A Multidimensional View
“The Christian church is not primarily a social organization but the new temple where the transformed lives of believers are offered as sacrifices to the glory of God.” – Karen Jobes
“God’s regathered royal priesthood and holy nation- his newly chosen race, according to Peter- would be those who had been reborn as the children, not of Abraham, but of God the Father himself through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Christian community declares by its existence, by its liturgy and worship, by the daily lives of its members the mighty deed of Christ’s resurrection, which reveals the praiseworthy character of God.” -Karen Jobes
“…God has bestowed on the church almost all the blessings promised to Israel in the Old Testament. The dwelling place of God is no longer the Jerusalem temple, for Christians are the new ‘temple’ of God (v. 5). The priesthood able to offer acceptable sacrifices to God is no longer descended from Aaron, for Christians are now the true ‘royal priesthood’ with access before God’s throne (vv. 4-5, 9) God’s chosen people are no longer said to be those physically descended from Abraham, for Christians are now the true ‘chosen race’(v. 9). The nation blessed by God is no longer the nation of Israel, for Christians are now God’s true ‘holy nation; (v. 9). The people of Israel are no longer said to be the people of God, for Christians- both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians- are now ‘God’s people’ (v. 10a) and those have received mercy (v. 10b).” – Wayne Grudem
3D Movies don’t work for me. Glasses, no glasses, they don’t work because, I cannot see out of one eye. The lack of 2 viewpoints makes it impossible for my view of a movie to be 3D. Instead of eye popping images that feel like they jump out at you, I get blurry images that are out of focus. I wonder if most of the time, the same phenomenon works its way out in our view of the church. What we are supposed to see, what really exists is this beyond the stratosphere God ordained and created community. The sort of eye popping multidimensional image that should take our breath away and make a watching world say, “I want in!” Often instead, we see the church in vast disarray, as a community on the brink of extinction and irrelevance. The reality is that Peter’s first readers probably didn’t see themselves much differently. They were after all a very small, very disliked, very persecuted group. They were a group that drew their identity from a Jewish Rabbi whom most held was dead. They were a group that made little to no sense to those on the outside looking on. That is what makes Peter’s vision of the church so daring and bold. He is not asking the reader to simply square up to what is easily seen and humanly perceived. He is urging them to see with spiritual eyes who they are now that they’ve come to the “Living Cornerstone.” He wants them to have a firm grip on reality. The church may be small in a given place. The church may be a persecuted minority. Nonetheless, the church is a Divine Construction project. A temple in which God dwells. A chosen generation. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. God’s special possession- a peculiar people. Those who have been given the amazing privilege of declaring the praises of the God who called them out of our darkness and into His marvelous light. If we can catch this vision of the church, the true vision of the church, we will be changed. Our hearts will be flooded with gratitude. Our hope for the expansion of Jesus’ Kingdom will be renewed. Our sense of insignificance and overwhelmed-ness will fade. We are significant because God has made us so. We will not fail at our mission because, God Himself is empowering and equipping us for success. And so, our job is in part to each day be reminded of the reality of the group of which we are a part, the temple of which we are a living stone. Seeing clearly this vision of the church will move us forward into all that God has for us. So, look again. See not the physical dimensions, the budget line items, the failures of the past. See in multidimensional clarity who we are. Let it amaze and astound you. Let it invigorate and enliven you. Then live out of this reality. If we do, the world will never be the same.
Bonus Quotes:
“The rejection of Christ does not make him go away but in fact has ultimate consequences.” – Beare
“One cannot simply step over Jesus to go on about the daily routine and pass him by to build a future. Whoever encounters him is inescapably changed through the encounter: Either one sees and becomes “a living stone,” or one stumbles as a blind person over Christ and comes to ruin, falling short, i.e., of one’s Creator and Redeemer and thereby of one’s destiny.” – Goppelt