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1n 1 Peter 2:4-8 Christ is unveiled as the living stone. In the Bible the matter of the stone is a great subject. According to Genesis 2, man was placed in front of the tree of life, which was put in the garden of Eden out of which a river flowed (vv. 8-10). One of the precious materials that issued from the flow of the river was onyx, which is a precious stone (v. 12). The Bible goes on to reveal Christ as a stone in many aspects. He is the foundation stone, the stone in which we trust and on which we rely (Isa. 28:16; 1 Cor. 3:11). He also is the cornerstone (Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20) that joins the two walls, one wall being the Jewish believers and the other being the Gentile believers. To the unbelieving Jews, He is the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense (Isa. 8:14-15; Rom. 9:32-33; Luke 2:34). To the nations, He is the smiting stone that will smite and break into pieces the aggregate of human government at His coming back (Dan. 2:34-35; Matt. 21:43-44). Yet to us He is the living stone, rejected by men but with God chosen and precious (1 Pet. 2:4).
First Peter 2:4 tells us that Christ as a living stone was “rejected by men but with God chosen and precious.” Although Christ as the living stone was rejected by the leaders of God’s people, this stone was chosen by God. God’s choosing of Christ as the living stone is of two aspects. First, Christ was chosen by God in eternity past (1:20). That was God’s initial choosing of Him. Then God chose Christ the second time in resurrection. Resurrection is strong proof that God has chosen Christ. This second choosing is a confirmation of God’s first choosing. Therefore, in resurrection God confirmed the choice He had made concerning Christ in eternity past.
When Christ was on the cross, apparently He was rejected by God. To the Pharisees and to all the others who opposed Him, the crucifixion of Christ was a sign that God had rejected Him. According to Matthew 27:42-43, the chief priests, with the scribes and the elders, said, “He is King of Israel; let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe on Him. He trusts in God; let Him rescue Him now if He wants Him, for He said, I am the Son of God.” Luke 23:35 says, “The rulers also sneered, saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One!” The religious leaders thought that God had rejected Christ. However, on the third day Christ was resurrected, and that resurrection is a sign of God’s choosing, a proof that God had chosen Christ to be the stone for His building.
From the time of Christ’s resurrection, Christ has been held in honor. The Greek word rendered “precious” in 1 Peter 2:4, the same word that is used in verse 6, also means “held in honor.” It differs from the Greek word translated “precious” in 1:19. There the word denotes preciousness in essence; here it indicates preciousness that is recognized and held in honor.
In 2:6, Peter says, quoting Isaiah 28:16, “Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, chosen and precious.” This statement refers not only to Christ’s resurrection but also to His ascension. After God resurrected Christ, He lifted Him up to the heavens. Therefore, Christ’s ascension is a further sign and confirmation that God had chosen Him.
God’s choosing of Christ in eternity past was not seen by anyone, not even by the angels. When God chose Christ, nothing had been created, for that choice was made before the foundation of the world. Only God knew that Christ was His chosen One. But this choice has been manifested in Christ’s resurrection and ascension. Soon after Christ’s ascension, Peter realized clearly that Christ is the Messiah chosen by God. This is the reason that Peter said to the religious leaders in Acts 4, “Let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified and whom God has raised from the dead, in this name this man stands before you in good health. This is the stone which was considered as nothing by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner. And there is salvation in no other, for neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved” (vv. 10-12). There is salvation in no other name because God has chosen Christ, and this choice has been manifested in and confirmed by Christ’s resurrection and ascension.
Along with the other apostles, Peter could testify that he had seen the resurrected Christ. Furthermore, they had all witnessed His ascension. These two acts — resurrection and ascension — prove and confirm that Jesus of Nazareth is the One whom God has chosen to be the head of the corner for God’s building.
As such a chosen One, Christ is now held in honor. Christ is not only in glory; He is also on the throne at the right hand of God. This means that He is in a position of honor. Because Christ is now in such an honorable position, He is precious and highly valued.
