1 Peter

1 Peter 2: The living stone who bore sins

Begin in prayer

Before we read 1 Peter 2, please come to God, who builds His people on the living Christ. Ask Him to feed us through His Word and to show us the sinless Shepherd who bore sins on the tree.

For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 7:6

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us Christ, the living stone You chose, and show us how He bore sins on the tree. Help us to follow Him and to become more like Him. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Peter has called the gospel an enduring word, and now he tells believers to long for it as newborn babies long for milk. Coming to the living Christ, they are built into a spiritual house, though others reject Him and stumble at the word. These people have received mercy and belong to God, whose excellence they must proclaim through holy lives among the nations. Their freedom serves Him through submission to rulers, honor toward everyone and love for fellow believers. Servants must submit even to wicked masters, and Peter names their pain as unjust suffering. Christ Himself suffered without sin or revenge, bore sins on the tree, and brought straying people back to their Shepherd.

As you read 1 Peter 2, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God builds His people on Christ, who bore their sins and teaches them to endure.

The life born through God's word must be fed, so Peter compares its hunger to a newborn baby's need for milk. He then pictures the church as a house whose foundation and corner are fixed by the living Christ. God receives their spiritual sacrifices through Him, giving every believer a place among His holy priesthood. The titles once given to Israel now name these people who received mercy and were called out of darkness. Those who disobey stumble at the word, and Peter says they were appointed to this. God's people must therefore live as His servants among the nations, honoring rulers and refusing desires that war against their souls. Their suffering Master shows how to endure unjust pain without returning curses or threats, entrusting judgment to God. Christ's bearing of sin also changes what His people live for, so they die to sins and live to righteousness. Their Shepherd's wounds have healed the straying souls He now oversees.

How does 1 Peter 2 show us that God builds His people on Christ, who bore their sins and teaches them to endure?

Christ is the living stone, chosen by God and precious.

A cornerstone sets the direction of the walls, so every other stone must fit with it. God chose Christ, the living stone, though people rejected Him. The believer will not be disappointed, while the disobedient stumble at the word, to which Peter says they were appointed. The building stands on God's chosen foundation, and the whole church depends on Jesus. The word that feeds Christ's living stones requires them to put away wickedness, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and evil speaking.

Those who believe are God's own people.

Peter says believers are built up as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood (verse 5). They are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a people for God's own possession (verse 9). Once they were no people, but now they are God's people (verse 10). They had not obtained mercy, but now they have obtained mercy. All of this comes to them through Jesus Christ (verse 5).

God's people honor all, love fellow believers, fear God, honor the king.

Believers submit to kings and governors for the Lord's sake, as God's servants whose good conduct silences foolish accusations. Peter commands honor for everyone and the king, love for fellow believers, and fear toward God. Even hostile rulers are owed these duties, yet a command to sin must be refused (Acts 5 verse 29). Christ's people honor the authority where they live, while their highest allegiance belongs to God.

Christ bore the sins of His people on the tree.

Servants must submit even to wicked masters, and enduring punishment for sin earns no credit. A slave and master share God's image, and suffering unjustly for conscience toward God is commendable. Christ suffered without sin, curses or threats, entrusting Himself to the righteous Judge. He bore His people's sins on the tree so they would die to sins and live to righteousness. His wounds heal the straying sheep who return to Him as Shepherd and Overseer.

Memorise

Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen, and precious: He who believes in him will not be disappointed.

1 Peter 2:6

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what do I trust to make me right with God, if not Jesus?

Peter calls Jesus “a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.” Men threw Him away, but God chose Him. The spiritual house of His people rests on this Stone.

Peter says He “did not sin,” and “when he was cursed, didn’t curse back.” Yet He hung on a tree. Peter wrote that He “bore our sins in his body on the tree.” Peter wrote to those who trust Him, and the sins He bore are the sins of His people. The sinless One died for His people. His sacrifice is enough for all of them. Then God raised Him from the grave.

So come to the living stone. “He who believes in him will not be disappointed.” Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Sinners go astray like sheep, but forgiveness is found in the Shepherd for every sheep that comes back to Him.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Christ is the living stone, and that He bore the sins of His people on the tree. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Please also show your children how to honor others, even people who are unkind to you.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for Christ, the living stone, and for what He did on the tree, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue;

2 Peter 1:3

Father, thank You for Christ, the living stone that You chose. Thank You that He bore the sins of His people on the tree. Please help us to turn from sin and trust Him, and to honor others for His sake. Amen.