This verse falls within one of the richest and most familiar passages in all of God’s Word. However, in spite of its familiarity, I must confess that my attempt, during morning devotions, to boil down its meaning has proved to be a bit of a challenge.

You may want to read this passage, right now, to see what I am talking about. It is 1 Peter 2:4-12. It begins with talk about Christ as a living stone, quickly moving on to referring to believers as living stones, as well. Christ is further described as the cornerstone, the capstone and a stone of stumbling!!! It strains my brain to understand exactly what Peter is trying to communicate through this stone imagery.

And digging deeper into this imagery, in terms of the Greek words and meanings, does not seem to shed much more light. For it would seem that the word translated cornerstone, in verse 6, can also mean capstone. And the word translated capstone, in verse 7, can also mean cornerstone. So, is Jesus the capstone, a stone which goes on top of the building, or is He the cornerstone, the basis for the foundation?

Finally, I realized that this distinction is not really important. Peter is purposefully unspecific on this point, but what he is specific about is that Jesus’ role in the church is an indispensible one. The Greek words in verse 7 are most literally translated “chief stone.” The point is that the most important part of the church is Christ. Remove Christ from the church and you have no church. He is the indispensable and, therefore, the most important building material in this spiritual house. As believers, we must remember that Jesus is the center, the foundation, the source of our faith.

So, what does Peter mean when he likens us to Jesus saying that we too are living stones? He reveals that the church is not some building we meet in made up of wood and brick, the church is made up of you and me, living stones. In other words, we do not merely go to church, we are the church. We are not merely spectators when it comes to the worship of God, as if the pastor or worship leaders were the “priests,” but we are all priests, living to serve God. And if we are the church, then nothing changes when we exit the church doors. For we continue to be the church, and representatives of God, when we go to the office, or the playground, or the store. As the verse above indicates, we belong to Him.

This sense of “belonging” is rendered even more significant by Peter’s statement in verse 10, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” It would be easy enough to gloss over this verse and miss the point. But Peter is making a very intentional and meaningful allusion to the book of Hosea, where Israel is pictured as Lo-Ruhamah, “not loved,” and Lo-Ammi, “not my people,” because of their unfaithfulness to God. What Peter indicates is that though we too were once separated from God’s love and care, we are now brought near to God through Christ. God has drawn us to Himself and we now belong to Him as His chosen people.

And that is why Peter goes on to call us “aliens and strangers in the world,” challenging us to “live such good lives among the pagans…that they may see your good deeds and glorify God.” Peter calls us to buck the desire to conform to society’s standards and to live according to a higher law, as revealed in the Bible, even if it means sacrificing our own desires.

But what is important to note is that we do not live for God in order to become His people, we live for God because we are His people—loved by our Creator. And we enjoy this covenant relationship only because of Jesus, the living stone, precious to God and to all of us who have trusted in Him. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Pastor Dan