With Christ as the stone for God’s building, there is the aspect of rejection and also the aspect of honor. Christ was rejected by the Jewish leaders, for they put Him on the cross. But Christ has been honored by God, for God resurrected and exalted Him. Therefore, the resurrection and exaltation of Christ are strong signs both that God has chosen Him and that He is held in honor by God.
First Peter 2:5 says, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” It is through regeneration and transformation that we who were made of clay can be living stones (Rom. 9:21; 2 Cor. 3:18). At regeneration we received the seed of the divine life, which by its growing in us transforms us into living stones.
According to John 1:42, Andrew brought his brother Simon Peter to the Lord Jesus. “Looking at him, Jesus said, You are Simon, the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (which is interpreted, Peter).” Later, in Caesarea Philippi, the Lord Jesus asked His disciples, “But you, who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15). Peter took the lead to declare, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). In His response to Peter, the Lord said, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church” (v. 18). Here the name Peter means “a stone,” which is material for God’s building. In his ministry Peter emphasizes the matter of a stone probably because a crucial part of his experience as one of the Lord’s disciples was the Lord’s changing his name from Simon to Peter.
We come to Christ as living stones to be built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Him. The spiritual house, which is the church (1 Tim. 3:15), is a priesthood, which is a priestly ministry. The totality of the corporate priestly service of the believers is the spiritual house. The holy priesthood, which is a spiritual house built up with the believers as many stones, is the priestly ministry of the believers as many priests to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Him.
A living stone is one that not only possesses life but also grows in life. This is Christ for God’s building. In 1 Peter 1:23 Peter said that we have been regenerated through the living and abiding word of God as the incorruptible seed. In 2:4 Peter changed his metaphor from a seed, which is of the vegetable life (1:23-24), to a stone, which is of the minerals. The seed is for life-planting; the stone is for building (2:5). Peter’s thought went on from life-planting to God’s building. As life to us, Christ is the seed; for God’s building, He is the stone. After receiving Him as the seed of life, we need to grow that we may experience Him as the stone living in us. Thus He will make us also living stones, transformed with His stone nature, that we may be built together with others as a spiritual house upon Him as both the foundation and the cornerstone (Isa. 28:16).
In 1 Peter 2:4-5 Peter speaks of our “coming to Him, a living stone,” and our being “living stones.” The Greek word rendered “coming” can also be translated “approaching, drawing near, coming forward.” We become living stones by coming to Christ as the living stone.
According to 2:2, we as newborn babes long for the guileless milk of the word; according to verse 4, we need to come to Christ as the living stone. This indicates that we come to the Lord by drinking the milk of the word. The milk of the word is the Lord Himself. Therefore, when we drink the milk, we come to the Lord. The word coming mentioned in verse 4 is equal to drinking, implied in verse 2. Therefore, when we drink the milk, we come to the Lord.
As the all-inclusive One, Christ is both milk and the stone. We need more experience of Christ as the milk and the stone. In the morning we should drink Christ as milk of the Word. Then during the day, the process of transformation should take place within us. In the evening we should come to the church meetings and fellowship with the saints. This is building. Here we see that in the morning Christ is milk, and in the evening He becomes the stone. During the day, the milk does a transforming work within us to produce a stone.
Those who do not experience Christ as milk may like to be scattered or independent. Although some believers visit them and encourage them to come to the meetings, they do not want to attend the meetings. Yet they may begin to have a desire to drink the milk of the word. When they drink the milk, they will long to come to the church meetings.
The Lord is first milk to nourish us. Through the nourishment in the milk of the word, transformation takes place. Then we have the building, where the Lord Himself is the stone. This is the reason that in chapter 2 we first have the milk and then the stone.
