Have you ever been to an event where you were a guest of honor?It could have been a bachelorette party, a baby shower or a graduation. All eyes were on you and people treated you in a way that made you feel privileged. First epistle, we see Christians described as pilgrims cursed by this world, however, in chapter two, Peter changes his line of thought and says that God has particularly honored us.
Peter says in 1 Peter 2 “Will you come to him,” referring to the “Lord?”(V. 3) of the Old Testament, which Peter claims to be Christ. Continues to define what it means to come unto Christ: “So honor is it for you who believe?(V. 7, author translation). What is wonderful here is that in 1. 7 he speaks of our faith as we pass through trials in this life, but here he says that when we believe God honors us, but what is it like?We will observe three honors in 1Dro 2.
- By faith.
- We have the honor of being “a place.
- ” but not anywhere.
- But a sacred place.
- From 1 Peter 2.
- 4.
- Peter changes the metaphor to “To be a family of God?””To be a temple of God”.
- In the New Covenant.
- There is still a sacred place.
- But its building materials are not wood.
- Stone or precious metals.
- Jesus Christ is the cornerstone and Christians are the walls of the new holy place.
If you watch these American renovation shows on TV, you can see how incredibly easy it is to tear down walls, reconfigure the interior of a house, and totally change the look of what was already there, because wood and drywall are used. However, in the ancient world, the buildings were built to last, they were built with stone. What Peter says here is that our honor is to be built to be a permanent sacred temple.
Although we come to Christ, by faith, how: the living stone? Is it “rejected” by his resurrection? For so many others? Mens? (2. 4, quoting $ 118. 22). Why? The Scriptures say that from the beginning men rejected the Lord for their pride and power (Genesis 10; Ps 2). Although rejected by men, is Jesus – to God, a precious and chosen stone? (1P 2. 4, quoting Isaiah 28,16).
Since Christ is the living, chosen, and precious cornerstone of God’s new holy place, have you built, like living stones, a spiritual home?(2,5). The verb, are you built? It is in a passive voice, denoting that action is done for us and not for us, as Jesus said, “Will I build my church?(Mt 16:18). It makes us a ‘spiritual home’. ‘, which means that we are’ animated and inhabited by the Holy Spirit. ‘Think about it: we sinners, not only individually, but collectively, are the temple of the living God. Does God live here among us in reference to all?
When I played basketball, we had banquets where the awards were held, there was always a prize for a player here and there, but there was always a guy who wasn’t just him?Mvp? (most valuable player) of your team, but also the first team in the league, the most offensive player of the year, the champion who scores and the first on the dean’s list. Similarly, in Christ, we do not have only one honor, but many. We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ (Ep 1:3).
By faith, we have the honor of being a holy place, but a temple is useless without priests serving there. Peter therefore tells us of Christ’s purpose of building up in a temple: “To be a holy priesthood, to offer pleasing spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ?(1Pe 2. 5) . We also have the honor of being a priesthood. In the Old Testament, the priesthood came only from the tribe of Levi, but now all believers can also be honored by God. the temple where sacrifices are offered, but we are the ones who offer them. And what are these sacrifices? Spiritual sacrifices, in the sense of sacrifices offered under the work of the Holy Ghost. Our sacrifices are: our bodies (Rom 12), our contrite and broken minds (Ps 51) and our praises (Hebrews 13).
This is particularly evident in 1 Peter 2. 9: we are honored to be a “real priesthood [?] To proclaim the virtues of those who called you from darkness into their wonderful light. “How can praise be a sacrifice guided by the Spirit and First, to praise God means to sacrifice your pride and self-confidence on the altar of humility; Second, praise to God by the Spirit in an acceptable way means that you offer him the worship of your heart and not just your hands. says, in 1 Peter 1. 22, that we were born again to love one another with “an unclaimed fraternal love [?] From the heart, burning each other. “Our sacrifices of praise to God must be sincere, not insignificant, and close. from the heart, not just out of the ordinary.
Peter adds here a triple honor: by faith, we have the honor of being a people. “However, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who belong exclusively to God, but have you now attained mercy?(1Pe 2. 9-10). It was the honor of Israel (Ex 19; Dt 7), but now it is the honor of all believers, Jews and pagans.
Are you overwhelmed by the world’s struggles?Do you feel lost in a maze where you can’t find your way?Ponder 1Pedro 2. 4-10 and notice that each little prayer is like a jewel in the crown of honor that the Lord has placed upon your head. You, a sinner saved by grace, have been honored by God with a crown of salvation, and in this crown God has laid the jewels of being a place, a priesthood, and a people.