The Household of God

2 verse 10.

1 Peter 1, 3, 3.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth,

for a sincere brotherly love,

love one another earnestly and with pure heart,

since you have been born again,

not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,

through the living and mighty word of God.

For all flesh is like grass,

and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers, and the flower falls,

but the word of the Lord remains forever.

And this word is the good news that is preached to you.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all surrender.

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk,

that by it you may grow up into salvation,

if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men,

but in the sight of God, chosen and precious,

view yourselves like living stones,

being built up as a spiritual house,

to be a holy priesthood,

to offer spiritual sacrifices,

acceptable to God and Jesus Christ.

For it stands in Scripture,

behold,

I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone,

chosen and precious.

Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

So the honor is for you who believe,

but for those who do not believe,

the stone that the builders rejected

has the wrongly chief cornerstone,

and a stone of stumbling,

and a rock of offense.

They stumble because they disobey the word,

as they were asked him to do.

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.

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.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

So please follow along with me.

I hope you found your place in the Bible

in 1 Peter 1-2,

starting in verse 22 of chapter 1.

So Peter just talked about what it means,

what it looks like to be in right relationship with God,

and now in this passage,

he addresses what it looks like

to be in right relationship with one another

in the church,

and also with relation to the world.

And as I was preparing this message

and meditating on 1 Peter 1-2,

I was reminded of what I read

in a book entitled

The Rise of Christianity,

which is a historical,

kind of sociological book

written by Rodney Stark,

who's a sociologist in Baylor University.

And he recounts the meteoric rise

of early Christianity,

how it went from being a fringe religion

among Jews

to becoming the majority religion

of the Roman Empire,

the most powerful empire in the world at the time,

in just a few centuries.

It's not longer than the time

the United States has been in existence.

And he attributes this to two major factors.

And the first is that

while birth control, abortion,

and infanticide,

especially of female babies,

were rampant throughout the Roman Empire,

the Christians refused to follow these practices.

For that reason,

because they kept their female babies

and they didn't have abortions,

they had a much more balanced gender distribution,

which allowed them to reproduce

at a much higher rate

than the rest of the population.

So that's one thing,

is that the Christians were growing

because of their treatment of babies.

And second,

he attributes this to

the way Christians behaved

and lived

in the midst of the two epidemics,

plagues of 165 AD

and 251 AD.

These plagues were so widespread,

they wiped out a third

of the entire Roman Empire

each time.

So each time this plague happened.

And so that's millions,

several millions of people

each time dying.

And at that time,

understandably so in some ways,

many people

in the Roman Empire

abandoned the cities

and left their friends and families

to spare themselves,

to preserve themselves

instead of being contaminated.

But during that time,

Christians stayed in the cities

and they cared for the sick.

And the result of that,

the reason was because

they had a tighter social bond

with one another

than the rest of the Roman population.

And the result was

that the Christians

had a smaller casualty rate

than the rest of the Roman Empire

when these plagues hit.

So those are kind of

the non-spiritual,

kind of sociological reasons

why this sociologist says

the church grew.

But as you think about that,

we see that there's a very simple

biblical explanation

for all of this as well.

And you see this in John 13, 35

where Jesus tells his disciples,

By this,

all people will know

that you are my disciples

if you have love for one another.

Really,

what the Christians were doing

was nothing creative

or different.

It was radical,

but it was simply

loving one another

better than everybody else

in the Roman Empire.

They loved the little ones

in their midst.

They loved the sick ones

in their midst.

And as they did so,

they made Christianity

look extremely attractive

to the Washington world.

And what accounts

for how the early Christians

loved one another this way?

And this passage

in 1 Peter,

1 Peter 1:22

chapter 1, verse 22,

chapter 2, verse 10,

gives us a glimpse

into what truth

creates this kind of community.

And he tells us

the main idea here

is that the household of God,

the family of God,

the household of God

should love one another

because they have been born

of the living word

through nursing

with the life-giving milk

and for rearing

on the living stone.

So,

three things.

So first is

the reason

why we should love one another.

Second is

the means

by which we love one another.

And the last

is the goal

of loving one another.

And the reason

is that we have been born

of the living word.

And the means

is the nursing

with the life-giving milk.

And the goal

is the rearing

or the building

on the living stone.

It's Christ.

So I'm going to follow

that basic outline.

First,

let's look at verses

22 to 25 of chapter 1

where Peter tells us

about the reason

why we should love

one another

that we have been born

of the living word of God.

He says in verses

22 to 23,

having purified

your souls

by your obedience

to the truth

for a sincere

brotherly love,

love one another

earnestly

from a pure heart

since

you have been

born again

not of perishable seed

but of imperishable

through the living

and abiding

word of God.

Note

the structure

of that first sentence.

He says

the very reason

for which we have

purified our souls

by obedience

to the truth

is to love

one another.

He says

having purified

your souls

by obedience

to the truth

for a sincere

brotherly love.

That's the reason

for which we

believe in the gospel

the good news

of Jesus Christ.

The reason

for which we

obey the truth

of the gospel

is so that we

may have sincere

brotherly love.

So becoming

a Christian

then is not

merely about

assenting

to a set

of propositional truths.

It's about

loving God

and one another.

And when we

believe in the gospel

of Jesus Christ

the good news

that Christ

the son of God

became a man

and then lived

a perfect life

and died

to pay for our sins

and rose again

to give us new life.

When you believe

this truth

we do not simply

get to know

about God

or hear about God

but we come

to love God

and from that

we come to love

one another.

So then the

touchstone

of our faith

then is love.

It's an earnest

love from a pure

heart as it says

in these verses.

It's not

theological aptitude

or spiritual

gifting even.

It's love

that we have

for God

and for one another.

And by love

I don't mean

this kind of

flimsy

weightless

kind of

empty

kind of love

that people

talk about

and it's better

to call that

kindness

than love

probably.

And C.S. Lewis

highlights this difference

in his book

The Problem of Pain.

He says

You guys follow that?

So the so-called

kindness

that says to people

do whatever

makes you happy

and that's fine

with me

is no love

at all

rather it's a cold

detached

and uninvested

kind of kindness.

Because with the people

that we care the most

about we risk rejection.

We speak the truth.

We get our hands dirty.

We tell them

we don't simply tell them

do whatever you want to do

whatever makes you happy.

We tell them

this is what is good for you.

This is what will make you happy.

We tell them

the truth.

We speak to them

into their lives.

That's what true love

looks like

because it's a love

that's rooted

in truth.

As it says

Having purified your souls

by your obedience

to the truth

for a sincere

brotherly love.

Sincere brotherly love

springs from

obedience to the truth.

They can't be divorced

from one another.

Moreover

it's important for us

to note that this is

brotherly love

and that includes

sisterly love.

It's the fact

that we have to love

one another

as siblings

as brothers and sisters

in Christ.

And I've mentioned

this to you before

but the reason for this

is that we have been

born again

into the family of God.

Now that we have God

as our father

we are by

nature of our relation

to father

related to one another

as brothers

and sisters.

And sibling love

is special

in many ways

but one way

in particular

because most other loves

we choose

and deliberately

enter into them.

So you choose

whom you're going

to date

or marry

and you choose

whom you're going

to have friends with

but you don't choose

who you get to have

as your brother

or sister.

You have them

as brother and sister

simply because

you have the same father

and the same mother.

And that's what it means

to love one another

as siblings

is that

it's not

that we gather

as a church

because

we have these

similar interests

or that we look

like each other

or that we

have similar personalities

and opinions.

But we gather

as a church

and we are united

as a church

as a family of God

because of our relation

to God the father.