In 1 Peter 2:5 the word spiritual denotes the capacity of the divine life to live and grow; holy, the capacity of the divine nature to separate and sanctify. The house of God subsists mainly by the divine life; hence, it is spiritual. The priesthood subsists mainly by the divine nature; hence, it is holy.
The holy priesthood is the spiritual house. In the New Testament three Greek words are used in relation to the priests: hierosune, referring to the priestly office, as in Hebrews 7:12; hierateia, referring to the priestly service, as in verse 5; and hierateuma, referring to the assembly of priests, a body of priests, a priesthood, as in 1 Peter 2:5 and 9. The coordinated body of priests is the built-up spiritual house. Although Peter did not address his two Epistles to the church or use the term church in this verse in stressing the corporate life of the believers, he did use the terms spiritual house and holy priesthood to indicate the church life. It is not the spiritual life lived in an individualistic way, but the spiritual life lived in a corporate way, that can fulfill God’s purpose and satisfy His desire. He wants a spiritual house for His dwelling, a priestly body, a priesthood, for His service. Peter’s view concerning the believers’ corporate service in coordination is the same as Paul’s in Romans 12. This service issues from the three vital steps in the spiritual life: being born anew (1 Pet. 2:2a), growing in life by being nourished with Christ (v. 2b), and being built up with the believers.
The purpose of our growing is to be built up as a spiritual house, which is the church. God’s purpose is that we be built up together as a spiritual house, and this spiritual house is a priesthood, a body of priests built together to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God. This is the service in the church and the church life. This building, this spiritual house, is the Body of Christ. The priests are the members of the Body of Christ, and the priesthood is the Body. The Body with many priests coordinated together offers up spiritual sacrifices to God.
The New Testament believers are priests of God not individually but corporately; they are a body of priests, a priesthood. The body of priests in coordination is the built-up spiritual house. God wants a spiritual house for His dwelling, a priestly body, for His service. We all need the corporate service in the spiritual house in order to fulfill God’s purpose and satisfy God’s desire.
Without being built up into a spiritual house, the living stones can do nothing and thus are useless. The stones need to be built up into a house that will be useful to God. This usefulness of the stones is the priestly service, and this house is the priesthood. There is the need of a priestly body, a priestly group, to offer spiritual sacrifices. If we are not built up as such a priestly body, we are not qualified to offer anything to God. Therefore, if we are not built up, we are not qualified to serve. For the service, we need the Body.
We all must realize that we cannot serve God by ourselves individually. We must serve in coordination with others. One stone can never be a house; it must be built up together with other stones to form a building. It is impossible for an individual Christian to constitute the priesthood. This means, strictly speaking, that if there is no building, there is no real service to God. It is only when we are built together that proper service can be rendered to God. Real service to God is a matter of the building.
Romans 12 speaks clearly of the members of the Body of Christ functioning together in all kinds of ministries and services. The service of the Lord’s people must be in the Body, the building, the church. In principle, this is the reason that the book of Leviticus follows Exodus. Exodus is a record of building, and Leviticus is a book of service. Service always follows building. If there were no tabernacle, there could be no priests to serve. As Christians, we are individual persons, but we cannot be individualistic Christians. We cannot serve the Lord independent of others. Each individual priest must be coordinated with all the other priests. It is a dreadful thing to attempt to serve the Lord apart from the proper church life, apart from being built up with others. We must be built together as the priesthood to serve God in the building, the church, in a coordinated way.
First Peter 2:5 says that we, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house. However, if we all are clay, how can we be built up? In order to be built up as a spiritual house, we need to become stones, and in order to become living stones, we need to come to Christ as the living stone by drinking the guileless milk of the word.
If we long for the milk of the word, this milk will be like a current of living water flowing within us. As we stay in this flow, the current will carry away our natural substance and replace it with Christ as heavenly, divine minerals. Gradually, over a period of time, we will be transformed; that is, we will become precious stones. If we would be transformed, every day we need to come to the Lord as milk.
