2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As I was reading through today’s passage, 1 PET 2: 1-6, it occurred to me that with this letter being written in 64-65 AD, two underlying conditions really made it necessary. 1) The young church was facing terrible persecution by Rome’s Emperor Nero and his people, and 2) anything that young needs encouragement in its faith and a reminder of its slain Leader’s teachings. We also need to read through this and pray about it with an eye to how it relates to us today (and believe me, it does!). 1 PET 2: 1-3, “Rid yourselves, then, of all evil; no more lying or hypocrisy or jealousy or insulting language. Be like newborn babies, always thirsty for the pure spiritual milk, so that by drinking it you may grow up and be saved. As the Scripture [PS 34: 8] says, ‘You have found out for yourselves how kind the Lord is.’ “ The part of PS 34: 8 that isn’t cited in 1 PET 2: 3 is something I want to include here. “Happy are those who find safety with Him.” When I read this, the whole passage brought to mind one that means a great deal to me personally, 2 COR 5: 17. “When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new creation; the old one is gone, the new has come.” As I said in yesterday’s message, our Lord has given us a second chance in this life, a chance to put our sins of the past behind us and to be born again both in the water and the Spirit. In my book, that’s the greatest act of love I know. That is particularly true, because it involved the sacrifice of His Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross for us.
In view of the newness of the church and our understanding the Peter’s ministry was mostly to Jewish converts to Christianity, his comments about being “newborn babies, always thirsty for spiritual milk” make sense here. They brought to mind Paul’s use of this metaphor when he was writing his first epistle to the Corinthians from Ephesus in about 55-56 AD (or even earlier). Corinth was a cosmopolitan city in which there were divisions and immorality in the church. 1 COR 3: 1-2, “As a matter of fact, my brothers, I could not talk to you as I talk to people who have the Spirit; I had to talk to you as though you belonged to this world, as children in the Christian faith. I had to feed you milk, not solid food, because you were not ready for it. And even now you are not ready for it.” We are all at different places in our spiritual maturation today. Some are new believers who need to know that they have been started out on “spiritual milk” in preparation to graduate to “spiritual meat.” Others have been taking “spiritual meat” for a long time. There is no inconsistency or secrets held back in “spiritual milk;” it’s just preparation God gives to ready a new believer for a more profound faith with more detail for clarity that comes from years of prayer and study of the Scriptures. Where Paul (and probably Peter) isolate a problem is when people who have been fed “spiritual milk” and are now ready to go on to “spiritual meat” block that forward motion to a deeper understanding with shallow faith or a refusal to get rid of certain sins in their lives. We must each examine our own lives with God’s help to see where we fit into this construct.
1 PET 2: 4-6 is the second half of today’s passage. “Come to the Lord, the Living Stone rejected by man as worthless but chosen by God as valuable. Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priest to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. For the Scripture [IS 28: 16] says, ‘I chose a valuable stone, which I am placing as the cornerstone in Zion; and whoever believes in Him will never be disappointed.’ “ The word-pictures and message of IS 28: 16-17 are so beautiful and meaningful that I want to cite it entirely here for you. “This, now, is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid cornerstone on which are written the words, ‘Faith that is firm is also patient.’ Justice will be the measuring line for the foundation and honesty will be its plumb line.” When we look at the language used in these verses, it is clear that Peter understood the Jewish culture (as he was raised in it) and knew that he could be most convincing if he spoke in terms to which these relatively new Jewish believers in Christ could relate. The concept of a spiritual temple is used by Paul in 1 COR 6: 19, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, Who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God.” While Paul worked mostly with former pagans and Peter worked mostly with former traditional Jews, we can see God’s hand in giving them inspiration that is wholly consistent it is teachings (didactic).
Two other concepts mentioned in today’s passage are worthy of comment, “you will serve as a holy priest to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.” 1) priesthood: The underlying consistency from OT to NT can really be seen here. Back in EX 19: 5-6, God states, “Now, if you will obey Me and keep My covenant, you will be My own people. The whole earth is Mine, but you will be My chosen people, a people dedicated to Me alone, and you will serve Me as a nation of priests.” That call to the priesthood for Jews is hugely important! It’s a part of our belief system that probably caused God the most pain when He saw His chosen people mired in so much sin that He felt it necessary to punish them with two dyasporas (scattering and temporary loss of nationhood) in our history. 2) sacrifices: Both Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and Peter’s letter were written when animal sacrifices were still going on in the temple in Jerusalem. That didn’t stop until the Romans under Emperor Vespasian and his general Titus invaded Jerusalem and sacked the temple in 70 AD. Peter allows the Jewish Christians to relate to his point by bringing that concept to mind in 1PET 2: 5. Paul uses this metaphor in RO 12: 1, a Scripture I will not apologize for citing often because of how important to us it is. “So then, my brothers, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer.” We must ask ourselves today: Are we serving our Lord as a nation of priests (stones) in His temple making sacrifices pleasing and acceptable to Him? Do we really understand and accept that Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone of that temple in which we serve? Meditate on EPH 4: 15-16 for greater understanding of God’s will.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have called us to a new life in Christ. When that first happened, we didn’t understand fully what that means. Your invitation was meant to bring us into that understanding step by step, just as a hiker fords a stream stepping stone by stepping stone. Your stream is living water, the kind that streams from our hearts when we live a life of trusting and obeying You. Your call to us is intended for us to feed first on “spiritual milk” and then graduate to “spiritual meat.” As we cross that stream, we soon discover for ourselves that Christ Himself is the Rock upon which our faith rests, the sure Foundation, and the Cornerstone for Your temple. In Him, we can find comfort, guidance, unconditional love, and the only way open to eternal life with You. When we know this, we cannot miss the great love that You have for us. For that and so much more, we humbly offer You our thanks, worship, adoration, praise, glory, honor, trust, obedience, and loyalty. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at a Stumbling Stone and the Holy Nation, from 1 PET 2: 7-10. We never go through a single day in our lives unloved or ignored by our Abba. Even when things are not going our way, He is there loving us and watching over us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn