[0:00] You're listening to the sermon podcast of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee. To learn more about us, visit our website at gracereformed.org.
[0:11] And now, today's sermon. As we continue to work through this letter, it's best if we often circle back and look and pick up what Peter has said before so that we don't get so focused down in on a few verses that we forget the forest of everything that Peter is saying and see the beauty and wonder of how it all fits together.
[0:36] If I were to sum up what we have covered so far in the first chapter, Peter is opening their eyes to the new spiritual reality they live in and for.
[0:52] He uses all kinds of word pictures and stories from the Old Testament. I'm going to preach a whole entire sermon why we should call it the First Testament because Old has an indication of not of value.
[1:07] It's the First Testament, the Foundation Testament. Peter, as a good shepherd as he was, takes time to work through the hard parts of our faith and keeps pulling us back to this foundation that is Christ for the purpose of life, for the purpose of our love.
[1:26] And in the first chapter, Peter uses the sandwich effect. It's a great parenting tactic as well. Love, instruction, and love. Peter presents us with the gospel, the hope of life.
[1:40] And then what we are fighting against, which is the flesh, living in this new kingdom, and then he follows it back up again with the gospel. In chapter 2, we find ourselves in another gospel sandwich.
[1:55] But this time, he starts to add to the significance of both the gospel and our place in the new kingdom. Now, I want to make this next statement as clear as possible to avoid missing the reasons for Peter's next few verses.
[2:17] Peter is calling the churches to wake up to the reality of the spiritual world they now live in. Two spiritual powers rule the world, and they live in opposition.
[2:34] The God of this world, as Paul describes them and Jesus describes them as the ruler of this world, Satan, leads the kingdom of darkness, and our king, Jesus, leads the kingdom of light.
[2:46] This is the fight that Peter is referencing. Before we look into chapters 2 and following, real quick, just turn with me to Ephesians chapter 1.
[2:57] If you have notes and you want to put notes in, you should put this down. The Bible presents this fight, and it's really hard to understand if you don't embrace the spiritual war, because this is where Peter is writing to the churches in Rome who are right in the middle of this battle.
[3:16] And so are we. So when we look at our fellow humans who are not in the light, they are not the followers of Jesus, we need to have a biblical perspective of them.
[3:28] We need to look at them the way in which Paul looks at them. Peter looks at them. This is Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1. He says, And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, and when you once walked.
[3:42] Now, here's the key phrase. He says, Another title for Satan.
[4:28] Here's the contrast. This is who you used to be. Now, turn back to 1 Peter chapter 1, and look at verse 3. This is who you used to be. You used to be under the rule of the kingdom of darkness, his spiritual power upon you, impressing upon you to carry out these sinful desires.
[4:49] 1 Peter 1, 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
[5:03] The difference between those who are dead to the spiritual eyes and dead spiritually, who only give in to the passions of their flesh, contrasted to us, who he starts this letter, we have a new birth.
[5:16] We have a new life within us. So we now live in the spirit. So what does this mean to live in the spirit of light, in the spirit of Christ?
[5:27] Well, we can run. We can see the divide between the two realms. We can see the divide between the two spiritual kingdoms. Not only can we see the spiritual split, but they're at war.
[5:43] It's not that there's two options of living, but they oppose. They directly oppose each other. And so this is why he warns us of these actions in verse 13.
[5:56] Chapter 1, verse 13, he says, you're going to have to prepare your mind for action because you've stepped out of slavery into the light, and this realm wants to destroy everything that is good, including you who are now rescued.
[6:10] Prepare your mind for action. And so this is how he begins chapter 2 with this contrast between living in a former way under the kingdom of darkness, under the compulsion of our gratification, and now living for the king in the spirit.
[6:28] This is a refresh from last week. There are moments in my experience at this church where I've preached passages. This is not in my notes, so. This is where I get nervous when I start talking out of my notes because I have no idea what I'm about to say.
[6:44] There are moments where I preach things, and after I preach them, it just resonates in my heart for the rest of the week and just crushes me. This is one of those that just reminded me of how often I do the very thing Peter tells me not to do.
[7:01] I live for the gratification of my flesh. He says, so, the so is connected to what came before. You've been rescued. You've been cleansed.
[7:11] You have a new heart. You have a new identity. You're a new person. Because of that, so put away all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander.
[7:22] That's what used to control us. You see, every single one of those is to take advantage of someone else for our own gratification, and no one benefits.
[7:34] Not us, not the people we take advantage of. Each one of these actions is self-preservation, to please that which is insatiable. But now what do we desire?
[7:50] Not to gratify sinful, harmful flesh, but the freedom found in the spirit, and he describes it as this food that we live on.
[8:02] Right? Look at verse two. Like newborn infants, long for the pure milk, that by it you may grow into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good, that the Lord is kind and merciful.
[8:15] There it is, right there under our noses, and we often miss it, right? Spiritual milk. That's what he's talking about. You live in a spiritual kingdom, and a spiritual war, and what makes you survive is not physical.
[8:30] It's spiritual. A word picture that we can see, but often it's hard to apply in its practice. Peter is saying, we live by a spiritual power that comes to us through the means of words.
[8:46] What drove our actions before was the insatiable desires to gratify ourselves, and now what motivates our actions is a power outside of our flesh, something that we know we must say no to.
[9:02] And the only way we can do that is if we truly taste the goodness of God in Scripture, which is why we preach the gospel so much. Peter just, summing it this way, Peter says these words end up controlling you in a good way, in such a way that you long to live upon it.
[9:22] You long to seek for it. Well now, let's read chapters two and verses four and following. This is where we'll pick up this week. Peter's about to use a lot of Old Testament pictures.
[9:34] We sing about it. We sing about it today. The stone, the rock. We're gonna spend a lot of time next week learning more about the concept of the temple, the priesthood of all believers.
[9:49] What does this mean? Why is it so significant? But before we do that, we have to start with the first part of Peter's sandwich, which is the gospel again. He unfolds the motivation for the church.
[10:00] They're about to embark on something very hard to the moment where they're gonna lay their lives down as a sacrifice for the sake of their king. But in order for them to do that, there has to be a motivation.
[10:14] God has never motivated us with fear. So how does he motivate us? Look at verse four. As you come to him, this is picking up on the end of the verse where he's talking about this new salvation.
[10:26] We're coming to him in faith. We're trusting him for the salvation. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men in the sight of God and chosen and precious, you yourselves like a living stone are being built up as a spiritual house to a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
[10:44] There's a lot of words in there and we're like, yeah, I'm supposed to be excited about that. But I have no clue what that means. Well, let's just start with the phrase, as you come to him.
[10:57] Walking away from our former life of ignorance under the rule of a former dark ruler, those around us are going to see that we are walking away from one kind of life and towards another.
[11:16] And so we're not just, this is what I love about the Bible is that we're not just trying to not sin, but we're walking towards a loving and kind and gracious God who wants to lavish upon us his love and his blessings.
[11:31] And so Peter says, as you're coming to him for those blessings, as you come to him to receive this spiritual love and affection, he says, you are a living stone.
[11:46] Now, there's no way I'm going to try and unfold that today. Please come back next week. I promise you, the connection will be there. I will introduce it to you at the end of the sermon, so stay with me.
[11:58] But he says this, the experience of coming to God and away from the world, this is the natural response. Rejected by men.
[12:11] Rejected by men. This new place we have in the kingdom, this new role of being a part of a living temple, a stone within this temple, the world doesn't accept it because it's the opposite of what they are.
[12:28] This is so good to hear from Peter. It's refreshing. First, hearing this is telling you, you're not crazy.
[12:40] If you feel this disconnect from the affections and the desires of the world and the people around you, there's not something wrong with you. This is normal.
[12:51] It's natural to feel the disconnect, to see men reject your decisions for living for Christ. You see, Jesus is saving sinners from their sin.
[13:08] We love this gospel. We love this hope. We love this new life. We love the new hope. But if you turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, Peter reminds you of those who live in the dark realm, the realm under the ruler of the God of this age.
[13:24] This is a verse that is so helpful in understanding why they reject us. See, the world does not see the gospel the same way we do.
[13:38] And this is why they are rejecting us as we come to our king. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 3. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
[14:08] No matter of evidence will change the heart and the mind of a person because they can't see the evidence for what it is because there is a powerful, dark ruler who blinds them from seeing it.
[14:25] So we're here celebrating. Look what God has done to me. I don't have to say yes to the flesh and hurt people. I don't have to be under the control of my former life.
[14:37] And we're singing, we literally were just singing about this. It's the rock of our salvation. Right? But the world around us says, you're celebrating something that is not worth celebrating.
[14:49] What you're saying is our choice of life should be abandoned. We enjoy our choice of life. That's not good news. What you're saying is the way I live is not acceptable.
