February 25, 2023: 1 Peter 2:4 - Jesus was Chosen by God and Precious

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious…” - 1 Peter 2:4

Jesus was chosen by God to be the One on whom alone our salvation rests. Just as when you build a house, if you build it on something that is faulty, that is prone to give way to external pressure, it won’t last, so too is our faith. If you build it on anything but by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior, it won't last, it will be washed away by the pressures of life. Jesus spoke of this when He taught the people:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken them to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

Isaiah and the author of Psalm 118 both prophesied of Jesus being the precious cornerstone:

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily." Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet; the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.” (Isaiah 28:16-18)

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:22-23)

Jesus Himself quoted both of these Scriptures when He told the parable of the wicked vinedressers to the chief priests and the Pharisees. This parable describes a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a hedge of protection around it and leased it to vinedressers to take care of it. However, when it was ready for the fruit to be harvested and the landowner sent his servants to harvest it, the vinedressers beat one servant, killed one, and stoned another. The landowner sent even more servants a second time and it happened again. The third time, he sent his son, thinking they wouldn’t do such a thing to him, but the vinedressers saw that it was the landowner’s son and instead of letting him come and harvest the fruit, they rejected and killed him. After telling this parable to the chief priests and Pharisees, Jesus asked them what the landowner would do to those who killed his son. (Matthew 21:33-40)

“They said to Him, ‘He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.’”

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’ ‘

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” (Matthew 21:41-44)

Jesus was chosen by God as the Messiah, the chief cornerstone, the One the Jews had been looking for, the One who had been prophesied of long ago in the Scriptures. But, as prophesied, He would be rejected by them and He was given to a nation - the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations - in order to bear the fruits of His vineyard. Sadly, most who have heard His message of salvation have rejected it. Instead of seeing Him as the cornerstone, the firm foundation on which salvation is built and who lives today, they see Him as a stumbling block, a rock of offense, and they do so at their own peril. But to us who believe in Him, the One chosen by God and precious to Him, He is our everything. He is our salvation.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’

“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made the foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks [Gentiles] foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is strong than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) ✝️