So that's why

we bear with each other's quirks

each other's unusual habits

odd opinions

maybe

whatever it may be

whatever people outside

may say to us

about each other

we can still say

this is my brother

and this is my sister

because we have

the same father

in God.

And that's why

it concerns me

deeply when I hear people

say things

like

and leave the church

flippantly

saying things like

I don't like

so and so

personality

or

I don't

fit in here

at this church

or

I don't like

the style of music

here

or

my ethnicity

or age group

is not represented

in this church

because these are not

the kind of reasons

for which you'd leave

your family

because you wouldn't say

oh I just don't get along

with my brother

so I'm going to stop

being his brother

I mean

oh I don't really

like the things

that my sister does

so I'm going to stop

calling her my sister

right

a family sticks together

just because

it's a family

right

and that kind of

added to betrays

a lack of commitment

to the body

of Christ

because

that's not

the kind of attitude

that would stay

in the middle

of a plague

in the city

to care for the sick

right

we are the family

of God

we are part of

the same household

and families

are meant to

suffer together

stick it out together

and change together

even as necessary

right

so that's how

we are to love

one another

as a church

because

we have been

born again

into God's family

and not only that

we have to consider

also what

we have been

born

like

consider by what

we have been

born again

into God's family

look at verse 23

with me

of chapter 1

it says

since you have

been born again

not of perishable

seed

but of imperishable

through the living

and abiding

word of God

it says

we have been

born again

by the living

and abiding

word of God

so here

Peter is

contrasting

two worlds

he is

contrasting

the eternal

spiritual realm

with the temporal

physical realm

and he is

comparing the

heavenly realm

that we are part of

now

we are citizens of

with the earthly realm

that we are still

aliens in

even though we are

maybe citizens

of an earthly nation

and this is

insightful

and helpful for us

because

what we see around us

the culture around us

the politics

the pop culture

everything that we see

may seem very real

and tangible

and permanent

and alluring

and enduring

but all the desires

of the flesh

and all the accomplishments

of our world

that feel so compelling

and irresistible

is

as it says

in verses 24 to 25

all flesh

is like grass

and all its glory

like the flower of grass

the grass withers

and the flower falls

but the word of the Lord

remains

forever

now Peter

is quoting here

from Isaiah 40

verses 68

which God

reassures his people

of the hope

that they have

while they're in exile

in the Babylonian exile

so he's reminding them

of their hope

and future deliverance

which fits exactly

the context

in which Peter's writing

to the people

who are in spiritual exile

here on earth

during the Roman Empire

and if you consider

that context

actually

it's even more remarkable

what Peter is saying

because Peter is writing

at the height

the zenith

of the Roman Empire

and the Roman Empire

as you guys know

is one of the most glorious

and impressive civilizations

in human history

the empire

was some of the largest

sprawling throughout

Europe and Asia

the emperor

was the most powerful ruler

on earth

at the time

Rome was the largest city

in the world

at the time

their army

was the most powerful military

in the world

at the time

and all of this

Peter says

grass

all its glory

like the flower of grass

the grass withers

and the flower falls

but the word of the Lord

remains

forever

and I hope you really

believe this

because this is a

very liberating

and freeing

truth

if you really get this

because then we don't

have to live

in captivity to the world

because all the worldly

fame and recognition

what school you went to

where you work

how much you make

what your position is

how much you

you know

all of this

is but grass

all the worldly riches

that we might think of

or envy people of

the car you drive

the house you live in

clothes you wear

it's all grass

right

all the worldly accomplishments

the patents

you may win

the laws you may pass

the scientific breakthroughs

architectural monuments

all of that

is grass

and I'm not trying to say

that these work

this kind of work

is not valuable

because

these work

this kind of work