[15:03] That's bad news for them. They don't want to be judged. They don't want to be told that satisfying their flesh is wrong. So when we celebrate the gospel and we tell people about it, we proclaim it, Peter is like, you're going to be rejected because their eyes are blind to the truth of these divide.
[15:24] They don't even believe that they're under the realm of a dark lord. They don't believe that. You go ask people, do you know that Satan is controlling your heart and mind? They'd be like, you're nuts.
[15:34] You're nuts. Because he's that good. I have teenagers.
[15:50] They have friends. I often get to spend time with the youth group teaching them. And over the years, they have done counseling and have spent time loving and caring for these students.
[16:02] And I'll tell you, man, some of the stuff that they deal with is not, I never really had to deal with when I was in high school. The pressures that our world puts on young people today concerning genders and concerning the way in which you describe yourself, concerning things like black lives, there's so much pressure.
[16:29] If you have teenagers, you should just flat out ask your kids. What's it like? What conversations are you having?
[16:40] What's the pressure? Because I'm telling you right now, they are experiencing this rejection. If they stand up and say, I don't agree with your choice.
[16:52] Not out of spite. Not because you hate them. Not because you don't like them. Not because you're not even their friend. But I live for the king. I've been set free from the bondage of those types of sin. I don't want to celebrate that.
[17:03] The world wants us to celebrate their sin. And church, when we lovingly and kind, with gracious compassion, understanding their position, say, we're not going to celebrate that.
[17:17] They are going to reject you and you are going to feel it. And I guarantee you, there are many in here adults who feel this, but I know for a fact the students are feeling it.
[17:33] This is what Peter's talking about. This rejection for standing for that which is good and holy. Our nation is not under the influence of the gospel of light.
[17:47] For the gospel is not being preached in homes and in a lot of churches, but self-modification and acceptance of sin. Then what spiritual power is our nation under?
[18:01] The same that Peter is writing to in the churches of Rome. According to Paul, they are under the rule of the evil one, the prince of the power of the air.
[18:13] So, yes, we can expect to be rejected because we love what is pure and good and holy. We love our God.
[18:31] Peter knows this about our human nature and it's not bad to be able to be accepted. I love the fact that my wife accepts me and loves me.
[18:43] I love to hear about her acceptance of me. Our children, they long for it, right? Our children want to feel that we as parents are proud of them. We accept them for who they are.
[18:55] It's not wrong as humans to desire those. Peter, knowing this, points out and says, now I know you're being rejected by people that you are probably family members.
[19:07] Jesus said that the gospel is going to divide husbands and wives and mothers and fathers and children. It's going to divide family. People we want to be accepted by. They're going to reject us. And then he says this, as you come to him, verse four, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.
[19:34] Oh, the choice of words here by Peter. those around us, those who we want to see and accept our new life and reject us. Peter says, but God sees you as well.
[19:48] He sees you and in his sight. I want you to examine how Peter describes what God sees. Peter says, he sees them not for what they have done.
[20:04] He uses choice words, important words. Peter does not say, oh, but your father sees you not for what you have been or will be.
[20:16] But he says, he sees you for who you are according to his affection. He gives two descriptions here. He says this, chosen and precious.
[20:29] And there's a third description Peter has already given us which is a living stone. So we're going to tie these all together and help them understand how is it we live in a world that rejects us but yet have the motivation to keep going, to keep being alive, to keep loving and not go back to our former flesh but to live by the pure milk of the spiritual word.
[20:51] So for the rest of our time, I want to break down these three descriptions of how God sees us through his eyes and focus on his kingdom work. And so he says, child, you're being rejected.
[21:02] But your father, when he looks at you, the first word he says, you are chosen. He sees you as chosen. Peter has already given us really three descriptions of what does it mean to be chosen?
[21:17] What does it mean to be chosen? So here's the three that we're going to look at this morning. Here's the first one. The way I would describe it is he's claimed you as his own. Chosen, that's what it means.
[21:28] He's claimed you as his own. Here's the biblical word that's used that Peter uses in verse 18. Chapter 1, verse 18. Peter says, you've been ransomed. Oh, I love this word.
[21:42] Ransomed. It means he, it cost him something to bring you out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Look at verse 18. 1 Peter 1, 18.
[21:53] Knowing that you were ransomed from your futile ways, from your useless life that was under the realm of darkness. He ransomed you from this, from your forefathers, not with perishable things, like, not with money, something that can be replaced.
[22:11] He didn't walk up and say, well, here's money to get you out. No. But, with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish, he walks over and sets down his perfect son and allows him to be ravished by the sin.
[22:27] He goes, that's how I chose you. That's how I ransomed you. So, according to Peter, God sees you as his prized possession that he purchased out of the hands of Satan.
[22:41] He claimed you to be his, not with just money, but with his child. I mean, as parents, it's just even hard to fathom.
[22:54] So, when Peter says, rejected by men, but claimed by God, but ransomed by God. This is Acts, if you want to put this in your notes, this is Acts chapter 2 and verse 23.
[23:11] Acts 2, 23. It says, this Jesus, this is Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost, so Peter again, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
[23:25] He was the planned ransom child. It was always in God's plan that he would choose you because he was going to ransom you. He was going to pay you, buy you back from your prison and he would do so with the blood of his son.
[23:40] It wasn't a reaction, it was a plan. He's telling you how much he loves you. This isn't like, oh, oops, please no child, when I look at you, I see you as my chosen.
[23:53] So this battle between good and evil is part of this redemptive story. It's a design to comfort us knowing God chose to be our redeemer.
[24:06] Turn here, these passages, I've mentioned them before, but they're so helpful here. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. We're going to look at two verses here. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and look at verse 8.
[24:21] Just so we can feel the weight of what does it mean to be ransomed. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 8. It says this, none of the rulers of this age, in context, he's talking about the spiritual realm, the gods and the rulers of the principalities of the air, people like Satan.
[24:39] None of the rulers of this age understood this death that's coming, this ransom. For if they would have, for if they have understood that he was going to ransom them out of their domain into his, to buy them back, they would have not crucified the Lord of glory.
[24:56] So when Christ came and rescued us by submitting to death, the evil forces that thought they had won, destroying the king, celebrating over his death, found out quickly.
[25:11] God was using them. Look at verse 9. But as it is written, no eye has seen, no ear heard, no heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.
[25:27] Rejected by men, but chosen by God. And there's no way for your heart and mind to even understand how much he loves you. In the Chronicles of Narnia, there's a story in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
[25:47] And this story is, one of the main characters is, his name is Edmund. In this land of Narnia, it's being, at this moment, ruled by an evil force called the White Witch.
[25:58] And early in the story, the White Witch seeks to keep her power and knows that the prophecy that there is coming the sons of Adam who would destroy her and take her off the throne and she doesn't want this to happen.
[26:10] So what does the White Witch do when she meets Edmund, the son of Adam? She offers him this enchanted box of Turkish delight which proves to be irresistible to Edmund at first.
[26:24] He can't get enough. It's insatiable. And consuming the magical candy triggers this greed within him, surpassing what is typical even for a child.
[26:38] His fixation on the sweets becomes excessive despite witnessing the witch's cruelty and recognizing her danger.
[26:50] Edmund willingly hands over his siblings, commits treason. He chooses to rationalize his decision and he's not going to be initially driven by greed for Turkish delight.
[27:04] Edmund later reveals a corruption stemming from a desire for power and enticing promises made by the witch of who he could be. To gain the pleasures he desired, he enslaved himself to the witch and is now trapped there.
[27:26] A second character in the story is a lion. It's known as Aslan. C.S. Lewis ends up representing Aslan as Jesus in this story. And C.S. Lewis provides an amazing insight to this idea of being ransomed by evil, from evil, by an innocent substitute.
[27:47] When the White Ritz comes to claim Edmund's life, Aslan tells her he will take his place, Edmund's place, to receive the punishment for Edmund's treason.
[28:00] His crimes. And on the night of Aslan's death, he willingly lays on the stone table and the knife is raised over his head and listen to what the White Witch says.
[28:12] And now who has won? Fool, did you not think by all this you would save the human traitor?
[28:23] Now I will kill you instead of him as our pact was and so the deep magic will appease. But when you are dead, that what will prevent me from killing him as well?
[28:37] And who will take him out of my hand then? Understand that you have given me Narnia forever. You have lost your own life and you have not saved his in that knowledge to spare and die.
[28:55] After Aslan's death, he rises from the dead. And there he's talking to Edmund's two sisters, Susan and Lucy. And he tells them, if the witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the deep magic a little differently.
[29:15] For she would have known that if a willing victim who had committed no treachery died in a traitor's stead, the stone table would crack and death itself would begin to unwind.
