You’re an Honored Priesthood to Proclaim God’s Praises: 1 Peter 2:4-10

Peter begins by saying that the aliens are “coming to” the Lord. By this, he’s referring back to what he’s just said about them longing for God’s Word as if it’s their mothers’ milk, since they’ve already tasted that the Lord is good. The implication is that they’re going to the Lord to receive that milk of God’s Word. How do they do this? By worshiping Him together, and learning His Word together. Hence, in this context, the “coming” to the Lord isn’t only done by the individual Christian, but by Christians gathered together as churches. What follows confirms this.

However, they aren’t just going to “the Lord”, but what Peter calls “a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious”. By calling the Lord Jesus “a  living stone”, he’s alluding to the Old Testament quotation that he cites in verse 6, where the Lord is called “a cornerstone chosen and precious”. This describes Jesus as the foundation stone of the spiritual temple that God is building. Peter probably calls Jesus a living stone because He rose from the dead, and is now fully and completely alive forever.

However, Jesus isn’t just “a living stone”, but one which was “rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious”. Originally, the men, or people, who rejected the Lord, were most of the Jews in Israel, who either ignored Him, or actively opposed Him, which reached its height in their seeking to have Him crucified. This is at least the main rejection that Peter is talking about. However, even since that first rejection, most people still continued to reject Him, up until this day. Despite this poor reaction to Him by people, He was still “chosen and precious” in God’s sight. In other words, God “chose” Him to be the foundation stone of His spiritual temple, and infinitely valued Him as a “precious” stone.

Next, Peter describes what the results of “coming” to the Lord is for the aliens. First, he says that they also are “like living stones”, so they’re also part of God’s spiritual temple. In fact, he calls this temple “a spiritual house” when he says that they’re “being built up as a spiritual house”. Many times in the Old Testament, God’s temple, where He most clearly manifests His presence, is called His “house”. Now that Christ has come to be the foundation stone of God’s spiritual temple, it, which consists of the living stones of Christians, is His house, through whom He most clearly manifests His presence on earth.

But what does Peter mean when he says that the aliens are “being built up”? This implies that they’re growing into a larger dwelling place of God, so that God is manifesting Himself more through them. The only way He can do this is if they become more like Him. Hence, by “being built up”, Peter is at least mainly referring to the aliens’ growth in Christlikeness, holiness, or righteousness.

The purpose for the aliens being “built up” as God’s dwelling place is so they’ll be “a holy priesthood”. In the Old Testament, the Jewish priests represented other Jews before God, and served as mediators and intercessors to bridge the gap between them and God. They did this in the way that Peter says the aliens do a similar thing. He says that the purpose of them being a holy, or set apart, group of priests is “to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”.

What are these spiritual sacrifices they offer to God? Well, according to Romans 12:1, the primary one is their whole lives, since Paul there commands the Romans to “offer” their bodies, or whole selves, as “a living sacrifice” (ESV). Secondly, since the priests in the Old Testament were responsible for interceding on behalf of their brothers and sisters before God, the next most important sacrifice has to be the aliens’ prayers to God. However, since everything that a Christian does for God is a sacrifice, the sacrifices that Peter speaks of can’t be restricted only to prayer, but to any act of worship toward God.

Peter doesn’t let the aliens think that God will accept their sacrifices simply because they’re a “holy priesthood”, but points out that they’re only pleasing to God because they’re done “through Jesus Christ”. This means that Jesus the Christ, or God’s Anointed One as High Priest of His church, is the One who makes the aliens’ sacrifices acceptable to God. How does He do this? Through His presence at God’s right hand as the proof that the aliens’ sins have been payed for by His death, and through His power that enables the aliens to offer sacrifices to God.

To conclude this section, Peter proves that Jesus is the One whom God has chosen to be the foundation stone of the church, and the One who makes their sacrifices acceptable to God. He does this by quoting a prophecy from the Old Testament, in which God says that He’s “laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame”. In the Old Testament, “Zion” is a nickname for the capital city of Jerusalem. In many passages, it has a connection to the fact that Israel’s king lives in Jerusalem, and also that that’s where God manifests Himself most clearly.

Obviously, the “stone” that God refers to in this passage is the Lord Jesus. So, what does He mean when He says that He’s “laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious”? Well, this has to refer to the founding of the church, since Peter’s just said that the stones of this building are Christians. So how was the church founded? It was founded through the ascension of the Lord into heaven, and through His sending of the Holy Spirit to fill His disciples on the Day of Pentecost. Hence, the connection between “Zion” and Jesus is that, in the same way that Zion was the home of the King of Israel, so now heaven, where Jesus ascended to, is the home of the King of the church. So, when God said that He was “laying in Zion a stone”, He meant that He would found the church through ascension of Christ into heaven as the King of the church who sent the Holy Spirit to empower it.

But why is this a reason that Christ makes the aliens’ sacrifices acceptable to God? Because God said that “whoever believes in him [Jesus] will not be put to shame”. By “whoever believes in him”, God means those who trust in Christ as Savior and King. The fact that they aren’t “put to shame” means that they won’t be “disappointed” for trusting in the Lord, but will receive God’s acceptance, and become a part of His “spiritual house” and “holy priesthood”. That’s why this prophecy is proof that Christ is the foundation of the church, and the One through whom believers’ sacrifices are accepted by God.

The Builders Have Been Blocked from Participation

In verses 7-8, Peter describes the rejection of Christ and distrust of Him that most of the Jewish leaders committed when Christ was on earth, and after His ascension into heaven by saying,

“⁷ 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,”

⁸ and

“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

First, he describes the blessing of being those who believe in Jesus by telling the aliens that this “honor is for [them] who believe”. What honor is he talking about? The honor of being a part of God’s temple and holy priesthood, and of offering sacrifices to Him that are acceptable.

He then describes the state of the Jews who didn’t believe in Jesus by first showing what Jesus became. First, he quotes the Old Testament as saying that this “stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”. The stone here, of course, is Jesus. But who are the builders? Well, in the context of Christ’s rejection as the foundation stone of God’s new, spiritual, temple, the builders were the Jewish leaders, who had built a new form of Judaism between the end of the Old Testament, and the beginning of the New. They had built the national religion of Israel, but they rejected the only One who was the true foundation of true religion and fellowship with God. Although they rejected Him, He became the very “cornerstone” of God’s temple. In that day, the cornerstone was the first stone that was laid in a building, and served as the most important part of the foundation, since all the other stones of the building would be lined up with its sides. Jesus was the cornerstone of the church, since He was the most important part of the foundation, and the One who determined what all the rest would be like. In other words, all Christians, and all of Christianity, is built upon, and aligned with, Christ.

The second type of stone that Peter says Christ became was “a stone of stumbling”. Since he goes on to say that the Jewish leaders “stumble”, this at least mean that Christ is “a stone of stumbling” to them, although it goes beyond them to others. By this, Peter means that Christ causes people to stumble, or to fall in a way that harms them spiritually. Rather than standing on Christ by trusting in Him, they stumble over Him, and fall to their destruction.

The third type of stone that He became tells us why the Jewish leaders, and most of the Jews, stumbled over Christ. It’s because He became “a rock of offense”, or a rock that offends. He offended the Jews because He condemned their self-righteousness, arrogance, and pride, by calling them rebels against God, and demanding that they repent and trust in Him for God’s forgiveness. Because He offended them, they had no interest in Him, but rather sought to kill Him, and then to kill His followers.

Finally, Peter explicitly says why the Jews stumble over Christ in two ways. First, he says that they stumble “because they disobey the word”. By “the word”, he means the word “of the gospel” that he says was preached to the aliens at the end of chapter 1. So, because the Jews disobey the gospel by refusing to repent and believe it, they either stumble into a further hardening of their hearts, or simply eternal damnation. Either way, Peter says that they disobey the gospel because “they were destined to”. This phrase is what’s called a “divine passive”, in which the implied doer of the verb is God. Thus, the One who destined, or determined, that they would disobey the gospel was God Himself. Although it was God’s sovereign will that determined they would sin, they’re still responsible for disobeying the gospel, since they chose to do it.

They’re Blessed to Bear God’s Praises

The last major truth that Peter teaches the aliens is that God has made them His people on earth so they’ll share the gospel with others. In contrast to the Jews who rejected Christ, he says,

“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.”

