The True Church, Dwelling Place of God

1 Peter 2:5 (Daily study for Tuesday, January 13, 2015)

The typical Greek word order here is interesting and a bit poetic.  Peter places the noun before the adjectives as he writes that we are “stones living,” “a house spiritual,” and “a priesthood holy.” The order of the words, however, is secondary to the progression of thought and purpose they present.  We are first living stones exactly the same as Jesus was a living stone (v. 4).  Our purpose as stones is to be built into a spiritual house.  Paul used the same metaphor in Ephesians 4:19-22.  The picture is inescapable!  Believers are each one part of the building, the church, the “holy temple of the Lord,” “the dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”  Each stone is important, invaluable, and essential.  The house of the church is not complete without every stone in place.  Naturally, some stones are more visible than others, but none make the house of God more complete by their presence than any other stone, and none make it less complete by their absence.  All of us are equally valuable and equally important.

I am a stone, just a stone, chiseled from the same pit as all the other stones, shaped by the same hand, and designed for His plan in His special place by the same great Architect.  I am put by His grace where I and I alone must be, so there is no room for pride, jealousy, complacency, or indifference.  I cannot fit in another’s place nor can he take mine, for we are all part of the Master’s great plan to the full measure of His sovereign grace.  We are the dwelling place of God in the Spirit.