[29:29] Do you know what this story depicts? 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 8.
[29:39] None of the rulers of this age understood this for if they had, they would not have crucified him. That's wrapped up in that word chosen.
[29:52] Peter says, the act of laying his life down to redeem you and pay for your treason against the king. That's how he sees you. Beyond love that you could comprehend.
[30:06] This is why verse 9 is so good. But as it is written, what no eye has seen nor ear heard nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. We have a hard time understanding the depths of the gospel of what it means to be chosen by God.
[30:23] See, the world rejects you because you are walking away from slavery that you know benefits no one. And Peter is not drawing you towards an angry God or God to be feared, a God who wags his finger at you and says, how dare you do that since what I've done for you?
[30:40] But he says, look at what I am and how I think of you. You are experiencing this in the sight of men but when I look at you, dear child, see my love.
[30:52] See how I chose to love you. But not just claimed. He didn't just claim us. He didn't just reach in to the kingdom of darkness and pull us out but it says a part of being chosen is that we are claimed and cleansed.
[31:08] Oh, this is so good. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19. He does not leave us in our sinful state.
[31:20] Hebrews 10, 19. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through a curtain that is through his flesh, his death on the cross, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a heart, a true heart, in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
[31:49] Amen. He covers your sin and then it says he cleanses your conscience, the very part of you that barks at you and says, you're a sinner.
[32:05] This is hard for us because we don't really live in a temple world where there's the idea of God's holiness but you understand, next week we'll get into this, you don't just walk into the holy of holies.
[32:16] I mean, they would have to declothe themselves and take a bath and make sure there was no filth to walk into the presence of God, one man on behalf of the entire nation and if he did it wrong, he would die on the spot. He goes, you know, they would put a bell on his leg in case they kept hearing it ring, they'd pull the dead body out.
[32:33] He did something wrong when he was in there. He says, you can do this without fear. You can stand before the holy God because of what he did to you.
[32:46] He cleansed you from any sin that could ever be used to condemn you. Not only from your past but your future and your conscience is set clean.
[32:58] You have no stains. You have nothing remaining. This is all under child when he sees you he sees chosen, claimed, cleansed and thirdly, clothed, clothed.
[33:16] These are all part of being chosen. You see, he just doesn't leave us there now naked in our newly washed bodies for what would we do with them?
[33:28] The same thing our children do after we give them baths. They get dirty again and they need another bath. But our cleansing from the Father is once and for all because he then closed us in the perfect righteousness of his Son.
[33:47] Imagine if each of the deeds that Jesus committed, each obedience, each act of love was transferred into this most beautiful robe robe.
[34:01] And the robe represented the entirety of Jesus' 33 years of life. Everything he did was in full color. Like this map.
[34:13] You just journey just the goodness of who he is. And it's beautiful. And he says, when God chose you, he brought you out of this evil place.
[34:25] He removed everything that would cause distance between you and him. And then he walks over and he puts that beautiful robe on you. And he buttons it up and says, child, I see you as I see Jesus.
[34:42] You see, rejected by men because of the way they see us.
[34:53] And the father looks down and says, oh son, daughter, when I see you, I see you as chosen. You see, that allows us to endure a lot.
[35:07] Because there's nothing about our past that can condemn us. And there's nothing about our future that should terrify us for it's all secure. So when we read chosen by God, unpack that work to see the full picture.
[35:24] Claimed, being ransomed by his death. Cleansed by his blood. A sacrifice to be free from the sin and clothed with the obedience of Jesus Christ.
[35:36] But he uses two words, right? He says, chosen and precious. I love that Peter uses both words because they're significant together but they're important separately.
[35:46] Turn with me to Isaiah 43. I think he's picking up on this idea from the prophet when speaking of the children of God. This concept of precious, you see, you always know what's value to you when you have to choose.
[36:03] Right? You have to choose. If your house is on fire, you're going to go for that which is most precious to you to make sure that you protect it. Right? That's what that word is used for.
[36:15] That which has the most value. Listen to how God tries to comfort the children of Israel as they continue to fail. God's love is not based upon our actions.
[36:31] Isaiah 43.1 But now thus says the Lord who created you O Jacob, he who formed you O Israel, fear not. For I have redeemed you.
[36:46] I've ransomed you. You don't need to be afraid anymore. I have called you with my name. That's adoption. I've put my name upon you and I know your name.
[36:59] You are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you.