can have eternal significance

when they're done

out of love for God

and love for one another

for his glory

right

but in and of themselves

all of these human accomplishments

all the things

accomplished by the flesh

is grass

they will fade in memory

and corrode with time

but God's living word

abides

it says

it will remain forever

and since you have been born

of this imperishable

living and abiding word of God

then Peter is saying

this is his logic

because you've been born

of this abiding word of God

the living word of God

you should then live

with eternity in view

you should live

with the long view

long perspective on life

and this reminds us

of 1 Corinthians 13 13

where Apostle Paul says

now faith, hope, and love

abide

these three

but the greatest of these

is love

right

so what they're saying

basically is

love is the stuff of eternity

because

because the love

is the essence

God is love

and love is the essence

of the new eternal nature

that we have

now it's people

who are indwelled

by the spirit of God

and the love of God

right

so love is what's going to last

therefore

people as

people who have been

born again

by the living

and abiding word

the eternal word

we should live

with love

because love

is what lasts

what is eternal

so that's the reason

for which

reason of why

we have to live

love one another

the house of God

should love one another

because they have been born

of the living word

and even though

it could be hard

to remember

this truth as we live

you could kind of

think of it like

let's say you were

getting into

you have a really

really entrancing

video game

that you're getting into

or a TV show

or a movie

and you're watching

and

if it's a really good

game or movie

or film

or show

you kind of get

immersed in it

right

and you come to

identify with the

characters

and you feel

sad

when the characters

are sad

you feel their joy

you feel their

empowerment

as well as their

enfeeblement

you identify with that

but at the end of that

at the end of the show

or at the end of the game

you realize

that was just temporary

it was a virtual

world

it wasn't real

and you resume

your regular life

right

and it's not going

to be unlike that

at the end of time

right

that the life we live

the human accomplishments

the world of the flesh

is going to seem

that

chimeral

that

fleeting

in light of the reality

of God's love

and the eternity

that we get to share

with him

now so if that's the reason

why we must love

one another

Peter also tells us

the means by which

we love one another

it's in chapter 2

verses 1 to 3

and he says

let me read it out loud

so put away

all malice

and all deceit

and hypocrisy

and envy

and all slander

like newborn infants

long for the pure

spiritual milk

that by it

you may grow up

into salvation

if indeed

you have tasted

that the Lord

is good

so what is the means

by which

we love one another

he says

it involves

putting away

all malice

and all deceit

and hypocrisy

and envy

and all slander

and if you notice

what category

these sins

fall into

all of these

are vices

that destroy

relationships

and community

and that's why

they're listed here

because instead

as Christians

of relating to one another

with malice

ill will

we have to have

good will

toward one another

instead of deceiving

one another

we have to be honest

and speak the truth

with one another

instead of being

hypocritical

we have to be sincere

right

just have sincere

brotherly love

for one another

and instead of

envying one another

or slandering one another

we have to seek

one another's good

and love one another

and consider others

better than ourselves

right

and this is not easy

because we have

a real spiritual enemy

and Satan is

actively seeking

to destroy us

to destroy the community

by inciting

precisely these things

malice

deceit

hypocrisy

envy

and slander

and we as a church

have to stake

our ground

our claim on the ground

and say

refuse to yield

and repent

each time we fail

in this regard

repent

and ask

forgiveness

of one another

and Peter goes on

in verse 2

like newborn infants

long for the pure

spiritual milk

that by it

you may grow up

into salvation

if indeed

you have tasted

that the Lord

is good

now he's

continuing the metaphor

of the birth

of the new birth

of Christians here

so since we have been

born again

now as newborn infants

we should crave

pure spiritual milk

and there's a

double word play

here going on

that's not apparent

in the English necessarily

but because the word

pure

literally means

deceitless

and now if you remember

he had just told us

to put away all deceit

and now he says

to crave

long for deceitless

milk

right

and then Peter also

tells us that

that we were born

of the word of God

and then he tells us

to long for

spiritual milk

the word

word

and spiritual

both come from

the same Greek root

if you're reading it

in Greek

they look almost

identical

and so he's

saying here

so the word

spiritual here

it's not the same

word that's used

later in the passage

if you look at

verse 5

it says that

the church is called

a spiritual house

that

and a holy priesthood

that offers

spiritual sacrifices

so it's a different

word

so it actually

as spiritual

it's translated

spiritual

but actually means

something more like

true to the nature

of

appropriate

or corresponding

to the nature

of

so

what that means

here then

is that

this milk

is true

to the nature

of our new

birth

by the word

of God

so he's saying

crave the milk

and milk

obviously symbolizes

nourishment

sustenance

so crave

that milk

that is true

to the nature

of your new

birth

in Christ

the deceitless

the one

something that is

deceitless

and true to

nature of your

birth

by the word

of God

that's what

he's referring

to

and the milk

here

even though

in other parts

of the Bible

the word

milk

is contrasted

with solid

food

to refer

to kind of

food for

immature

Christians

so he's saying

well mature

Christians

should eat

solid food

but milk

should be

reserved for

immature

Christians

but that's

not the

contrast

that Peter

is drawing

here

because this

is a milk

for all

of us

so he's

saying

this is

good milk

pure

milk

spiritual

milk

that every

believer

needs

every church

is fed

on

is grown

by

nurtured

by

so that's

the milk

that is

in view

so what

exactly

is this

milk

that's

probably

the question

you're

wondering

and some

people think

that the

milk here

refers to

the word

of God

and that's

possible

but I

think that

would be

a little bit

inconsistent

with the

metaphor

that Peter

is using

because he's

saying we

were born

by the word

of God

and now

we're

nursed

by the

spiritual

milk

so it's

not

consistent

if that's

what he's

doing

in terms

of

metaphor

and I

think the

key to

understanding

is in

the actual

Old Testament

verse that

Peter's quoting

which is

Psalm 34

8

and in

Psalm 34

8 which

was part of

our cult

worship

and in

the Greek

version of

the psalm

which Peter

would have been

using

it says

oh taste

oh taste

and see

that the

Lord

is good

blessed

is the

man

who

hopes

in

him

and

notice

the parallel

statements

between

tasting

and seeing

that the

Lord

is good

and setting

our hope

on him

those two

things are

parallel

and that

should

immediately

ring a bell

it should

sound familiar

because we

just learned

about in

chapter 1

verse 13

Peter was

exhorting us

to set

our hope

fully

on the

grace

that will

be brought

to us

at the

revelation

of Jesus

Christ

so that's

note the

logical

connection

there

so that

in verse

2 and

3 as

well

if indeed

you have

tasted

that the

Lord

is good

then long

for this

pure

spiritual

milk

so what

we have

tasted

is the

Lord

himself

so then

what we

ought to

long

for

the pure

spiritual

milk

also is

the

Lord

himself

it's

the grace

of God

it's the

grace

of our

Lord

that's

what we're

supposed

to set

our

hope

on

and

that's

what

we're

being

called

to

long

for

and

crave

the

milk

is

God

himself

his

grace

and

isn't

it's

cool how

Peter

leaves out

the

sea

part

but he

includes

the

taste

part

taste

if you

have

indeed

tasted

that

the

Lord

is

good

and

that's

such

an

intimate

metaphor

right

because

if you

think about

the five

senses

that we

have

seeing

hearing

smelling

and

touching

not all

of those

are

external

it's

outside

of

ourselves

but

tasting

involves

ingesting

right

it

becomes

a part

of us

when we

eat

something

so

it's

such

an

intimate

and

powerful

picture

of us

savoring

tasting

him

making

God

part

of us

becoming

a part

of

God

so

it's

not

enough

that we

just

hear

about

him

we

have

to

taste

him

and

those

that

have

partaken

of

God

through

his

spirit

will

continue

to

long

for

more

of

that

milk

more

of

God's

grace

and

John

Piper

who's

a pastor

a theologian

