The Pure Love and Mercy of God

Heavenly Father, as always, we come to your word as people seeking by your strength to be humble,

so that we can hear your word and then obey your word.

Lord, this morning we're talking about, we're reading about and talking about who we are in you

and what that means for our lives, but also for the communities and the neighborhoods we live in.

Lord, for this, on one hand, it is a great joy to our lives, it is gas in our tank, so to speak,

but on the other hand, it will require courage.

Lord, will you give us that courage that is found in the confidence in you,

that above all, you are unchanging, even the things that we might put our hope and trust in,

in this temporal life, can be shaken, but you alone can't be shaken.

So Lord, remind us of that afresh this morning.

We pray this as your people. Amen.

Amen.

If you have a Bible, you can turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 2, 4 to 10.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

There's some Bibles at the back still, if you forgot yours, if you want a physical Bible,

feel free to grab it at any time.

Identity, it's a big thing.

We are struggling through, it would seem, multiple fronts of identity crisis in our society.

People are unmoored from the past.

Oftentimes, they're also unmoored from the present.

They struggle with family, not understanding their place,

feeling out of place in their communities, in their schools, in their workplaces,

in their bodies in some cases.

A lack of identity is a very dangerous thing.

We are defined by the things we are connected to.

Our families, our workplaces, our friendship groups, our affinity groups,

our hobbies that we keep.

And when those things come under threat,

or we put too much emphasis in them,

our identities can get shaken in a very big way.

We're unsure of who we are.

It's important to consider this because our text today discusses identity,

but specifically the identity that we have in Christ

if we have put our faith and trust and our hope in Him.

If you remember, 1 Peter is this letter written,

quite possibly 30-ish years, give or take,

after Jesus' crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.

Peter, who has written this, was one of the chief disciples.

Lots of bravado.

Said he's going to follow Jesus right to the end,

and then in Jesus' time of need, he scatters.

He buckles under the pressure.

And now he is writing a letter to a whole grouping of churches

in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey,

and telling them,

listen, your hope and your trust and your identity is in Christ.

And it's going to mean that you're going to be a resident alien,

a foreigner in your own land,

a sojourner,

even though you are a born citizen of Rome.

You are actually a citizen now of heaven.

This has implications.

We get to the section of 1 Peter 2 this morning,

verses 4 and 10,

where we start to see,

Peter starts to teach us,

that this identity in Christ,

it is far greater than anything

our collective minds in here,

or our collective minds as humanity,

could ever imagine.

Our greatest needs are met.

Our deepest hopes and longings are found.

But in Christ,

Peter will share this morning in our text.

Actually, I'll share this morning in our text,

but we'll read Peter in this letter.

It is rooted in Jesus Christ,

in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

So much so that all other relationships,

all other sources of identity

are but a shadow of the identity we get in Christ.

For those who are Christians,

our identity, first and foremost,

is union with God.

And then, Peter will tell us

that as people who are united with God,

we have a destiny towards God,

for God.

And then finally,

all of this is the result

in the mercy that God extends to us.

So we see we are united with God,

we are destined for God,

and we receive mercy from God.

If you have a Bible,

turn with me.

Starting in verse 4,

we're looking at verse 4, 5, 6,

and then the first part of verse 7.

So 4 to 7a,

if you want to call it that.

This is what 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 cornerstone,

chosen and precious,

and whoever believes in him

will not be put to shame.

For the honor is for you

who believe,

but for those who do not believe,

the stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

In the ancient world,

a temple was the holy place.

The idea of a temple

isn't specific to the Old Testament.

The temple motif was found

across the ancient worlds.

And it was a holy place

where humans would interact

with a god or the gods.

It was an embassy of heaven

upon the earth, so to speak.

That helps us visualize

kind of the idea

that this is the place

where man meets God.

The barrier between heaven

and earth is thin.

Priests would be the people

that would do the temple things.

Priests would offer prayers,

services, sacrifices

designed to appease, atone,

and praise the gods.