[37:12] When you walk through fire you will not be consumed and the flames shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel your Savior.
[37:25] I gave Egypt as a ransom. Cush and Saba in exchange for you because you are precious in my eyes and honored and I love you.
[37:41] You see you're walking away from the world but look what you're walking towards. You're walking towards a God that calls you precious.
[37:53] Says I chose to be in a relationship with you. You did not choose to be in a relationship with me. Church it is safe to say that God would not send his son to die for us if he did not count us to be precious.
[38:12] Does it really matter at this moment what anyone else thinks? Does it? there isn't a like button big enough for the thumb of God to come down and hit it to appease this side of us that God loves us he accepts us he counts us as precious he sent his son as the approval mark the cross forever becomes the approval mark of how he thinks of you and this is why Jesus says in Matthew 16 26 for what will it profit a man if he gains the approval of the whole world and forfeits his soul it's okay to be rejected by men this leads us to our third and final point this morning chosen precious but the first title he gave us says that
[39:17] God sees us as a living stone we're not going to impact this in its full fullness this week but the idea of it I'll introduce it to you and then we will have so much fun next week if I think if I put it in context it might help you chosen every human wants to feel wanted right and so he's chosen means he wants you secondly to then feel precious every human wants to feel valued not only not only do we want to be chosen we want to feel valued listen we've all stood on the line of the dodgeball wall and we're chosen and some of us were chosen last does that make us feel special or significant or valued we were chosen because there were no other choices we were chosen because we had to be chosen we got stuck with that team
[40:31] God says when you were at your worst I chose you therefore you were precious to me and then lastly he gives this concept of a living stone this is our new identity our new purpose for life see Peter handles every area that we are going to want to fall back into in the passions of our flesh and our desire the world over here they want the acceptance of the world they want to feel significant and they want to have a purpose and the world in their darkness under the realm and the teaching of the evil one he gives them their purpose listen our world does not lack purpose and reason they know what the reason of their life is it's to satisfy themselves and Peter calls this and says look as you're coming to Jesus as you're coming to him this new spiritual life everything that you think you need over here by these people who are rejecting you really who are your mission God already has for you he's given you your significance he's given you your value your wanted your value and here is now your purpose you become a living stone here's the image he places you this new spiritual being us he places us within this massive kingdom called this temple and we become the representatives of
[41:55] God to men this next few chapters this is what it looks like in the government this is what it looks like in the church this is what it looks like in your community and this is what it looks like in your home and your marriage every person to whom God has chosen is significant in their role in the kingdom this is an introduction for next week but I want to go ahead and say it now it is heartbreaking to hear what our world does to the significance of humans your significance is based on your gender your weight your race your income your job your social acceptance this is not how God has designed his kingdom it breaks my heart that moms feel like their life isn't significant because all they do is laundry or all they do is a side house or this and that my life isn't significant according to the culture and according to
[42:58] Christianity we use our jobs as a means of our identity our income as a means of identity even our church we can fall into the game that the largest ministry is the most significant ministry if we listen to what Peter is saying over the next few weeks not only are we going to experience acceptance and value but he will provide purpose for our church in ways that every day when we wake up we will understand that what I do today matters it matters because I am a living stone I am a part of the advancement of God's presence to his people people how you love your spouse and how you love your children is a reflection of the love in which you have received and you have no clue what God is doing in that love you have no clue what God is doing to your neighbors and to the nation around us every interaction matters because you are a walking living temple he calls you a priest a priest is one who goes on behalf of God to the people and ministers
[44:14] God's love and affection to the people and then in return takes the people's needs and brings them to that's what we become and so we're going to unpack that next week but what I want us to be encouraged with this week is church if we truly are coming to Christ by faith believing in his gospel turning away from our old passions turning away from our old desires saying no to the slavery of sin all of it the world is not going to accept you remember the war is not with them Paul says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the forces that are behind them we're here to love and rescue them so as they reject us we don't find our significance from them we find it from our God and that strength and that power we use to then love our neighbors let's pray our father so practical we need to be reminded of just how much you love us we are such sinners who often turn back to our flesh this week this afternoon at lunch may we encourage one another build one another up to look to the spiritual milk that will satisfy who we are and what we do in Christ's name amen thanks for listening to the sermon podcast of Grace
[45:51] Reformed Church in Spring Hill Tennessee where everyone is in equal need of grace to plan a visit or to learn more about us visit our website at gracereformed.org f