he writes

about this

truth

in his

book

Desiring

God

he writes

all the

evils in

the world

come

not because

our desires

for happiness

are too

strong

but because

they are so

weak

that we

settle for

fleeting

pleasures

that do

not satisfy

our deepest

souls

he continues

in another

part of

the book

he says

I know

of no

other way

to triumph

over sin

long term

than to

gain a

distaste

for it

because

of a

superior

satisfaction

in God

unless

we have

tasted

that the

Lord is

good

have

savored

him

and find

more joy

and satisfaction

in that

than anything

else

we will

not be

able to

overcome

sins

in our

lives

the temptations

that we

face

because

we won't

long for

God

that

spiritual

milk

more than

we long

for those

things

and that

of course

means that

we have to

make use

of the

means of

grace

that God

has given

us

spending

time in

prayer

being in

God's

word

where we

can

encounter

him

and God

speaks

to us

so that's

what is

in view

here

to say

so if

the reason

why we have

to love

one another

is because

we have been

born of

the living

word

the means

by which

we grow

in that

and love

one another

is by being

nursed

by this

milk

life-giving

milk

of God's

grace

and

finally

if you look

at verses

4 to

10

Peter tells

us

the purpose

the goal

of our love

for one another

and that

is that

we would

be

reared

that word

has two

different senses

of raising

or caring

for but

also of

building

and constructing

so that we

are to be

reared

on the

living

stone

it's been

a little

while so

let me

just

recap

by reading

verses

4 to

10

follow along

with me

there

it 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

to be

a holy

priesthood

to offer

spiritual

sacrifices

acceptable

to God

through

Jesus

Christ

for it

stands

in

scripture

behold

I am

laying

in Zion

a stone

a corner

stone

chosen

and

precious

and

whoever

believes

in him

will not

be put

to shame

so the

honor

is for

you

who

believe

but for

those

who do

not

believe

the stone

that the

builders

rejected

has

become

the

corner

stone

and a

stone

of

stumbling

and a

rock

of

offense

they stumble

because they

disobey the

word as

they were

destined to

do

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

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

I don't

know if

you're

noticing

or following

all the

parallels

here between

Christ and

his church

it says in

verse 4

that Christ

is a

living stone

and then in

the same

verse it

says that

Christians

likewise

are living

stones

in verse 6

says that

Christ is the

cornerstone

the cornerstone

of a house

and it says

that in

verse 5

that Christians

are that

house

which Christ

is the

cornerstone

of

it says

in verse 7

that

well it

says that

verse 7

that honor

is for you

who believe

and the word

that's translated

precious here

of Christ

Christ is the

precious

cornerstone

means honored

literally

so Christ

is the

honored stone

and we

likewise

are honored

right

and these

parallels exist

because we

are now

a part of

Christ

right

because we

have been

born again

into his

family

and we

are part

of the

construction

the building

work

that God

is

undertaking

right now

and it's

because our

nature derives

from the

resurrected

Christ

that we

are now

a spiritual

house

living stone

and honored

because of

what Christ

has done

for us

and this

is such a

powerful

truth

that emphasized

the unity

of the

church

because

our

bodies

who we

are

people

sometimes

talk about

we are

the temple

of Christ

like our

bodies

are the

temple

of Christ

and that's

a true

statement

that's also

a biblical

statement

we as

individuals

are also

the temple

of Christ

but

even more

importantly

we sometimes

neglect the

fact that

we as a

body

as a

church

is the

temple

of God

and that's

what it

is referring

to when he

says we're

a spiritual

house

we're a

house

of the

spirit

we're

supposed to

be indwelt

by the

spirit

and together

as a

church

we make

up that

house

and the

household

is why I

said household

earlier is

because this

word house

can mean the

literal construction

the building

of a house

but also

can refer

to a

household

and I

think Peter

has that

double meaning

in view

because that's

the context

of the

psalm

that he

is citing

but also

because he's

continuing that

metaphor of the

family