Feeding on Christ by taking in the nourishing milk in the word of God is not only for growing in life but also for building up. Growing is for building up. Although the nourishing milk of the word is for the soul through the mind, it eventually nourishes our spirit, making us not soulish but spiritual, suitable for being built up as a spiritual house of God.
Our mutual dependence on one another as the members of the Body comes through a transforming work. When we are transformed into the image of Christ and express Him fully, our individualism will disappear automatically. Only then will we be in the coordination and relatedness of the Body.
The spiritual house into which we are being built is God’s building. Eventually, this building will consummate in the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem there will not be any clay, for all the clay will have been transformed into precious stones. This means that the New Jerusalem is built with precious stones. We are becoming the precious stones that will be built up into the New Jerusalem. The building work is now going on as we daily, even hourly, come to Christ as milk and drink Him. Then we will have the flow, the current, that transforms us from clay into stone for God’s building.
The spiritual sacrifices that the believers offer in the New Testament age according to God’s economy are: (1) Christ as the reality of all the sacrifices of the Old Testament types, such as the burnt offering, meal offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering (Lev. 1—5); (2) the sinners saved by our gospel preaching, offered as members of Christ (Rom. 15:16); and (3) our body, our praises, and the things that we do for God (12:1; Heb. 13:15-16; Phil. 4:18).
First Peter 2:6 says, “Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, chosen and precious; and he who believes on Him shall by no means be put to shame.” Here we see that Christ is the chosen stone laid in Zion, the precious cornerstone, and that he who believes on Him shall by no means be put to shame. The expression on Him implies that Christ is a base, a standing. This indicates that Christ as the cornerstone is a base upon which we put our faith. We believe on this cornerstone as a strong base; hence, we will never be put to shame. Christ is trustworthy, stable, and steadfast. We can put our trust in Him and be assured that we will never be put to shame.
Christ as the cornerstone is for the building up of the church in the New Testament age. In God’s New Testament economy Christ as the cornerstone, in His saving us (Acts 4:11-12), first makes us living stones for the building up of God’s spiritual house (Matt. 16:16-18; John 1:42; 1 Pet. 2:2-6), and then, in the process of His transforming us (Rom. 12:2a; 2 Cor. 3:18), builds us up into a dwelling place of God (Eph. 2:19-22), that He may carry out God’s eternal economy for God’s good pleasure (1:9; 3:9-11).
As the all-inclusive stone, Christ is the centrality of God’s move for the building up of His eternal habitation (Matt. 21:42, 44; Zech. 3:9, cf. Rev. 5:5-6; Acts 4:10-12; Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:4-8; Dan. 2:34-35; Zech. 4:7; Rev. 21:11, cf. 4:3). Everything Christ is, everything He has done, and everything He is doing is due to the fact that He is the cornerstone. It is by His being the cornerstone that He could die for us, that we could be crucified with Him, made alive with Him, resurrected with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenlies, and that He could save us, transform us into precious stones, and build us together to be God’s habitation, God’s unique temple in the universe.
In 1 Peter 2:7-8, Peter says, “To you therefore who believe is the preciousness; but to the unbelieving, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner,’ and, ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense’; who stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.” In verse 7 the Greek word translated “preciousness” is a word kindred to precious in verses 4 and 6. The Christ chosen by God as a stone, even a cornerstone that is precious to God, is the preciousness to His believers, that is, the quality of being exceedingly precious. But to the unbelieving, He is a stone which the builders, the Jewish leaders, rejected (Acts 4:11) and which became the head of the corner, the cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Many Jews, including famous men, fell on Him as the stone of stumbling.
The “builders” in 1 Peter 2:7 were the Jewish leaders in Judaism, who were supposed to build the house of God. They rejected Christ to the uttermost. The reliable Christ (1 Pet. 2:6), being rejected, became a stumbling stone, on which the rejecting Judaizers stumbled (Matt. 21:44a).