And like I mentioned,

we see this in the Bible

with the tabernacle first,

that's in the desert,

this tent of meeting,

and then the temple in Jerusalem,

the meeting place of God

and his people.

It was, in the Bible,

the physical representation

of God's presence

amongst his people,

and for all people, really,

who sought to worship

the one true God

according to his revelation

and his good design.

But by Jesus' time,

in the first century,

the temple became an industry

for monetary gain

under the guise

of spirituality.

Think about Jesus

cleansing the temple.

He sees what bothers him,

this trading that's happening,

the type of usury

and exploitation,

and it was a horrendous sight,

and he flips over the tables,

and he says

that the temple,

the house of God,

has become a den of thieves.

The temple no longer functioned

as God intended it to function.

It's actually a very sad

state of affairs.

God,

through first David

and then Solomon,

the first temple was created,

and it was a sight to behold.

Sin happened,

the people were exiled,

the first temple destroyed,

the second temple was built,

and the hope was

with the second temple.

Eternal reign

of God's people

would happen

in Jerusalem.

Rome would be destroyed,

all other powers

would be destroyed.

Jerusalem,

according to their reading

of scriptures,

God's people,

the Israelites,

Jerusalem would be

the HQ

of God

on earth.

But the second temple

was never,

that never happened,

it was never realized.

Jesus instead

sees the temple

as

completely,

completely perverted.

The great irony

is that,

well,

Jesus was killed for this.

I mean,

among other things,

for claiming to be God,

of course,

but messing with the temple,

he was killed for this.

And the great irony

is that

he was killed,

among other things,

for cleansing the temple

by people seeking

to protect the temple,

and by doing so,

through his death

and resurrection,

Jesus built the new

and eternal temple,

which is the church,

where God's presence

now resides

on earth,

but not in a house

built with stone,

but in his mystical body,

the church.

So,

what on earth

does this mean?

What does this look like?

When we receive

Christ's salvation,

we become so associated

with Jesus

that we are united to him.

The biblical language,

interestingly,

of the Christian,

by far,

the most widely used term

in the New Testament

is in Christ.

Christian,

the term Christian

is used three times.

It doesn't mean

we should change,

not be called Christians.

I think Christians,

it points to being

in Christ,

but the Bible

wants to hammer home

the reality

that we are now

united to Jesus.

We are in him.

We're not a part of him.

We're not buddies

with him.

We're not,

we don't have

greater access to him

like if we knew

a celebrity

and we could have

dinner at their place.

that is like a,

that's like an

adjacent relationship.

Like,

it says that

in scripture,

we are in him.

It's hard for us

to understand.

So the Bible

uses analogous

language

like

a head and a body.

We can understand that.

A head and a body

is one.

A bridegroom

and his bride.

They become one flesh

when they are married

and there's

consummation.

Talks about

a vine and a branch.

Also talks about

a temple

and stones

to describe

this idea

of union

with Christ.

And the idea

of temple

and stones

being

this

analogous

you know,

language

used to describe

our now

new identity

connection

with Christ

through his life,

death,

and resurrection.

It's very helpful

for us today.

Because this is what

Peter will get at.

So when we see,

when we seek the Lord

and come to him

by faith,

Jesus is described

as this living stone

that was rejected

by mankind.

We become a part

of the very temple

of God

that he builds,

that he is the

cornerstone of.

The cornerstone

being the

piece of stone

perfectly cut

rock solid

and not because

it is a stone

but because

it is a

very high quality

tough material.

We're not talking

lime

so to speak

where it's

crumbly

but the chief

cornerstone

that if it is not

set right

the rest

of the building

is not going to be

foundationally sound

or it's going to be

off

off its foundation

it's not going to

function the way

it ought to.

If you want to talk

about this stuff

a bit more,

Steve is our

resident engineer.

He could help you

understand it.

I don't have my

PhD in engineering.

I don't have a PhD

so

the capstone

though is an

important,

it's an important

feature of the

temple.

Without it

the temple

doesn't exist.

