1 Peter 2:1-10
As I was doing my Quiet Time this morning, I was struck by 4 incredible things, and I wanted to share them with you. Remember that 1 Peter was written to Christian believers.
Starting in verse 4, Peter talks of Jesus that He is a living stone, and the cornerstone, and that we also are living stones. This is what makes up the church … believers with Jesus as the foundation. Verse 7 says this, “Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious…” Wow, that really struck me. Many of us have sung the song “More Precious Than Silver”, but do we think of Jesus as precious? What does that even mean, and what does that look like for us today in 2008? Think of it this way. What are some things that you ALWAYS have with you? For me, that would be my MacBook, iPod and cell phone. These things are almost always with me. For a couple of reasons; they are practical, useful tools; they are things that are fun; they are things that are expensive and I don’t want to let them get stolen, etc.; they are precious to me. What Peter is saying here is that Jesus Christ should be precious to us. He paid for our sins; He gave us hope; He gave us access into Heaven. As much as we treat our “stuff” as being precious, we need to think and treat Jesus as even more precious. I don’t throw my MacBook around. I don’t forget about my cell phone for days or weeks on end. Why should I treat Jesus any differently? Jesus is precious. We need to act like He is precious.
Then in verse 9, Peter tells us that we have been called out of darkness into “marvelous light”. Now, why does Peter use the phrase, “marvelous light”? Well, when you are stuck in darkness, light is the most amazing thing you have ever seen. Several months ago, Shallon and the girls were out of town for a while, and I was home alone. One night at about 6 PM the power went out. It wasn’t a big deal at first because it was still light outside. However, I was watching a basketball game, so that was kind of annoying. But I just figured I would wait for the power to come back on. I had not yet eaten dinner, and now I didn’t want to open the fridge, and I couldn’t use the stove or microwave anyway. So I waited. Finally at 8 PM, I went to Wendy’s because I was pretty hungry. And the lights were still out. I got back home and it was now dark outside. So I lit a bunch of candles, grabbed a flashlight and started to read a book. The lights were still out. I was incredibly bored, even while reading, so I went to bed at about 9:30 PM. And the lights were still out. Finally at about 12:30 AM, the power was restored and the lights came back on. I was so excited that I got out of bed and turned the kitchen light on, the living room light on; I turned the TV on. It was so amazing that even though it had been really dark, now I could see everything! I was really, really happy. God has done that and more for us through Jesus. We didn’t have flashlights or candles in the darkness we were in. It was pitch black. God called us into this marvelous light, and we should be rejoicing and thankful.
Verse 10 has two things that go together. First Peter tells us that we were not a people. In other words, we were nobody. We were nothing. But now, we are God’s people. The significance there is huge, because in the Old Testament God’s people were the chosen of Israel, and everyone else were dogs. Now, through this amazing grace that Jesus put on us, we, too, can be called God’s people. We have His name, His mark on our lives. Our citizenship is in heaven. In 1 Peter 1:17 Peter talks of our “stay here” on earth. This is not our home, just a place we’re hanging out at for a while. When in Portugal last summer, I asked my good friend Dave West where his citizenship was…Portugal or the U.S. He said that doesn’t matter, because his real citizenship is in heaven. What a great reminder!
The second thing in verse 10 is that Peter tells us that we were without mercy, but now we have obtained mercy. I don’t know about you, but I do not have enough money to buy God’s mercy. In fact, no one does. God’s mercy isn’t for sale, because it has already been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. What is mercy? Mercy is God’s kindness towards us to forgive us through Jesus’ sacrifice so that we can have a relationship with Him.
He is precious. Why? He brought us from darkness into marvelous light. He made us who were not a people to be God’s people. He gave us who had not obtained mercy the great mercy of God. So, yeah, He is precious, and we need to think of Him in that way, and thank Him for those things He has done for us!