In the Bible Christ is revealed as at least nine kinds of stones. He is the eternal rock (Isa. 26:4; Matt. 16:18), the foundation stone (Isa. 28:16; 1 Cor. 3:11), the living stone (1 Pet. 2:4), the cornerstone (v. 6; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20; Psa. 118:22; Isa. 28:16), the precious stone (v. 16; 1 Pet. 2:4, 6-7), the topstone (Zech. 4:7), the cleft rock (Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4), the crushing stone (Dan. 2:34-35; Matt. 21:44b), and the stone of stumbling (Isa. 8:14; Rom. 9:33).
As the cleft rock, Christ is not for building but for flowing out the living water. He is the rock that was smitten and cleft on the cross to flow out His eternal life as our living water (John 19:34). In contrast, Christ is the foundation stone, the cornerstone, and the topstone, not to be our supply but to be the material for God’s building. One day Christ will be placed on God’s building as the topstone. According to Zechariah 4:7, at that time all the people of God will shout, “Grace, grace to it.”
In Daniel 2:34-35 Christ is revealed as the crushing stone, who comes to destroy the totality of human government, represented by the human image (vv. 31-33). In Matthew 21:44, concerning this stone the Lord Jesus told the people, “On whomever it falls, it shall crush him to powder and scatter him like chaff.” Christ is the crushing stone, not toward the believers but toward the unbelieving Gentiles. Christ is also revealed as a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense toward the unbelieving Jews (Isa. 8:14; Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:8).
There are three basic categories of people on the earth — the Jews, the Gentiles, and the believers in Christ. Christ is related to each of these categories of people as different kinds of stones. To the believers, Christ is the eternal rock, the foundation stone, the living stone, the cornerstone, the precious stone, the topstone, and the cleft rock. These are items of Christ as a stone in a positive sense. In a negative sense, Christ will be a crushing stone to the unbelieving Gentiles and a stone of stumbling to the unbelieving Jews. Thus, Christ is related to every kind of person on the earth. No one can say that Christ has nothing to do with him or her.
In verse 8 Peter speaks of those “who stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.” Concerning the relative pronoun who, there is not a clear antecedent expressed. However, we may say that the antecedent is implied. Peter’s thought may be that those “who stumble at the word” may refer to anyone or to everyone who stumbles. If we stumble at the word, then this “who” includes us. It refers to anyone throughout the generations who stumbles at the word.
What is the word at which people may stumble? It is the word quoted by Peter in verses 6 through 8, the word regarding a chosen stone, a cornerstone held in honor, being laid in Zion. It also refers to the word concerning the stone rejected by the builders that becomes the head of the corner (v. 7). Furthermore, it includes the word in verse 8 about this stone being a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. This is the word at which people may stumble.
The Jews at the time of the Lord Jesus and the apostles would not believe in such a word. Their attitude was that it was impossible for Jesus of Nazareth ever to be the head of the corner. Instead of believing in this word, the Jewish leaders and the rabbis argued against it. Whoever does not believe this word will stumble at it.
We should not think that it is impossible for Christians to stumble at the word. There are many Christians who have stumbled at the word. They do not believe that the Lord Jesus can be so strict, straight, or narrow. Sometimes we may have spoken with certain believers regarding the matter of Christ being both the building stone and the stumbling stone. Yet they have replied that because the Lord Jesus is merciful and has a broad heart, He would never be a stone of stumbling or a rock of offense. However, if we are too broad, we will not believe, on the one hand, that Christ is the building stone and, on the other hand, that He is also the stumbling stone. Many Christians have stumbled at this strict word. The Jewish leaders were not the only ones who have stumbled at it.
We need to see that Christ could purposely be a rock of offense. We also need to be careful concerning this and ask ourselves if we believe this word. If we do not believe it, then we are stumbled by it. Then automatically the Lord will become a stumbling block to us. We stumble at such a word because, in our opinion, it is too narrow and strict.