Peter begins by describing what kind of people the aliens. To do this, he deliberately applies descriptions that were given to Israel in the Old Testament to the Christians to whom he’s writing. First, he calls them “a chosen race”, or “people”. By “chosen”, he means that God chose them, and by calling them a different “race”, he’s distinguishing them from unbelievers. Second, they’re “a royal priesthood”. Before, he called them a holy priesthood, but here he says that they belong to royalty, or are “rulers”. By this, he means that they work with the authority of the Lord Jesus to rule over the forces of Satan, and to bring people under Christ’s reign through the gospel. Third, Peter calls them “a holy nation”, or a set apart political body. As such, they have government and a law. Finally, they’re called “a people for his own possession”, or God’s own possession. The language here conveys the idea that God highly prizes them, and delights in them as His special, set apart, people.

Next, Peter gives the reason that the aliens are all these things. God made them such people so they “may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [them] out of darkness into his marvelous light”. What does he mean that they’ve been called “out of darkness into his marvelous light”? By “darkness”, Peter means the kingdom, or domain, of Satan and sin, which once enslaved and controlled them. By “his marvelous light”,  means the awesome presence and kingdom of God. Thus, “the excellencies”, or excellent qualities, that he says they now proclaim, or “declare”, are those of God and Christ. These excellencies are most clearly known through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and all its aspects.

In the last verse of this passage, Peter explains what it means that God called the aliens out of darkness and into His marvelous light. First, he says that when they were in darkness, they “were not a people”. In other words, they weren’t separate from the unbelieving world, but a part of it. However, now they are “God’s people”. Second, when they were in darkness, they “had not received mercy”, or compassion and salvation from God, but now they “have received mercy”, and are therefore in His marvelous light. These are just two of the excellencies of God that they can proclaim.

You’re a Priest, an Honored One, and Blessed to Bear God’s Praises

So, if you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, how does this passage apply to you?

First, as you go to Christ as your Prophet, High Priest, and King, with your brothers and sisters in Christ, you’re being built up to be a part of a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus. This means that you’re a “living stone” in the “spiritual house” of God’s temple, as well as a holy priest in His priesthood. Therefore, you offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus.

Second, because God lay Christ in heaven as “a cornerstone chosen and precious”, and since you trust in Him as your Savior and King, you won’t be put to shame, or disappointed, but will be blessed with eternal joy and pleasure, which you are beginning to experience now.

Third, God has honored you by making you a part of His spiritual temple, and a priest in His priesthood, since you trust in Christ.

Fourth, remember that, to those who reject God’s lordship over them, Christ is a stumbling stone, and a rock of offense. People only trust in Christ if God changes their hearts through the Holy Spirit using the gospel.

Fifth, you are a member of God’s chosen race of people, which is different from the rest of the world.

Sixth, you are a royal priest, so you participate in Christ’s reign over the universe as you serve God as a priest, and will eventually share in Christ’s reign over the new earth.

Seventh, you are a citizen in God’s holy nation of the church, so you have Christ as your King, and His law to obey.

Eighth, you are a part of a people for God’s own possession, so He delights in you, and loves you.

Ninth, God has made you all these things so you can “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”. This is you main purpose on this earth.

Finally, at one time you were an enemy of God, heading for His punishment, but now He has given you His mercy, and saved you from your sins and His wrath.

If you aren’t offering sacrifices to God by obeying Him, it’s because you aren’t a part of His people. If you aren’t a part of His people, it’s because you’ve never called to the Lord Jesus Christ for His mercy and forgiveness. If that’s the case, then you’re still an enemy of God, and heading for His eternal punishment for your rebellion. The good news is that God sent His eternal and divine Son to earth to become the man, Jesus, to live the perfect life, to suffer and die on a Roman cross as punishment for our rebellion against God, to rise from the dead, and to go into heaven as our King. God commands everyone to change their minds and trust in Christ as their Savior from sin and King to receive His forgiveness, since He’s going to judge everyone perfectly through Jesus, and punish His enemies in a place of eternal torment. Please make sure you’ve repented of your rebellion and are trusting only in Christ as your Savior and King for God’s mercy, forgiveness, and peace. If you do that, Christ commands His people to be baptized by one of them as an appeal to God for a good conscience, and the first profession of faith to the church.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the:

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.