“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious” (1 Peter 2:4).
The construction of a new building generally starts with an idea in the mind of an architect. The architect then transfers that concept to a set of design prints for review, approval, and construction. That process also serves to illustrate God’s personal building program as described over the next few verses of 1 Peter chapter two.
Here in verse four, our author will return to the archives of God’s building department, so to speak. Those archives are embodied in the Old Testament Scriptures and serve to facilitate our understanding of God’s building program. For instance, every new building rests upon a foundation. In a similar manner, this verse identifies the foundation of God’s building program: “You are coming to Christ, the living stone…” (GW).
In searching through the Old Testament archives of God’s building department, we also find a reference that describes the characteristic quality of that foundation…
“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken'” (Isaiah 28:16).
However, those archives also contain some references to certain building contractors as well…
“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22).
“God will become a sanctuary— but he will be a stone to trip over and a rock to stumble on for the two houses of Israel; a trap and a snare for those living in Jerusalem. Many of them will stumble and fall, and be broken, snared, and captured” (Isaiah 8:14-15 CEB).
Jesus made use of those Scriptures in speaking of Himself in a parable that is recorded for us in Luke 20:9-19. Unfortunately, a portion of Jesus’ audience for that parable consisted of those who exemplified the individuals who appear in these excerpts from the Book of Psalms and the prophet Isaiah. Those who heard Jesus’ message had an opportunity to respond by making the necessary changes that would bring them into alignment with God’s design. Instead, they chose to respond in a different manner…
“The legal experts and chief priests wanted to arrest him right then because they knew he had told this parable against them. But they feared the people” (Luke 20:19 CEB).
In light of these things, one source leaves us with an important reminder…
“If we are going to be used in God’s building program we must come to Christ. Our only suitability to be building materials is derived from our identification with Him.” (1)
(1) William Macdonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary Edited by Arthur Farstad, Thomas Nelson Publishers [pg. 2258]