And it says here

that this chief

cornerstone

which is Christ

is the capstone

upon which

then we

are built.

Christ is both

the presence

of God

that resides

in the temple

but he is also

the chief

cornerstone

upon which

we are then

built upon

which interestingly

speaks to both

Jesus' divinity

him being

where his presence

resides

but also

his humanity

that he is

also a part

of this church.

Notice the language

used to describe

Jesus

is also

applied to us.

Living stones

we are also

called living stones.

Jesus

is called the

temple

we are called

the spiritual

house.

Jesus

is chosen

by God

and precious

if you read

down in verse 9

it says that

we are chosen

by God.

Jesus

is honored

by God

and by virtue

of him being

honored by

God the Father

we are honored

as well.

We will not

be put to shame.

Friends

God in Christ

has so deeply

associated himself

with us

not us

associating

ourselves

with him

firstly

but him

associating

himself

with us

so much

so

that we

that he

joined the

human race

and chose

us to be

his very temple

the place

where his

spirit

will reside.

This is our

new identity

we are in

Christ

we are united

to him

but I mentioned

before about

the nature

of temples

they're a place

where people

do business

with God

and a part

of that

is sacrifices

so

what's the deal

with sacrifices

are there

sacrifices

in this

spiritual

temple

we look

here in

verse

sorry

in verse

5

it says

you yourselves

like living

stones

are being

built up

as a

spiritual

house

to be

a holy

priesthood

interesting

here

to offer

spiritual

sacrifices

acceptable

to God

through

Jesus

Christ

we believe

that Jesus

sacrificed

himself

once and

for all

on the

cross

of Christ

there is

no other

penalty

to be

paid

that Jesus

didn't

pay

there's

no more

sacrifices

we need

to do

except

that we

are a

temple

temples

are the

places

where

sacrifices

go down

and here

Peter is

saying

yes

you're

a

temple

and

sacrifices

are

going

to

happen

but

listen

sacrifices

have

changed

now

you

sacrifice

not an

animal

not at

a certain

time of

the year

but all

the time

by sacrificing

your very

lives

in what

submitting

yourself

to God

and we

see what

the sacrifice

looks like

the second

part of

verse 9

it says

this

read all

of verse 9

but you

are a chosen

race

a royal

priesthood

a holy

nation

a people

for his

own

possession

here it

is

that you

may

proclaim

the

excellencies

of him

who called

you out

of darkness

into his

marvelous

light

the sacrifices

that we

give are

sacrifices

of praise

of thanksgiving

of service

of obedience

from a

place

of being

united

in Christ

verse 9

it says

we are

we are

the new

priesthood

we are

the people

now that

do business

with God

directly

I'm not

an intermediary

for you

I have

a special

role in

the church

but you

don't confess

to me

and then I

go to God

you go to

God

because of

Christ

we are

priests

in God's

kingdom

and we

offer

sacrifices

of praise

to him

we have

this new

identity

as priests

as the

temple

as the

living stones

all because

we are

united

to Jesus

and all

of a sudden

we start

to realize

that

Jesus'

