1 Peter 2:4

1 Peter 2:4 ‘And coming to Him as to. living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God,'

‘And coming to Him' -‘indicating. “close” and an habitual (present participle) approach and an intimate association.' (Vincent p. 642). POINTS TO NOTE: 1. An expression used in the Greek translation of the O.T., for coming into God's presence in the tabernacle to offer sacrifices (Exodus 2:48; Exodus 2:9; Leviticus 10:4). ‘By this expression Peter hints…that all believers now enjoy the great privilege, reserved only for priests in the Old Testament.' (Grudem p. 97). 2. Jesus is our only access to. relationship with God (John 14:6; Hebrews 4:14). 3. Christians are encouraged to constantly draw near (Hebrews 10:22; Hebrews 11:6; Hebrews 12:18; Hebrews 12:22)

‘as to. living stone' -Jesus is that living stone (Isaiah 2:16; Psalms 118:22). Unlike other religions, the founder of Christianity is. self-existent being, the eternal Creator Himself (John 1:1). And one Who can depart spiritual life to others. ‘The fact that Christ is the living stone shows at once his superiority of an Old Testament temple made of dead stones, and reminds Christians that there can be no longing for that old way of approach to God, for this way is far better.' (Grudem p. 98)

‘rejected by men' -‘reject after scrutiny, declare useless' (Arndt p. 90) Isaiah 2:3. Besides other factors, this rejection was motivated by willful ignorance Acts 3:14; Acts 3:17; Acts 13:27; and envy Matthew 27:18. Therefore we need to properly evaluate the rejection we face in the world. ‘Rejected' is. word that we can certainly identify. How many times do you find yourself simply ignored or dismissed by the world? The world is in darkness (Acts 26:18), and it can't even find God with its own wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:21). The person who rejects the message we preach is the person with the problem.

‘but choice and precious in the sight of God' -1. ‘Choice'-select, ‘excellent, best usually chosen' (Arndt p. 242). 2. ‘Precious'-‘held in honor, dear' (Vine p. 275); ‘preciousness as recognized, or held in honor' (Vincent p. 642) 3. ‘in the sight of God'-which is the only opinion that matters. God not only selected Jesus, but He esteemed Him better than any other foundational stone. These words suggest that we need to esteem Jesus just as highly as the Father esteems Him.