The Priestly Honors of Life in Christ | 1 Peter 2:4-8
Peter reveals three priestly honors of life in Christ: (1) becoming a spiritual house; (2) offering spiritual sacrifices; and (3) trusting the spiritual cornerstone. This sermon is part 10 of "A Fisherman's Hope," Bryan Craddock's series on 1 Peter 1:1-2:10.
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As Americans, we like the idea of upward mobility. If you work hard, we think that nothing should hold you back. Make your own way. Climb the ladder of success, however you define it, and we will honor your achievement.
But most societies throughout history haven’t thought that way, and many still do not today. Some have rigid class structures or caste systems. There are no ladders. Honor is something you must be born into, and most people are not. In our eyes, that might seem outdated and oppressive. But our cultural belief in individual potential might numb us to the amazing truths that Peter presents in 1 Peter 2.
Ancient Israel was not as rigidly structured as other societies, but their priesthood and their royalty were hereditary. By Peter’s time the house of David had lost all power. Jesus was raised in the home of a carpenter not a prince or nobleman. Israel was under Roman rule. Yet the Jewish priests still controlled the Temple and provided religious leadership. They were the only ones who could enter the Holy Place to draw near to God. They also held enough political influence with the Romans to demand that Jesus be crucified.
Peter could not have been farther from such high status. He had been a fisherman before following Jesus. Many other believers were even lower on the social ladder. Peter and Paul both address how Christian slaves should conduct themselves. So, as the church faced opposition and persecution, most believers were vulnerable and powerless. Peter wrote his first letter to encourage them.
Their lowly standing might not ever change in society, but in Christ all believers are raised to the highest spiritual level. In chapter 1, Peter has celebrated our future hope and has shown how it should lead us to relate to God with holiness and fear and to one another with love. But in 1 Peter 2:4-8, he shifts his focus to the lofty spiritual status that we enjoy in the present. He reveals three priestly honors of life in Christ.
Why do we need to understand these truths? I think that Peter was helping believers in his day be content as they suffered opposition and persecution. No matter how poorly they were treated, they could carry themselves with strength and dignity because of the honors that we receive in Christ. But what about those of us who are not so powerless or vulnerable?
A superficial understanding of Peter’s words might tempt us to claim superiority over the unbelieving world. But understanding these truths accurately will humble us. We don’t deserve these honors. In fact, they call into question many of the things that we pursue. Perhaps we have been climbing the wrong ladders or even climbing the right ones for the wrong reasons. So, as we consider these verses, invite the Lord to search your heart.
Becoming a Spiritual House
The gospels tell of an occasion during the Passion week when the disciples were impressed by the Temple in Jerusalem. It had been rebuilt after the Jews returned from exile in Babylonian and then had undergone a lavish renovation and expansion under King Herod. Luke 21:5 mentions that the disciples admired its noble stones. Jesus responded by telling them that they would be thrown down, and that is what the Romans did 40 years later. The Temple was destroyed, and several centuries after that the Al-aqsa Islamic Mosque that you see today was built there.
You can still see some of those massive chunks of limestone from the first century in the lower rows of the Western Wall. It has been called the Wailing Wall because many Jews who pray there mourn the loss of the Temple. They cannot worship as the Law commands. They do not have access to the presence of God as they once did.
But even before the Romans destroyed the Temple, the apostles were already presenting a very different understanding of how followers of Christ draw near to God. Peter reveals that we have the honor of becoming a spiritual house. In 1 Peter 2:4-5a, he says,
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house…
What is this house in Peter’s analogy? The Old Testament often refers to the Temple as the house of God. It was the place where his glory was manifest in visible form. So, Old Testament believers would go there to draw near to him in worship and prayer. But there were limitations. The average person could not enter the Temple. They were kept at a distance by walls and fences.
Yet Peter says that as New Testament believers come to Christ in worship and prayer, we become the house of God. He pictures Jesus as a living stone that imparts his life to us. This imagery of a rejected stone that is choice and precious comes from a prophecy in Isaiah 28:16. Peter quotes it down in verse 6, so I will say more about it in a moment.
