 2:9-12

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

 

1.    BECAUSE GOD HAS CHOSEN ME, I AM ACCEPTABLE! 

The Need. Most of us spend our entire lives trying to earn acceptance. We may long to be part of the in crowd. It feels good to be chosen for a promotion or honour. 

 

 

The Solution. We have been chosen by God. Our selection was not based on our performance or any quality in us. God's choice was based on His love.

Eph. 1:4

1 Cor.1:28-29;

Deut.7:7-8.

 

 

2.    BECAUSE I AM A LIVING STONE, I AM VALUABLE! 

The Need. The value of something depends on what someone is willing to pay for it and who may have owned it in the past. Do we have any value? We often feel like worthless trash. 

 

The Solution. The Bible says that we were purchased by Christ and that we now belong to God. To illustrate our new relationship and worth, Peter says that Christ is the Living Stone and that we are connected to Him and to each other as living stone chips in His Church!

 

 

3.    BECAUSE I AM A ROYAL PRIEST, I AM CAPABLE!

The Need. People who lack self-esteem often feel useless. Their lives lack purpose or direction. They feel as though they have nothing meaningful to contribute.

 

The Solution. We are a holy, royal priesthood (2:5,9). As priests, we can go to God directly in prayer (Rom. 5:2; Eph.3:12). We have also been gifted for service (1 Cor. 12). God has given us talents, abilities and gifts to be used for Him.

 

 

4.    BECAUSE I BELONG TO A HOLY NATION, I HAVE COMMUNITY!

The Need. Many today feel isolated and insecure. Our busy schedules leave us feeling rootless and disconnected.

 

The Solution. We are a "holy nation" (Gen. 12:2; Exo.19:6). Christians are connected to God's people down through the ages. We enjoy community with believers. We sense their support and receive their encouragement, particularly in difficult times (Eph. 2:19).

 

 

5.    BECAUSE I HAVE RECEIVED MERCY, I AM FORGIVEN!

The Need. Many people live in constant guilt. They feel like moral failures. They try to please God, but they never experience His peace or the assurance of His love.

 

The Solution. We are the recipients of mercy (2:10), resulting in forgiveness for all of our sin. We have permanent right standing through faith in Jesus Christ (Isa. 43:25; Rom.5:1).

 

 

6.    BECAUSE I HAVE A PLACE IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD I WILL BE DIFFERENT

It may come as a surprise to you, but people are making mental notes on you, particularly if you claim to be a Christian (1 Pet. 2:12). They watch to see if your walk matches your talk, if what you say you believe matches what you do. They watch to see if you have integrity.  The hallmark of the Christian life is integrity. It means that there is a consistency between the image you project in public and the life that you live in private. In particular, there are three major areas in which our integrity is being watched and tested. People who do not believe in Christ are watching to see how we respond to temptation, authority and suffering.

RESIST TEMPTATION (2:11-12)!

What? We are to abstain or "distance" ourselves from sinful desires. A person of integrity will put some distance between him/herself and whatever it is that's the source of temptation.

Why? Peter provides two practical reasons:

Our residency - We are "aliens and strangers." This is not the country where we have our citizenship (Phil. 3:20). We're just passing through.

Our witness - By resisting temptation, we will encourage others to consider Christ. On the day that God "visits" them, it will lead to their conversion (2:12).

 

FOUR BASIC FACTS ABOUT TEMPTATION

1. Temptation Affects Everyone. The evil one often tries to convince us that our struggle is unique. But temptation is normal. It happens to everyone. Even Jesus Christ experienced temptation, although He never sinned (Matt. 4:1). He took on the full brunt of the enemy's attack and was still standing (Heb. 4:15).
2. Temptation is more difficult to handle in moments of vulnerability. The devil attacked Jesus while He was alone in the wilderness, physically weakened from more than a month of fasting, and still inexperienced in ministry (Matt. 4:1-3). We are also more vulnerable if we do not get proper rest, choose our friends wisely, or fail to exercise care concerning the videos we watch or the web sites we visit, etc.
3. Temptation Is An Individual Matter. Each of Jesus' three temptations (Matt. 4:4-11) addresses the same issue: Create a following while avoiding the cross. Satan urges Him to be the Bread-King, become a sensationalist and compromise His values. Open doors to sin face us all each day, but not necessarily in the same way (James 1:14). Our unique personalities and life experiences often make us vulnerable to particular types of temptation: depression, intimacy outside of marriage, a pull toward some addiction, anger, etc.
4. Temptation Will Always Be With Us. Sometimes Christians wrongly expect that, if they are growing in their faith, they should reach the point where they are never tempted. If Jesus never eliminated temptation from His life (Lk. 4:13; Matt.16:22-23), why should we be any different?

 

 

Back in the days when the Old West was being settled, pioneers were flocking across the country to California and Oregon. In one particular spot on the Eastern slopes of the Rockies there was a large, dirt encrusted lump in the middle of the trail. Wagons rolled over it and men tripped over it. Finally someone dug up the lump and rolled it off into a nearby stream. The stream was too wide to jump over, but by using that lump, people could "two-step" over the water. It was used for years, until finally one settler built his cabin near the stream. He carried the lump out of the stream and placed it in his cabin to serve as a doorstop. As years passed, railroads were built and modern cities sprang up. The old settler's grandson went east to study geology. On a visit to his grandfather's cabin, the grandson happened to examine the old lump of stone and discovered that within that lump of dirt and rock was the largest pure gold nugget ever discovered on the Eastern slope of the Rockies. It had been there for three generations, and people looked at it in different ways. To some it was a stumbling stone to be removed. To others it was a stepping stone, to others it was just a heavy rock. But only the grandson saw it for what it really was–a lump of pure gold. Jesus is the precious rock God has given us to be the foundation of our lives. Will you come to the rock today? Will you build your life upon Him? One day, you will discover that Jesus will either be a stepping stone that gives you access to God, or He will be a rock that causes you to stumble.

If you come to Him, you will uncover a new self-identity.

 

A pompous-looking fellow was trying to impress upon a class of boys the importance of Christian living. So he asked, "Why do people call me a Christian?" His next door neighbour, a little boy, answered, "Because they don't know you yet."