And coming to Him as to a living Stone
Jesus Christ is the Living Stone that gave Moses water in the Desert for the Israelites; it followed them in their wanderings (I Corinthians 10:4).
which has been rejected by men,
Most people in the World will not turn to Him, but rather turn to the World and themselves instead; His own people turned Him over to execution as a criminal.
but is choice and precious in the sight of God,
He is God's own Son, greatly beloved and treasured.
you also, as living stones,
As Christians, "little Christs," we are His sisters and brothers, also living stones.
are being built up as a spiritual house
God is building us as His own Heavenly Temple.
for a holy priesthood,
We are living, so we are not only the Temple, but also the Priests of the Temple.
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Spiritual sacrifices are sacrifices of praise and the good works we do in the power of the Spirit, and to tell of the goodness of the Lord (Hebrews 13:15-16).
For this is contained in Scripture:
Behold, I lay in Zion a choice Stone, a precious Corner Stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed (Isaiah 28:16).Jesus is the anchoring Corner Stone of the Heavenly Temple, the Rock upon which our Father has placed our feet out of the miry clay, the Stone from which the stature of the whole Heavenly Building takes its shape and form.
This precious value, then, is for you who believe;
We who have put our trust in Christ as our Sacrifice for sin and rose from the dead. We now partake of His riches in Heaven, the glory He left to come to Earth. But our real Prize is Jesus, Himself, not what He will give us to enjoy.
but for those who disbelieve,
Those who refuse to humble themselves before His majesty and authority.
The Stone which the builders rejected, this became the very Corner Stone (Isaiah 28:16),The One they refused to believe, has become the very basis and pinnacle of existence and Life.
and,
A Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense (Isaiah 8:14).This One is offensive to them, they trip over Him in their rush after things that will never satisfy.
For they stumble because they are disobedient to the Word,
They refuse to obey His rules or think reasonably, or cooperate with the Love principle upon which God set this Universe to run and work and operate.
and to this doom they were also appointed.
God decided before Creation that those who chose their own will would be given their own will; when they choose to reject Light, He will grant them darkness; when they decide to hate, God will give them the hatred they want; when they refuse order, He will allow them chaos.
But you are a chosen race,
Born into His family, we are a people who belong to Him.
a royal priesthood,
His princes and princesses who offer Him spiritual sacrifices.
a holy nation,
God made Abraham into the Nation Israel, and He is making us into His own Nation.
a people for God's own possession,
We are a people-group that God takes particular ownership over.
so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him
It is up to us to lead the worship of our Lord God Almighty.
who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light;
We were trapped in the darkness of sin, then He released the trap and led us out into the Sunshine of His Grace.
For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God;
We come from many different and varied nations, but we have become the Nation of God.
you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Before we were saved, we had no hope. There was nothing we could do to help ourselves; everything we did, even the best most altruistic things, were still polluted by the sin that we were born in, that we inherit from Adam--that damaged DNA.
But now we have experienced the great mercy of God that put His wrath that we deserve on Jesus instead, on His Cross. Now that Jesus has cleared our debt, God can now extend His grace to give us the wonderful bounty of His riches in Christ.
O my Father, You have taken us out of the slave-market of sin and elevated us into positions of authority and leadership in Your own Kingdom! From one extreme to the other! And in between, You have washed us clean, pristine, as though we'd never sinned at all! And You are leading us along the narrow path for each of us, keeping us on the path, hedging us in; that we will not wander or veer off to the right or to the left. We will not miss the right way, because You have laid it out for us before us.
And Your Word is the lamp for our feet that shows us each step to take, so that we can confidently proceed in Your footsteps, not running ahead or lagging behind; right on Your schedule.
Father, You are never too early, nor are You ever late. When it seems to us that You are taking too much time to answer our prayers, we know that Your answer will be just in time.
You are taking the time we need to grow, to learn, to accomplish all the good works that You planned ahead of time for us to do. And everything will be ready for the Glorious Appearing of our King, Christ Jesus, our Lord.
O Father, find the rest of Your sheep. Locate and send Your under-shepherds out to find and rescue every one of Your little lost lambs, that not one will be lost, but that all will be gathered into the comfort and safety of Your fold. And there will be one Fold and one Shepherd.
O how grand, how magnificent, how glorious You are my Father! That You have planned such honor and such respect would be given Your children by Your holy Angels, and the fallen angels, and every created being.
We who could never deserve anything but Your wrath. Instead we who were the tail will be the head. Your ways, Father, are so beyond our ways! You are good, much better than we can ever imagine.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess in every language, that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man, is the Lord God Almighty over the Universe, and our Magnificent, Sovereign King over all the World; to the glory of God the Father!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
