A LETTER FROM PETER

Chapter 2 Part 1

1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

In his first pastoral letter, the Apostle Peter urges us to crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. (1 Peter 2:1 – NLT) How necessary is it and how do we go about it?

Within the kingdom lifestyle, there is always the necessity for development and growth and it will be a process of cooperation between personal realisations and decisions, and openness to the influence of the Holy Spirit. No traveller along this lifestyle is perfect and there are always issues we need to deal with. However, most of the initiative is left to us. God doesn’t force these things on us, although at times He may well back us into a corner and persuade us to have a good look at our spiritual development.

The Greek implies here that what we are talking about is getting rid of something that is no longer of any value or use to us, or for that matter something that may be dangerous. A common sight a couple of times a year in my neighbourhood is the council’s clean-up days where we are encouraged to leave broken, discarded and dangerous items by the side of the road for the council to collect and dispose of. Sometimes there are articles that appear to be in quite a good condition and quite useful but the owners have no further use for them and they are discarded. In the same way, Peter is encouraging his readers to discard those things which are of no longer any use, or for that matter, inadvisable to have around, such as evil behavor.

A newborn baby has very fundamental and basic needs, among the primary one is to be fed. Likewise, the Christian, endeavouring to live the kingdom lifestyle has some basic needs and among them the primary need to be properly fed. In fact, Peter may well be pointing it out more forcefully when he bids us to crave pure spiritual milk, and the question is where do we find it and how do we absorb it?

There is a genuine concern today for the plethora of written and electronic Christian media so readily available at the touch of a button on our various devices. Much of it is highly suspect and of dubious theology or useful material. More than ever we need a high degree of discernment and critical evaluation in what we choose to read and take on board.

A determined push to elevate a gospel of prosperity theology among many contemporary churches has a dangerous and heretical foundation. It is true, that after conversion there is often what is referred to as the redemptive lift, where a person’s economic state in elevated because of the change Christianity brings to their lifestyle, but that is the outcome and not the objective.

Prosperity theology sees this as the objective of their message and such a philosophy flies in the face of Him, who said he had nowhere to lay His head. Prosperity theology appeals to what are some of the base temptations of humanity, that of selfishness and greed. Not great Christian characteristics to hold up as desirable. A lot of what is on the bookshelves of the local Christian bookshop, on video sharing sites and shared widely on social media, originates from these sources.

The greatest safeguard is to go back to our primary source of information and guidance, The Bible. We need to develop wise and in-depth reading strategies and if necessary, go back to some of the older Christian writers to flesh out our understanding; people such as William Barclay, C S Lewis etc. What we read, hear, see and assimilate, inevitably becomes part of our lifestyle and character and consequently, as Christians, we need divine guidance and wise counsel.

Sometimes it is difficult to resist some of this material when many of your peers are into it, and it is then that we need to Cry out (to God) for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

Living Stones for God’s House

4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. 6 As the Scriptures say, 

“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,
    chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
    will never be disgraced.”

7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him,

“The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.”

8 And,

“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
    the rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

Peter goes to great lengths to make Jesus the focal point of his message. It is Jesus and He alone on which everything depends, everything functions, and in everything has its destiny. The centrality of this whole passage is totally focussed on Jesus as the world’s redeemer for those that choose, of their own volition, His kingdom lifestyle, but a stumbling block along the road to hell for those who volitionally reject Him.

He uses a building metaphor to make his point, an illustration that would have been well understood by those who read the Old Testament and had heard the words of Jesus.  The original quotation is from Psalms 188:21-22. The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see. It was quoted by Jesus in Matthew 21:42 following His parable of the wicked vineyard tenant who had murdered the owner’s servants and finally his son to avoid paying rent, and it was directed at the religious leaders who were about to reject and murder Him.

The original concept of the cornerstone was indicative of the nation of Israel through whom God had chosen to bring salvation to all nations. However, Israel had failed miserably and now Jesus takes the symbolism to himself as the bringer of the world’s salvation, and the stumbling block to those who reject Him. From this cornerstone, God will build a completely new temple using those members of the new Christian community as living building blocks. Not only are they to be living building blocks they also become holy priests in the ministry of this new spiritual temple. As priests, we fulfil a dual role of bringing offerings to God and representing God to others.

There is a significant element of trust and recognition in Jesus in this section without which this new spiritual temple cannot be built or maintained, and the promise that those who trust, recognise and honour God will never be disgraced. On the other side of the coin is a dire image of rejection and damnation for those who refuse to obey the word of God. Jesus Christ becomes for them, a stumbling block on the road to personal disaster and they stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

In the final analysis, Peter wants us to clearly understand the significant and eternal repercussions in our response to Jesus’ claims on our lives, and our authentic declaration of faith and trust in Him. Like Peter, once we have come to that place of seeing and declaring Him as the Messiah, the Son of the living God He will declare and acknowledge us as the living stones upon which He will build [His] church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. (Matthew 16:16-18 - NLT)

In the second chapter of 1 Peter, the Apostle Peter launches into one of the most epic and exciting passages of scripture in the New Testament; the place of this new Christian community. It’s as if he draws a line in the sand between Israel’s rejection and the trust and obedience of the new Christian community. The reality of life today is that this technological age is impacting negatively on our sense of community. Go most anywhere today and the first thing you notice is eyes focussed on a mobile phone or an electronic tablet. Perhaps one of the crucial roles the church can fulfil today is to help restore this fading sense of community.

Video meditation: Blest be the tie that binds (Click on or paset link)
https://youtu.be/6Db57aS5q7g