Peter the apostle told the
“scattered” Christians to “lay aside” “all
malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies and evil speakings”. He
told them “if” they “have tasted that the Lord is gracious”,
they were to “desire the sincere milk of the word” that
they would “grow thereby”. In chapter two and verse four
of his letter, Peter tells the Christians about Jesus to whom he
refers as “a precious” “living stone” where we read:
To whom coming, as
unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men,
The
verse begins, “To whom coming, as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men,...” Peter began with the
phrase, “To whom coming” which refers to “Jesus
approaching and drawing near” “as unto a living” or
“alive, quick and lively” “stone” which literally
means “a building stone” and metaphorically stands for “Christ”,
“disallowed” or “disapproved, rejected and repudiated”
“indeed” which means “truly, certainly and surely” “of
men” which refers to “a human being whether male or female”.
When Jesus came to be among men, he was to be “a living”
foundation “stone” upon which the church would be built,
yet people “rejected and repudiated” Him.
The verse continues, “...but chosen of God, and
precious,” Peter went on to write the word, “but”
which is a disassociation conjunction and means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was previously written, “moreover,
and, also” “chosen” which means “picked out, selected
and elected” “of God” which refers to “the Godhead
bodily which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the
Holy Spirit”, “and precious” which means “dear, held
in honor and prized”. Though mankind “rejected” Jesus, “God”
Almighty did not. In fact, God “chose” Him and counted Him
“dear, honored and prized”.
When
we think through these words of Peter, we realize that Jesus is
“dear, valuable and precious”
to God, and as recorded in chapter twenty-eight and verse sixteen of
Isaiah's prophecy, “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a
precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he
that believes shall not make haste.” Even though Jesus was
“rejected” by “men”, He was still the “living
stone” upon which all the church was to be built. May we
realize this truth and come to know the “value” of Jesus both
unto God and us.
Next
time Peter shares about how Christians are “built up” as
“a spiritual house”, so read ahead, and we shall join
together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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