Home • Preaching the Word • 1 Peter
Declaring the Excellencies of Christ
Preached October 21, 2009 at a Mission in Downtown Birmingham, Al by Jake Hanson
1 Peter 2:4-10
Within each of us is a strong need and desire to know two things about ourselves: First, what is our identity? And Second, what is our purpose? In other words, we all want to know the answer to these two questions, Who am I? and What am I here for?
We have all struggled with these questions. The questions begin early on in our lives, and continue to hound us throughout our lives. In an effort to find an identity, some Americans spend thousands of dollars and travel around the world to find out where they are from in an effort to find out who they are.
Likewise, in an effort to find purpose in life, people switch from job to job, hobby to hobby and from organization to organization. We read books, watch tv shows, some people go to seminars to find out what they are here for. Indeed, one of the greatest selling Christian books of the past ten years is entitled, The Purpose Driven Life with over 25 million copies sold. So I imagine some in this room are wondering what your purpose is.
Tonight our text answers these questions for us—Who are we? And What are we here to do? In short, we will see that for those who have put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ we find our identity in the God who has called us our of darkness into His marvelous light in order that we might declare the excellencies of Jesus Christ in all that we say, all that we think and all that we do.
Please read with me the first few verses of our passage, beginning in 1 Peter 2:4.
“4And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,
5you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6For 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.”
In this short passage, we learn of our first identity: We who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ are the Temple of God. But if we are the Temple of God, we should know what the Temple of God is. Let me try to explain what it means that we are the Temple of God.
When Adam and Eve were first created in the Garden of Eden, because they were without sin, they had immediate access to God. We read in Genesis that Adam had an intimacy with God that we do not now know. But as he and Eve sinned, they were separated from God. For our God is a holy God. He is a righteous God. And no sinful person can draw near to Him and live.
So what is humanity to do? For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, it says in Romans. We have been separated from our God because of our sin. How do we bridge this gap between this holy, righteous and fierce God on one side, and us who are sinful and wicked on the other? We know as Christians, that this gap is ultimately filled by the precious, atoning blood of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who paid for our sins on the Cross.
But as we read Scripture, we find that before Jesus died for our sins on the Cross, there was a shadow of things to come, something that paved the way and pointed the way to Jesus Christ—a way to encounter the living God through offerings and sacrifices offered at the Tabernacle which would later become the Temple as the People of God settled in the Promised Land. The Temple was built in the city of Jerusalem and a mountain called Mount Zion which we see referred to in this text. Today, no Temple exists there, because you and I are now the Temple of God.
So what does it mean to be the Temple of God. Let me say two things. First, The Temple represented to the people the presence of God. God was not a distant God who had shut the earth out because of sin. He is a near God, a God who is with us, Immanuel, and He wants to redeem us for Himself.
So what does this mean for you and for me? It means that if you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are the place where the Spirit of God dwells. And when people encounter you, you are to represent and reflect the glory of God to this dark world. So I must ask: When people encounter you, do they have an encounter with God?
The Second thing I want to say about the Temple is this: in the Temple, God had set up a place and a system by which sinful humans could encounter a holy and righteous God. This was done through offerings and sacrifices. And this gets into our first purpose mentioned in this text at the end of verse 5: “to offer up spiritual sacrifices [or offerings] acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
If you were a Jew living in Old Testament times up until the time of Jesus, you were required to go to the Temple and offer offerings and sacrifices at the Temple. There were five offerings you could give, which we see laid out in Leviticus 1-5. As you approached the Temple, the first three offerings that you were required to give dealt with payment for sin and the polluting effects of sin so that you could draw near to God. These offerings—called the sin offering, the guilt offering and the whole burnt offering—were completely fulfilled by the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, and as we trust in Christ and repent from our sin, we offer this sacrifice.
In grateful response to the fact that sins were paid for, the People of God could offer two other sacrifices at the Temple: one was the peace offering which celebrated our union with God and with one another—it is what we celebrate when we come to the Lord’s Supper. But the offering that is being referred to in 1 Peter is what was called the Meal or Grain offering. It is also called the Dedication Offering. In short, the people would bring their finest flour for baking from their harvest to offer to the Lord. The flour could contain no yeast or leaven and it was cooked with oil and offered to the Lord in gratitude that He had provided. When a person offered this, they were in effect saying, “Lord, all that I am, all that I have I give to You. And I offer myself in obedience to You.”
The flour had to be the finest, and as we offer this spiritual offering as Christians, we are to offer our best, our finest, as well—not our second best. Not our moldy, used up gifts. But our pure and clean gifts. Jesus is our model as the One who gave Himself, completely and fully in obedience to the Father.
The flour was to be without yeast. Yeast represented sinfulness and corruption—remember how Paul wrote, “A little leaven [or yeast] leavens the whole lump of dough”? So also we are to offer ourselves in obedience to God in purity, not allowing for sinfulness and the corruption of this world. We are to offer ourselves as a “living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is [our] spiritual service of worship.” You are to offer yourself in obedience to God. The things that you do must be in line with what God has called you to be—holy as we saw last week in chapter 1. That is, you are set apart. You are unique. You are different. You are to live lives which stand out in this perverse and sinful world. You are to flee from sexual perversion, from drunkenness, from drugs, from greed, from evil talk. You are to walk in righteousness. To live lives which bring glory to God, for you are the Temple of God. It is your purpose to live this life of righteousness to bring people to God. This is why the Lord says, “You shall be holy [distinct, unique, different], for I am holy.” When people encounter us offering this spiritual sacrifice they will see that we are different, and they will begin to see, not just us, but also the excellencies of Jesus Christ.
