Living stones, holy priesthood, the theme passage for my life

By Dean Collins

I assume you have been asked this question before: “What is your favorite scripture verse?” I probably answer differently every time I am asked. I hope part of my struggle to identify a verse as my favorite is because as an avid reader of scripture, I am constantly learning new things from scripture that impact my thinking and hopefully my behavior. However, I do have a clear memory of a scripture that has shaped my thoughts, beginning at age 17.

I was a freshman in college at the University of Central Florida and working as a youth minister on the weekends at a church in Melbourne, Florida. (It is a story for another day on how a 17-year-old gets hired as a youth minister!) The elders of this small church were godly men who loved scripture and invested time in me as a very, very young leader. One of the elders introduced me to the writings of two men: Leroy Garrett, an Abilene Christian University professor, and Carl Ketcherside, a self-taught scholar who was frequently invited to speak on college campuses and at churches on topics of biblical unity, the authenticity of scripture, and why Jesus is the answer to our biggest problems.

Living stones

Through various conversations with these men, along with their writing and sermons, I came to understand and to love the biblical teaching on the priesthood of all believers. And so, 1 Peter 2:1-12 has been a theme passage for my life. Here Peter tells us that we are “like living stones being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Peter makes it clear to his first readers that their identity is more than their Jewish or Gentile heritage. Those who come to faith in Jesus and regularly long for and take ‘“pure spiritual milk that by it we may grow up into salvation,” have tasted that the Lord is good. Many of you can testify with me that you have seen the goodness of the Lord over and over again.

Spiritual house

Peter’s words ring true today as well. We are more than our genetic heritage. We are more than our family of origin. We are more than our degrees and certifications. We are more than the work we do to earn a paycheck. We often forget exactly who we are in Christ.

Peter reminds us that we are like living stones built on and around the stone the builders rejected. We are chosen and precious in God’s sight and are being built into a spiritual house. And we have a role to play as part of God’s priesthood who share his love, pray for others, give and serve those around us, and make sacrifices so that God’s kingdom advances every day. The most important sacrifice is continually to offer God our lives so that he can use them as we go about daily life at work, at home, and in our community.

One kingdom

We are also a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. Jesus died to unite all of his children into one race, one priesthood, under one king, and to create a kingdom far greater than any kingdom or government we know or see. Jesus is focused on building his kingdom in us and through us.

Peter reminds the church in his day and ours today: Once we were not a people, but now we are God’s people. Once we had no mercy, but now we all have received his mercy. We live as exiles in a world that perpetually tries to make things better than God did or that God will when Jesus returns to restore all things. It is then that we will see the culmination of his glory and experience life as God intended at the beginning.

Our job according to Peter is not to get sucked into the world and its systems. We are not to give in to our desires or the desires of the flesh and the systems of the world. Rather we are to serve and love with the love of Christ so that others may see Christ in us and come to know the hope we possess.

All believers

It has been 49 years since I began to read and comprehend these truths, thanks to men who took interest in my spiritual development. I am still learning what it means to live as part of a royal family and to do the work of the priesthood of all believers. You never know if the person you talk to today about Jesus might just get clarity on their identity and chose to follow Jesus for years and even until eternity.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭24‬-‭25; 2:1-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by Laker at pexels.com. 

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