The life that Jesus gives us is a relationship with God now and in eternity. He makes it possible for sinners like us to enter God’s presence with confidence. He offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to cleanse us from our sins and then ascended into heaven. Hebrews 9:24-26 tells us,
For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Jesus enables us to draw near to God in a way that is far beyond what the priests enjoyed in the earthly temple. Their access was momentary and limited, but ours is constant and unlimited. So, Peter likens us to stones in the Temple walls. We live in the presence of God.
Paul also describes believers as God’s temple. He links this reality to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and applies it in three different ways. In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, he presents it as a warning to pursue holiness. As we build our lives and ministries upon Christ as our foundation, we should be careful not to destroy God’s holy temple. In 1 Corinthians 6:18-19, he says that believers should abstain from sexual immorality because our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Then in Ephesians 2:19-22, he makes a case for unity among Jewish and Gentile Christians by saying,
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Peter’s point, however, is simply that we have been blessed with a great honor. We have spiritual access to God here and now as we wait for the time when we will enjoy his presence fully in the new heaven and earth (2 Pe 3:13). So, is that honor reflected in how we live? Do we keep drawing near to the Lord? Can people sense our connection with him? Are we holy and humble? Confident and compassionate?
Offering Spiritual Sacrifices
The work of Old Testament priests was a smelly, messy business. They kept a smoky fire going on the altar. They slaughtered animals, sprinkled their blood, and burned some or all the meat. Most people try to avoid other jobs like that, but Numbers 16 tells us that some of the Jewish people envied the priests. They were led by a man named Korah, and they wanted to burn incense themselves. When they did, fire came out from the Lord and consumed them.
That background makes Peter’s words in the second half of 1 Peter 2:5 all the more surprising. New Testament believers have the honor of offering spiritual sacrifices. He says that we are built up as a spiritual house, “to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Somewhere over the course of church history, church leaders began to be called priests. They started functioning as mediators between people and God. Some even treated the celebration of communion as a continuing sacrifice of Christ that is necessary to keep cleansing people of sin. But there is no basis for these practices in the New Testament. They distort the gospel and obscure the honor granted to all believers in Christ.
Peter refers to all true believers as a holy priesthood. We have no need for any mediator other than Jesus Christ. As we just saw in Hebrews 9, he is our high priest who gave his life as the one sufficient sacrifice for all our sins. All who believe in him can draw near to God. So, relying upon human priests or saintly intercessors contradicts this fundamental New Testament truth.
What sort of sacrifices are we to offer to God then? We must be clear that our sacrifices do not atone for sin in any way. Since Jesus paid that price in full, our sacrifices must serve a different purpose. In the Old Testament, some offerings were expressions of devotion and thanksgiving. So, that is how we should exercise our priestly honor. Yet Peter is clear that our imperfect sacrifices are only acceptable through Jesus Christ.
Other New Testament passages give us more specific guidance. The author of the letter to the Hebrews identifies three spiritual sacrifices that we should all be offering to God. In Hebrews 13:15-16 he says,
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
First, we should offer up words of praise to God. We should celebrate who he is and what he has done. The psalms serve as good examples for us to follow. Sometimes our praise may be a response to our experience of God’s blessings. But we should also praise him for attributes of his character such as his holiness, power, wisdom, goodness, and love. The author of Hebrews calls us to do this continually, literally through everything. God always deserves praise.
Doing good deeds is another spiritual sacrifice that pleases God, even though we might be inclined to neglect it. As Paul says in Titus 3:14, we should offer up our time and strength to help people in cases of urgent need. In Ephesians 2:10, he argues that we were created in Christ Jesus to do good works. God prepared them beforehand that we should walk in them. We should follow the example of Christ in showing sacrificial love (Eph 5:2).
Finally, the author of Hebrews mentions sharing what you have as a sacrifice. The early church in Jerusalem was deeply committed to sharing. Acts 2:45 tells us that they were selling their possessions and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had needs. Supporting those who devote their time to ministry is also part of this sharing. In Philippians 4:17-18, Paul says,
Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
So, we should offer up our words, our deeds, and our money as sacrifices to God. We should give ourselves entirely to him. In Romans 12:1, Paul says,
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
By God’s mercies and Christ’s atoning sacrifice, we have the honor of drawing near to God as a priest. All other barriers and intermediaries are removed. How are we using that great privilege? What sacrifices are you offering up to him?