Before getting to our second identity and purpose, Peter has us contrast ourselves with those who do not believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Read with me in verse 7:
“7This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,"
8and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.”
There is a coming day when each of us will encounter the living God. Hebrews tells us, “Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). For those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the text tells us, “you will not be disappointed.” He will be your protection in that day. But for those who have not put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be very disappointed when the judgment comes.
But for you who believe, Jesus Christ is precious and valuable. Nothing in the world is valuable enough to pay you for Him. No amount of money. No pleasure. No amount of sex or drugs. All of that is worthless compared with Christ.
And as a result of believing in Him, not only is He precious to us, but we are precious and valuable to Him. As Randy said a few weeks ago, you can know the value of something based on what someone is willing to pay for it. What was God willing to pay for you? He was willing to send His Son to come and die for you and pay for your sins with His precious, most valuable blood. That means that you have infinite value to God. That should bring us great hope.
Let’s continue reading in our text in verse 9 where we find our second identity and purpose.
“9But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.”
We see here in this section our second identity. We are the People of God. What does it mean to be the People of God?
When, in Genesis 12, God first called Abraham to be the father of the Jewish people—the People of God—God promised Abraham that his descendant would be a great nation. But God did not call them to be a great nation that kept to themselves and horded all their blessings for themselves. God called them to be a blessing to the entire earth, to be a light to the nations who lived in darkness. You see, the People of God were never meant to be a
‘holy huddle’ that does not interact with the world. The People of God are the People of God because God wants to reach out to the entire world through the People of God. And this is who you are as a believer in Jesus Christ. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession [that is, you are His treasure in this world].”
But then keep reading about our purpose in verse 9: You have been called “That you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” We are to declare the excellencies of Christ to the people we encounter—to our families, to our coworkers, to our friends, to our enemies, and sometimes even to strangers. But what are we to declare? What are we to say?
Peter chooses a wonderful word in Greek which we translate here, “Excellencies.” The word, though, has several different meanings. Peter would have been aware of the different meanings, and I believe used it purposefully because of the wide use of the word in Greek culture.
First, the word describes a person or a god’s eminence. That is, it described how great that person or god was. But consider our God. There is no god like our God. He is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. And we must declare Him to this world.
Second, the word we translate excellencies described excellence in martial valor—that is, the valor of a warrior. The Scriptures describe our God as the Lord of Hosts, or the Lord of Armies. And in Zephaniah, we are told that He is a ‘victorious warrior’ who exults over you with joy. Scripture teaches that Jesus will return a victorious warrior, destroying all of His (and our) enemies. We must declare this great warrior to the world who will destroy all of Satan’s harmful schemes.
Third, this word we translate ‘excellencies’ describes merit, or worthiness to be praised. How much is our God worthy of merit and praise? He created the universe with its billions of stars and galaxies as well as the tiny microscopic bacteria in such intricate detail which we can’t even see with our naked eye. But more than creation, He deserves praise for how He has delivered us out of our lives of sin, and brought us to Himself. The reasons for praising our great God are limitless, and we will have no shortage to praise Him in eternity. But we are to begin here, and now by declaring the praises of God to this world.
Fourth, this word we translate ‘excellencies’ can also refer to moral excellence or righteousness. If our God is anything, He is a righteous and holy God. Though He has allowed us to live in our rebellion, there is a coming day where He will establish, fully and completely, His righteous and just kingdom. We must declare to this sinful world that our God is righteous and just and will establish a new heaven and a new earth where fairness and justice reigns.
Fifth, this word could refer to the power of a god. Who is more powerful that the God who merely spoke, and the world came into existence? Scripture tells us that this world which was created by our most powerful God is also held together by Him. How great must our God be to hold the waters of the sea in the palm of His hand? We must declare this great, and powerful God who is most excellent to this weak and hurting world.
Sixth, and finally, this word could refer also to fortune, success, fame or glory. There is no person or god who can match the glory of our God. Scripture teaches that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, even as the water covers the sea. But He is calling on us to declare His glory to the very ends of the earth, and it starts right here at Br. Bryan Mission.
We need not stop contemplating the various excellencies of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a quote of Isaiah 42 and 43, where the Lord tells us “the people whom I have formed for Myself will declare My praises” (Is. 43:21). That is, we are to declare the reasons for why we praise God. And the reasons are infinite and limitless. Not only do we praise Him because He is excellent and worthy of all our praise, but we also praise Him because He has called us out of the darkness of this dark world, into the marvelous light of His glory. And a marvelous light it is indeed!
We praise Him, because we had no identity, no hope, no purpose, no mercy, but now He has called us to a new identity: to be His dwelling place, and His treasured people. He has brought to us new purpose, to live lives worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to declare the great excellencies of Jesus Christ in all that we say, and all that we do. And He has brought us mercy and forgiveness for our sins and our severed relationships that we might be free to serve Him.
This is a most excellent God that we serve. So let us go and live our identity in Jesus Christ, and fulfill our purpose of declaring the excellencies of Jesus Christ in our words and in our deeds. Our world needs it, and our God is most worthy of it. Amen.