life

and death

and resurrection

his ascension

that becomes

normative

for us

now

I'm not

saying that

we become

little

Jesus's

but

we can't

speak of

Jesus

as the

head

without

also talking

about

his body

which is

the

church

I mean

there's

like

infinitely

more to

say

about

this

but

understand

that

now

your

lives

are so

in a good

way

tangled up

with Christ

the

very

idea

is

where

again

there's

a place

of

differentiating

us

and

Christ

of

course

but

but

it's

so

tangled

up

where

does

he

begin

and

where

do

we

end

it's

it's

everything

he

does

we

do

his

destiny

is

our

destiny

his

very

spirit

resides

in

us

his

ministry

is

our

ministry

we

are

united

to

Christ

it's

our

new

identity

and

it

supersedes

all

other

identities

we

have

a new

lineage

so to

speak

we

have

been

made

citizens

of

heaven

and

that

is

going

to

change

our

earthly

relationships

it

has

to

it

doesn't

mean

as

we've

seen

in

previous

weeks

that

we

do

away

with

our

earthly

relationships

but

our

earthly

relationships

become

properly

ordered

and

we

live

lives

of

service

proclaiming

the

good

news

as

we

saw

the

second

part

of

verse

nine

proclaiming

the

good

news

the

excellencies

of

Christ

wherever

we

go

but

this

brings

us

to

our

second

point

what

does

it

mean

to

live

as

people

destined

for

heaven

here

on

earth

so

look

with

me

at

verses

seven

and

eight

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

as

God's

people

united

to

Christ

we

live

in

an

unbelieving

world

and so

we

feel

that

we

are

that

we

belong

but

we

don't

belong

we

have

a

place

but

we

are

out

of

place

and

as

such

we

are

destined

for

eternity

and

we

pray

your

kingdom

come

on

earth

as

it

is

in

heaven

and

we

seek

by

God's

strength

to see

that

come

to

pass

we

proclaim

the

goodness

of

God

we

fight

and

advocate

for

the

virtues

of

heaven

we

fight

for

life

we

fight

for

truth

we

fight

for

justice

we

fight

for

those

that

cannot

fight

for

themselves

but

we

will

get

pushback

here

in

verses

7

and

8

Peter

is

insinuating

that

either

you

are

for

Jesus

or

you

are

against

Jesus

that

there

is

no

neutrality

there

is

no

neutral

stance

with

Christ

he

is

either

the

chief

cornerstone

in

your

life

or

he

is

a

stumbling

block

either

you

accept

Christ

as your

Lord and

Savior

and are

honored

or

you

reject

him

and are

shamed

rejection

of

Christ

here

is not

an

amoral

decision

it is

sin

it is

disobedience

and will

result

as it

continues

in

eternal

shame

and this

is hard

to stomach

even for

some of

us here

today

because we

have

fantastic

friends

and even

some

family

who are

lovely

people

that just

reject

Jesus

and seem

to be

kind of

immoral

about it

they

support

us

but

it's

for us

and not

for them

and it's

hard to

stomach

this

a big

part of

that is

because

well we

love the

people that

we are

connected

to but

we are

also

conditioned

thoroughly

in a

culture

that is

pluralistic

and overly

tolerant

but just

know that

Peter is

writing for

a society

that was

equally

that this

was equally

unpalatable

towards

in the

first century

there wasn't

a pluralistic

secularism

but there

was

polytheism

and the

call

here

is

when you

come to

Christ

in faith

all of

the family

gods

are put

away

forever

you have

to forsake

them

it's not

just you

have your

family

gods

and then

you can

tack on

the worship

of Caesar

or of

Jupiter

or Aphrodite

or whoever

you just

kind of

add another

god to

your prayers

it's fine

what Peter

is saying

is a very

unpalatable

thing

in the

first century

as well

as for

us

today

and it

may be

even more

difficult

to stomach

because

verse 8

seems to

imply

that those

who reject

Christ

were somehow

sovereignly

appointed

to eternal

shame

and this

begs the

question

or

or the

the

frustrating

exclamation

that is

not fair

it is not

fair that

that verse

8 would

somehow imply

that God

has

sovereignly

sent

people

to

eternal

damnation

can

someone

be held

truly

accountable

for their

actions

for rejecting

Christ

if God

fated them

to do

so

well

why don't

we

take about

five minutes

and jump

right into

it

right into

the weeds

let's see

what we

can pull

out of

scripture

say this

right off

the bat

there's a

huge difference

between