Trusting the Spiritual Cornerstone
Builders today make walls of brick or concrete blocks that are squared off with a uniform size and shape. But in ancient times, masons worked with quarried stone. So, as they began a project, they needed to pay close attention to selecting a cornerstone. That first piece would shape the rest of the building. If it wasn’t square, the whole structure could be skewed and unstable.
This idea is reflected in three Old Testament prophecies that Peter quotes in 1 Peter 2:6-8. They are what led him to refer to Jesus as a living stone in verse 4. We become living stones as we are aligned with him. But Peter shows that we cannot take credit for making that choice. Trusting the spiritual cornerstone is an honor graciously given by God. Peter starts in verse 6 by saying,
For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
This quote is from Isaiah 28:16 where the prophet was confronting the kingdoms of Israel and Judah about their pride. They should have trusted the Lord and followed his word. But instead, they concocted their own schemes for dealing with their enemies. In verse 15, Isaiah seems to mock them by saying that they had made a covenant with death. They were seeking refuge in lies. The foundation they needed was in Zion where the Lord was present in his Temple. He alone could rescue them from shame.
Peter sees Jesus as the chosen and precious living stone of this prophecy. He alone fulfills God’s righteous standard. He is the only one who can save us from the shame of our sins. True stability is found in him. So, we must believe in him. We must trust him and align ourselves with him as the cornerstone.
But as I mentioned, we cannot take credit for this choice. In 1 Peter 2:7-8, Peter says,
So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
What honor does he have in mind? As I have suggested in my outline of this passage, I think that Peter is speaking of the realities of salvation in Christ that he mentioned in verses 4 and 5. Through faith in him, we become a spiritual house and a holy priesthood. But when we consider the unbelieving response of others to Christ, we see that belief itself is an honor.
The next prophecy that Peter quotes is from Psalm 118:22. The psalmist calls the people of Israel to give thanks for the steadfast covenantal love of God. God might discipline them as a nation, allowing their enemies to come against them, but he would also sustain them. Then the psalmist celebrates God’s marvelous work of making this rejected stone the cornerstone.
This is not the first time that Peter has applied this verse to Jesus. We find him using it in Acts 4:11-12 as he defends himself before the Jewish council, including the high priest and others from his family. He tells them,
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
The point is that they should have known better. They were the nation’s spiritual leaders. They had a thorough knowledge of Scripture, yet they were rejecting the one true Savior. How is that possible? They stumbled.
By referring to a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, Peter points to one more prophecy from Isaiah 8:13-15. In the original passage, the prophet says,
But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken."
If God is your sanctuary, then you have nothing to fear. Whatever happens in this world, your future is secure. But if God is not your sanctuary, then he is your biggest problem. He deserves to be trusted, and when you don’t do that, you place yourself at odds with him. He will bring about your downfall.
Peter saw this scenario play out with the Jewish leaders in their response to Jesus, and it continues to happen with people today. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, the idea of finding salvation through the crucified Christ is a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. So, Peter concludes his thought in 1 Peter 2:8 by saying, “They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”
The only way any of us choose to believe in Jesus as the cornerstone is by the gracious intervention of God in our lives. Peter opened his letter in verses 1 and 2 by referring to his readers as chosen according to the foreknowledge of God. Apart from God’s choice we would all be destined to stumble over Christ and to face ultimate destruction.
The ability to understand the gospel and to trust in Jesus as our cornerstone is a blessing and an honor that we do not deserve. It is entirely by God’s grace. We should reflect that truth by living with deep humility and gratitude. The Lord saved us for a purpose, and Peter will address that in 1 Peter 2:9-10.
__________
We have been raised to the highest spiritual level in Christ. Believers have the amazing honor of becoming a spiritual house, offering spiritual sacrifices, and trusting in the spiritual cornerstone. No matter what opposition or difficulty we may face, we can live with spiritual confidence and humility.
Do you believe in Jesus as the Cornerstone? If not, would you align yourself with him today? Trust him as the perfect high priest who sacrificed his life to atone for our sins. If you would like to learn more about his saving work and of how he builds us together as a temple, Ephesians 2 would be a good chapter to read.
If you’re already a believer, are you taking full advantage of these priestly honors. Do you draw near to Christ in prayer? Do you live with a sacrificial mindset, offering yourself up to him?
May God be glorified in our worship!
Reflect
How do you need to change your thinking about honor?
How do these priestly honors give us strength?
Why should these priestly honors keep us humble?