Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:2–10, ESV)Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the center point of history. That is our confession. Biblical scholar Carl Michaelson said that Jesus is the “hinge of history.” The fact that most people on earth don’t recognize him as such, is of no consequence. He is so, in fact. Not surprisingly, St. Peter agrees. He says, “Christ is the cornerstone.” We look forward to the day when we lay a cornerstone for our new church. It is customary to put documents and memorabilia in it to commemorate the occasion. Something for future generations to see what we were thinking, why we built the building. The laying of a cornerstone is decisive. When you do it there is no turning back. You either build on it or you stumble over it. The future will look at our cornerstone and either think of us fools or wise.
The Christian faith is the same. St. Peter quotes Isaiah,
For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”” (1 Peter 2:6, ESV)For those who do not believe (the vast majority of the world),
“[Jesus,] the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” (1 Peter 2:7–8, ESV)To put it another way,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16, ESV)The gospel is the account of Jesus coming into the world, dying for the sins of the world (even those who will never believe), and who is coming again to finish “making all things new.” (Rev. 21:5, ESV) It is the culmination of all that was foretold in the Old Testament, all that is recorded in the New Testament. God has and will solve the greatest problem that faces humanity. He will abolish death. All that Jesus did is the “making of all things new.”
A center point has a before and an after. A hinge has two sides. A cornerstone has a before and an after. Again St. Peter talks about that.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9–10, ESV)He states it this way.
• Before, in darkness; after in marvelous light.
• Before, not a people; after God’s people.
• Before, no mercy; after mercy.
And he says even more. We are chosen, a royal priesthood and God’s possession.
It all hinges on Jesus, the center point, the hinge, the cornerstone. He makes all this happen. As St. Paul eloquently puts it,
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5–11, ESV)According to Peter the result is our being born again, “like newborn infants” (Latin: Quasimodo Geniti, celebrated as the Second Sunday of Easter, named for the first line of the Introit). He carries the idea here from his words in Chapter 1:3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” (1 Peter 1:3, ESV)Peter fills the idea with Old Testament images. A priesthood, a holy nation, a temple. He ties salvation history together Old and New, before and after. What was before Jesus was there because of Jesus. It told of the cornerstone ahead of time. It set God’s people in ready mode. They had God’s grace because of Jesus to come. We have God’s grace because he did come.
As you would expect the hinge of history is a provable fact. Unbelievers deny it, just as we would expect them to, but Jesus, the Son of God, the Savoir of the World, the Cornerstone of history, came in history, “born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate.” And the result is clear. We are born again, like newborn infants. Our status as God’s people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, is, in fact, a historical fact.
The fact is nothing less than astounding, if not a bit confusing. Even the teacher of Israel, Nicodemus was confused. He asked Jesus,
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”” (John 3:4, ESV)Jesus was clear. Understanding our status is tied to his resurrection. We are
…born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” (1 Peter 1:3b, ESV)Like newborn infants, we are to, long for the pure spiritual milk. All newborn infants need their mother’s milk. It provides everything necessary to live and grow. I once heard a sermon that the preacher said, “It’s time to move on from the milk. It’s time to get into the meat.” Meaning, not focusing on Jesus and his salvation, but rather the good works we should do. He was wrong. It is the pure spiritual milk that causes us to grow. As infants we long for it and need it. Good works follow as a consequence of nourishment.
It is all by God’s gracious hand. He provides what we need and want. A place, a time, a pastor proclamation of his word, sacraments to wash and feed us, a building, possibly a new building, fellow infants to console and share, a community to proclaim Jesus as the cornerstone. These are the “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5b, ESV). These are our infant priesthood good works to do.
In the world today, there are only two ways to be. Born of Adam, born into sin, born into slavery, born into death, or born again of Christ through his resurrection. Newborn infants, feeding on the pure spiritual milk, Alive in Christ bringing Life in Christ. With death in our future but the sure hope of life with Jesus forever, with the certainty by God’s promise of a physical resurrection like his with no more death, pain, sorry or suffering. Living with sin, but also living in Jesus’ victory over sin. Knowing that sin has no power over us but is dead in the grave with Jesus. Living with pain a sorrow but knowing certainly they are short lived. Because we are a chosen people, God’s people, a royal priesthood, a people for his own possession. We have been called out of darkness into his wonderful light. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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