destiny

and fate

fate

the idea

that everything

is predetermined

and choice

is only

an illusion

think of

the

the

the

Greek

writings

of

Oedipus

the king

Oedipus

is told

that he

will

he will

be with his

mother

and murder

his father

and he

goes to a

distant land

and it

turns out

that

he

does

exactly

that

he was

fated

to

there's

nothing

he could

have

done

to

avoid

his

fate

but this

is not a

Christian

belief

this is

a type

of

determinism

that the

Bible

just does

not

authorize

in any

kind

of way

rather

the

scriptures

speak

of

destiny

that

certain

people

are

destined

to

do

this

or

to

believe

that

so

an

example

if I

eat

a

sleeve

of

Oreos

bag

of

chips

wash

it

down

with

a

two

liter

of

coke

every

night

I

am

destined

for

diabetes

I

am

destined

for

cardiovascular

disease

I

am

destined

to

not

live

a

healthy

life

and you

say

well

you know

my

great

uncle

lived to

95

doing

that

well

good

for

your

great

uncle

it's

not

the

case

for

all

of

us

we

are

destined

to

suffer

for

that

but

it's

not fate

we're

not

fated

we turn

it around

we

there's

some

intervention

we start

eating

healthy

and

exercising

we try

our best

I mean

there might

be some

irreversible

damage

but by

and large

we can

we can

get out

of

ruts

we are

not

fated

for

a

specific

end

likewise

a life

of

disobedience

of

God's

law

a

disregarding

of

the

morality

and the

eternity

that he

has placed

in our

hearts

and the

rejection

of his

son

will

destin

us

to

eternal

shame

by the

way

Peter

isn't

here

saying

that

listen

one

time

you

reject

the

son

it's

over

he's

not

making

a

comment

about

about

the

the

quantity

of

rejections

we

may

know

people

that

seem

to

have

been

wayward

for

years

and

then

it's

like

not

overnight

but

maybe

overnight

they

come

to

faith

and

their

destiny

has

shifted

but

nevertheless

if

there

is

an

ongoing

rejection

of

the

son

the

destiny

is

hell

the

scriptures

say

it's

damnation

it's

eternal

shame

and

friends

this

is

our

destiny

all

of

us

apart

from

Christ

in

fact

if

it

were

not

for

Christ

this

would

be

our

fate

because

if

fate

is

this

predetermination

sin

had

so

thoroughly

corrupted

and bent

our

souls

that

there

was

nothing

we

could

do

in

ourselves

or

in the

outside

world

to

do

whether it

be merits

or good

deeds

or whatever

it could

to change

our fate

but through

Christ

dying on

our behalf

he changes

all of that

we

should

we should

be

predetermined

to live

out this

moral

life

and then

be

shamed

forever

and yet

God

changes

that

for any

who would

put their

faith in

him

and yet

to believe

in God

and to

accept

his son

as

Lord

and

savior

is not

merely

a rational

decision

I mean

it takes

our

intellect

of course

but it's

not merely

a matter

of human

agency

but it

takes

God's

very

spirit

to

awaken

us

why

because

the

scriptures

make it

clear

we were

dead

in our

sins

it's

Ephesians

2

the

big

thrust

of

Ephesians

2

that we

had no

ability

to choose

or to

embrace

God

in and of

ourselves

we needed

his help

and his

prompting

to give

us new

life

and help

us to

believe

but still

does that

answer the

question about

it being

fair

because

it would

seem

then

that

if

God

has

awakened

me

but not

my

family

member

then he

is still

in a sense

damning

them

to

eternal

shame

so what's

the problem

with that

line of

thinking

of saying

it's not

fair

God

the son

of God

takes on

human

flesh

he dies

and rises

again

to show

us

what

eternal

mercy

looks like

and he

does this

out of

pure

love

as an

expression

of his

mercy

and if

it was

to make

things

fair

then it

wouldn't

be out

of pure

love

if it

was

because

of your

pedigree

or the

family you

came from

or the

good

things

you

did

it

would

not

be

because

of

love

it

would

be

because

of

compulsion

or

obligation

but God

does not

have

obligations

friends

to

rebels

he does

not

have

favorites

he

is not

in

anyone's

debts

he

needs

nothing

and is

complete

in every

way

what we

have

here

is

something

altogether

different

God

has

chosen

his precious

son

to be the

vehicle of

salvation

of the

human race

so that

he honors

those who

honors his

son

and ultimately

those who

continually

reject his

son will be

rejected

and if

you believe

you are