Believers are “…. kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ ……”
One brief preliminary point about gold. Gold is used in jewellery and to back currencies because it is not easily destroyed. But it does deteriorate through use, pressure and fire. Genuine faith is more robust and it is precious to God.
We know this because we are “kept” by His power. We can “greatly rejoice” in the salvation He has promised us. Our faith has been empowered by God. There is a final, positive outcome for trusting I God, through all the difficulties of life, when we enter into heaven as redeemed sinners.
But before then we have to deal with the pressures and difficulties of life. But because of the hope of the redemption of the body and a glorious heritage believers can rejoice even in the midst of trials.
There is evidence of how precious our faith is to God in that He will allow no-one to steal it and He will allow no-one to disqualify us from continuing in it. We know God’s compassionate character. We have been adopted. God keeps us within His kingdom. The believer is secure in Yeshua.
Our faith is precious to us. Through our faith we will come into the kingdom of our Lord and reign with Him.
We can even take comfort from our sufferings. For they are neither purposeless nor fruitless. The sufferings of the ungodly are only a foretaste of the pans of hell which they will suffer. But the difficulties of life for the child of God tests and refines the genuineness of our faith. Genuine faith will result in “praise, honour and glory” when Yeshua is revealed.
“ …. knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
The life and death of Yeshua is precious to God. The death of Yeshua was not incidental in God’s plan for man’s salvation; it is God’s plan for man’s salvation. Yeshua was God’s Passover lamb, unstained by evil and sin. His substitutional, sacrificial death dealt with the penalty of sin for mankind.
His blood (his death) is precious for us because He paid the price of our sins that we might receive His righteousness (John 1: 29). He is the lamb who takes away the sin of the World.
“Coming to Him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a royal priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, elect, precious…”.”
Yeshua is the living stone precious to God and to us.
The building analogy used here is clear although the definition of a “cornerstone” is less certain. Some commentators describe it as a stone lying at the extreme corner of a building which controls the foundation line of the construction. For others it is the keystone at the top of an arch. For others it is the capstone on a pyramid. Whatever the explanation, the point is that this stone is indispensable, of great value and is chosen by God.
Yeshua is a “living stone”, superior to the dead stones of the Old Testament Temple. He is greater than the traditions of Jewish society. He is greater than the traditions of the Gentiles and their lifeless stone idols.
The new building of God, of which Yeshua is the cornerstone, is assembled using all believers who are part of God’s great spiritual building project. These “stones” are shaped and ready for construction as opposed to natural rocks. All who are reborn into God’s family become a “holy priesthood”.
Yeshua is precious to us as we are only important as we contribute to His glory. It is only through Yeshua, as Mediator, that we can approach God and it is only Yeshua who can make offerings to God. All we do, our worship and our service is flawed by sin. But before it reaches the Father, it passes through the Lord Yeshua. He removes all the sin, so that when it reaches the Father it is perfectly acceptable. The “living stone” is precious as there is no other like Him.
“Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious……. you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
When people come into contact with the Saviour, they are shown for what they are. To the true believer He is precious: they cannot bear to think of what life would be like without Him. He is the means of salvation. Through faith in Yeshua, believers become an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation – the Israel of God.
Those who believe in Yeshua will never be ashamed or disappointed in Him. He is specifically the One whom God the Father chose to be the foundation of His eternal life.
“Do not let your adornment be merely outward – arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel – rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”
Peter here does not condone outward adornment (there is nothing wrong with looking one’s best) but rather he is saying that it should not be used for the purpose of vanity. The inner self is much more important.
Of course, Peter is here talking to believing wives. However, his message concerning the “hidden person of the heart” seems relevant to us all.
“The hidden person of the heart” denotes the regenerated nature; inner qualities which are imperishable.
“The Incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” denotes an attitude which is soothing and tranquil not demanding and bitter. This sort of inner qualities in us are seen as being of great price I.e. precious and of tremendous value to God.
“….. as His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
“Exceedingly great and precious promises” refers to some 30,000 divine promises found in Scripture. Principally these are promises of an abundant and eternal life. These promises inspire us to become “partakers of the divine nature”. We become new creations in Yeshua through the Holy Spirit and become increasing Christ-like.
These promises include God’s grace; freedom for sin’s dominion; and, the power to keep His commandments. When we claim these precious promises, we can escape the world’s corruption i.e. moral ruin through perverted desire.
Amen.