Corner Stone and Living stones: (2:4-10)
Our Lord Jesus Christ is very merciful to us. He has a fullness of grace. But even the best of God’s servants, in this life, have only a taste of the consolations of God. Christ is called a Stone, to teach his servants that He is their protection and security, the foundation on which they are built. He is precious in the excellence of his nature, the dignity of his office, and the glory of his services. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of the church (Eph. 2:20), binding the building together, Whether we agree with each other or not, all true Christians belong to each other as living stones in God’s building.
Here Peter gave a full description of Jesus Christ. He is a living stone because He was raised from the dead in victory. He is the chosen stone of the Father, and He is precious. Peter pointed out that Jesus Christ, though chosen by God, was rejected by men (Isa. 28:16; Ps.118:22). He was not the kind of Messiah they were expecting, so they stumbled over Him. Jesus referred to this same Scripture when. He debated with the Jewish leaders (Matt.21:42). Though rejected by men, Jesus Christ was exalted by God!
The real cause of this Jewish stumbling was their refusal to submit to the Word (1 Pet.2:8). Had they believed and obeyed the Word, they would have received their Messiah and been saved. Of course, people today still stumble over Christ and His cross (1 Cor.1:18 ff). Those who believe on Christ shall not be ashamed. As David says: “those who look to Him are radiant, their faces never covered with shame.” (Ps.14:5).
In His first mention of the church, Jesus compared it to a building: “I will build My church” (Matt 16:18). Believers are living stones in His building. Each time someone trusts Christ, another stone is quarried out of the pit of sin and cemented by grace into the building. It may look to us that the church on earth is a pile of rubble, but God sees the total structure as it grows (Eph. 2:19-22). It is a wonderful privilege to be a part of His church.
Peter wrote this letter to believers living in five different provinces, yet he said that they all belonged to one “spiritual house.” There is a unity of God’s people that transcends all local and individual assemblies and fellowships. We belong to each other because we belong to Christ. This does not mean that doctrinal and denominational distinctive are wrong, because each local church must be fully persuaded by the Spirit. But it does mean that we must not permit our differences to destroy the spiritual unity we have in Christ. We ought to be mature enough to disagree without in any sense becoming disagreeable. Perhaps we can remember the word “WADA” (we agree to disagree agreeably). Peter further gives 4-pictures: