The Privileges of Being in Christ • 1 Peter 2:4-10

28:36 Teaching begins

Notes

Peter talks about the privilege and favour and blessing of being in Christ.

And he begins to give us a foretaste why we need to keep this privilege fresh in our minds, because being in Christ is a disadvantage in this world.There are people who don’t like Christ. They won’t like you, either.

If you aren’t aware of the privilege, or if you forget it, you will come to see being in Christ their way. Instead of seeing it as a privilege you will see it as a drag.

So today we look at the supreme value of Christ, and at those who have got Christ totally wrong.

I’m reading in 1 Peter 2:4-10

1. The context for this blessing and privilege is in Scripture. Peter isn’t making this stuff up. These are fulfillments of the promises of God.

A. Coming to Him is a continuation of the previous verse. Peter is quoting from Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! In verse 3 Peter is alluding to the tasting. Here he is referring to taking refuge in the Lord.

B. Verse 6 is quoting Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily. Here we get the idea that the Messiah is like a precious stone that the Lord is laying in Jerusalem for a building.

C. Then Peter quotes Psalm 118:22-23 The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. God lays a stone, the builders reject that stone, and God rejects their rejection, and lays that stone anyway.

D. Peter quotes Isaiah 8:13-14 The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The stone cannot be rejected. If you ignore that stone, you will trip over it and fall.

E. Peter then quotes Exodus 19:5-6 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

F. The final quotes are taken from Hosea.

1. 1:6, 8-9 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her name Lo- Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God.

2. Hosea 2:23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ” Peter applies this to those who are in Christ. We were not God’s people, we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy, and we are God’s people.

2. So let’s look at the privilege and blessing it is to be in Christ.

A. The first he mentions here is refuge. You are sheltered from all danger as you take refuge in Christ.

1. The greatest danger you face is the judgement and condemnation you deserve for your sins. They condemn you to eternal punishment. But you have taken refuge in Christ, and that punishment has fallen upon Him. When you take refuge in Him you are protected forever. Even if you commit sin you have a refuge. You come to Him, confess your sin, and continue in your refuge. You always have refuge.

2. He is a refuge in this life. We still have to face dangers: pandemics, economic uncertainties, family problems, job problems. But none of those things can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. He Himself has said, “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you,” so that we may confidently say, the Lord is my helper; what can man do to me?

B. Along with refuge, we also have the blessing of being transformed to be like Christ. Notice that Peter says Christ is a living stone. We also are referred to as living stones. This is about transformation.

1. Peter has already noted that all flesh is grass, our glory is as a flower fading and decomposing.

2. It’s a radical transformation to change from grass to a tree, as Psalm 1 shows us. This is more radical. This is from dust to a precious stone.

3. Dust, which we are made of, is already disintegrated. God is the one who integrated the dust to make a man. But no matter how hard you pack the dust, or the dirt, it’s still disintegrated. It is nothing solid to build on. The foolish man built his house on the sand, and when the storm came it disintegrated.

4. 1 Corinthians 15:47-49 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

5. That image is likened to a precious stone. Think gemstones, think diamond. Permanent, glorious, valuable.

C. God is taking these precious stones and fitting them together into a spiritual house.

1. Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 2:19-22 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

2. Revelation 21 speaks about the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, where God will live with man. You will see that it is made of precious stones and clear gold. The foundation for the wall is composed of twelve stones, and on those stones are the names of the 12 apostles of Jesus. All of them are precious gem stones. The city is 1500 miles in every direction. That means each foundation stone is a valuable gem 500 miles long! What it all refers to is permanence and glory.

D. As we are His temple we are where sacrifices are offered.

1. These are spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God.

2. Hebrews 13:15-16 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

3. We will proclaim His excellencies, all His goodness, His fabulous merciful love.

4. We will also offer costly sacrifices. A sacrifice that doesn’t cost anything doesn’t mean anything. It’s no sacrifice.

5. Jesus offered Himself. That is the greatest love. We also live like Him, laying down our lives for one another and for all men. Love for God means costly sacrifices for others.

6. Jesus said we should lay up our treasures in heaven. He lived by that. We believe Jesus, so we will imitate Him.

E. We are His people, that is how God is, that is how we are: chosen, royal, priests, holy, God’s own possession.

F. God doesn’t owe us anything. Sin cancels out our deserving anything but eternal punishment. And yet He gives us eternal life, makes us like Christ, and gives us the purpose of the ages.

G. It is an absolute privilege to receive mercy from God and become His people. It is a precious value.

3. The problem is that in this world there are those who do not depend on Jesus. They see no precious value in Him. They reject Him.

A. These guys are literally the house builders.

1. They are the architects, the planners, the experts, the guys in charge who tell the workers what to do. They have the authority over others.

2. They are also building a house or houses. As it is not God’s house they are building, probably it is their own house they are building, for themselves, for their own glory.

