Well, Peter moves from yes and no to again reminding us of our new identity and our new potential as the children of God. But he's not doing that in a theoretical way; he's doing that in a way that is meant to be intensely practical in the way that I think about who I am. You are always assigning to yourself some kind of identity. You're always living out of that identity.
Listen to these words:
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.
And we'll stop there. He begins by saying, "As you come to him," Peter's view is that we are committed to ongoing fellowship, ongoing communion with our Lord. It's not just that He comes to us. By grace, He does that, but that we are pursuing the One who is pursuing us. That's the picture here. Does that describe you? Are you in constant pursuit of your Savior? I mean, that's a real thing. That's a daily activity. That's a regular commitment. And who is this One?
Well, Jesus is a living stone. That's important too, because he's saying, "Hey people! He's not dead. This is the risen, reigning Lord. His mission was not aborted because He was rejected." Why is that? Because He's precious in the sight of God. So I serve, I commune with a victorious, ascendant Savior, precious in the sight of God, now sitting at the right hand of the Father.
Then Peter does something that is a theme for him. There are two word-pictures that he wants us to understand to shape our identity. The first one is temple, and the second one is priesthood. You're God's temple; you're being built together as the place where God, in His glory, dwells. The Body of Christ is the fulfillment of the Temple of Solomon. The Body of Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament priesthood. That's pretty amazing!
You have no greater honor in your life, I don't care what you've accomplished, I don't care how much money you have, or how much power you have, than you are now a stone in the temple of the most-high God-that you are now His priest. You have entrance into the Holy of Holies-God's very throne room! It's mind boggling. So, I'm not just Paul Tripp, bumping around with all the difficulties in this life, hoping I can make it. I've been chosen by God to be part of His eternal building; I've been chosen of God to now have access to Him. I don't have access to the mayor of Philadelphia, let alone to the governor or my president. But I can walk into God's presence, and I'm accepted there because I'm one of His priests.
And what does that mean? This is amazing to me! I'm able to offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts. Where do you make those sacrifices? He's not talking about formal religion here; he's talking about your daily life. You make spiritual sacrifices in your marriage. You make spiritual sacrifices in your parenting. You make spiritual sacrifices in your friendships. You make spiritual sacrifices in your sexuality. You make spiritual sacrifices at your workplace, in your neighborhood, as a citizen. What does that mean? I surrender my will to God's will in every one of those areas. If you're not making spiritual sacrifice, then you have a bad marriage, and you're mistreating your children, and you're misusing your money, and you're pursuing sexual immorality. Everything God calls you to, He calls you to make spiritual sacrifices, and He accepts those by grace!
