Outline

«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

　　1 Pet. 2:4-5 Coming to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but with God chosen and precious, 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.

　　In the New Testament the believers are…symbolized by stones and are called living stones (1 Pet. 2:5). These living stones are actually transformed sinners.

　　When the Lord Jesus first looked at Peter, He said, “You are Simon, the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (which is interpreted, Peter [meaning ‘a stone’])” [John 1:42]. The significance of a stone is that it denotes a work of transformation to bring forth material for God’s building (1 Cor. 3:12). The stone in John 1:42 signifies the believers in Christ, after being born of God, regenerated by receiving Him (vv. 12-13) to be transformed into living precious stones. This is for the building of the church, the house of God (Matt. 16:18).

　　We, the believers in Christ, are living stones, like Christ (1 Pet. 2:4), through regeneration and transformation. We were created of clay (Rom. 9:21). But at regeneration we received the seed of the divine life, which by its growth in us transforms us into living stones. At Peter’s conversion the Lord gave him a new name, Peter—a stone. When Peter received the revelation concerning Christ, the Lord revealed further that He also was the rock—a stone (Matt. 16:16-18). Peter was impressed by these two incidents that both Christ and His believers are stones for God’s building. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1170-1171)

　　God’s goal in the believers is to have a house built up with living stones [1 Pet. 2:5]. He does not want separated and scattered stones, nor even a pile of stones merely gathered together. He wants stones built up with one another.

　　The spiritual house into which we are being built is God’s building. Eventually, this building will consummate in the New Jerusalem…We are now becoming the precious stones that will be built up into the New Jerusalem. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 1171)

　　By our natural birth we are clay, not stones…Man was made from the dust of the ground [Gen. 2:7] . Romans 9 reveals that we are vessels of clay. How, then, can we become stones? We become stones through the process of transformation.

　　When the Lord called…Peter a stone, that meant that he would certainly become a stone. Whatever the Lord says to us will be fulfilled. If He says, “You are gold,” then you will be golden. The Lord knew that when He changed Simon’s name to Peter, a stone, he would become a stone.

　　In John 1:42 Peter was told that he was a stone. Then sometime later, in Caesarea Philippi, in answer to the Lord’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, receiving the revelation from the Father, said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” To this the Lord Jesus replied, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). Here the Lord indicated that He is the rock upon which the church is built and that Peter is a stone.

　　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. But how can we actually become living stones? We become living stones by coming to Christ as the living stone (1 Pet. 2:4).

　　We may use petrified wood as an illustration of transformation…Petrified wood is wood that has been changed into stone. Over a long period of time, water has been flowing over wood and through it. By means of this flow of water, the substance of the wood is changed into stone. On the one hand, the element of wood is carried away; on the other hand, the element of stone is brought in to replace the element of wood. In this way the wood becomes stone. (Life-study of 1 Peter, pp. 151-152)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 108; Life-study of Genesis, msg. 69; Life-study of Acts, msgs. 15—16; Life-study of 1 Peter, msgs. 16—18