B. God has laid a precious stone as a corner stone, the most important stone in the building. Everything else depends on this stone.

C. The builders looked at that stone. They inspected Him, measured Him. Didn’t like what they saw. Asked questions, asked His disciples. They saw His miracles, heard His teaching. They ate with Him, they had counsels deliberating about Him. He claims to forgive sins and then He heals people to prove it. No one can forgive sins but God alone.

D. These builders, experts, authorities, said, “No way.”

1. They refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah. The refused to submit to Him or hear Him. They arrested Him, got Him condemned, and got Him killed. When they kill you, that’s as rejected as you can get. You’re out of the way.

2. By that rejection they are also saying, “This isn’t God.” We are the house builders, and we say what goes on around here.

E. God has rejected the builders’ rejection. He has overruled these men.

1. God took that stone they threw away and raised Him from the dead. God has set that choice, precious Stone right where He wanted Him, at His right hand, in the highest place.

2. Jesus will return and set up His kingdom. And again, the rulers take their stand against the Lord and against His Anointed, as it says in Psalm 2. Let us tear their chains from us! God laughs at them. Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. No counsel of man can prevent God from doing His will.

F. Instead of throwing away the Stone and ignoring it and walking around it, they tripped and stumbled over it.

1. The Stone which is Jesus, cannot be ignored. You can’t say, well, I don’t follow that. I have no frame of reference. I’m not religious, I don’t want to be in or out. I’m neutral. I’m not doing this.

2. If you try to ignore Jesus, don’t see Him, avoid Him, you will trip over Him and fall. You don’t trip over what you see, you trip over what you don’t see. If you don’t look at Jesus and look to Him as your Saviour and Lord, you will trip over Him because He won’t get out of your way.

3. Jesus said about Himself as that Stone, “Everyone who falls on that Stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls it will scatter him like dust.” Luke 20:18. You think, “What are my options, here?” Answer, receive Him or trip over Him. If you push Him away you yourself will trip and fall. Nobody can ignore Jesus and prosper.

4. So what?

A. The gospel comes to us as a command! Watch where you’re going! Turn around, rethink! Receive Jesus! Submit to Him! Depend upon Him! Have you done that? Are you continuing to do that?

B. When you submit to Jesus and turn to Him, you find privilege and honour and blessing. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! God is making you into a precious building stone. Not a nice brick, but a diamond, of the right shape and purpose, to fit into His design, a living, holy temple in which He dwells. This is the purpose of the ages.

C. Peter is developing his main theme with this description of what God is making us into. He’s saving us for His glorious, eternal purpose. And yet there are people who ignore God, disobey Him, and are opposed to anyone who declares God’s excellencies. They opposed Jesus and rejected Him. They will oppose and reject His followers for the same reason. By theirexpert opinion we are wrong. This isn’t God, this isn’t the truth. Jesus did not rise from the dead, this is ancient folktales, like Gilgamesh of ancient Uruk in Samaria. I read this stuff, you see.

D. The builders have the authority and the power for now. They can mistreat us, just as they did Jesus. They missed the miracles then, they miss the miracles now, which is, we are very different in every way, and yet we love one another. We’re not racist, we don’t hate LGBTQ+. We don’t hate anybody. We continue to declare Jesus as the only Lord and Saviour. He is coming. Flee from the wrath to come to Jesus as your refuge.

E. Refuge, transformation from dirt to a choice, precious stone, fitted together into an exalted temple of God in the Spirit, offering spiritual sacrifices, chosen, holy, special unto God. That’s fabulous! The privilege and the blessing of being in Jesus has to be fresh in your mind.

1. When you keep these things fresh, then you will have power in your heart. You need the peace of God and His joy in order to live for Jesus.

2. When the privilege and blessing gets stale, it’s easy to be exhausted, weary, discouraged, afraid.

3. When Israel forgot God’s abundant kindnesses, they always rebelled against God. They would accuse Him of hating them, of wanting to kill them, like He was crazy. They were the ones who weren’t thinking! They refused to think!

4. When they remembered His goodness, even when they came to Him undeserving and absolutely sinful, He remembered His covenant with them and saved them. It became heaven on earth, God dwelling with man.

F. Therefore, realise that today there is a battle for your mind. What is going to fill your thoughts? Nature hates a vacuum. If your heart is low on Jesus, realise that something else that is not Jesus is going to fill it. If your heart is full of Jesus then that is power to resist those who reject Jesus. You’re not going to be afraid of these arrogant people. Be full of Jesus.

G. The key is to remember Jesus. You recall Jesus every day. Remember who He is, the Stone the builders rejected. Choice, precious. Raised from the dead. When you remember, you make it all fresh today.

H. This is your assignment as a disciple of Jesus. Find your way to remember Jesus. Find a way to do that every day.

Remember Jesus, and be full of Him. Let’s pray.