Precious
1 Peter 2:7 “Unto you therefore which believe He is precious:…”
Precious means “valuable, dear, beloved”.
Let us consider the Value of Christ.
To God, Christ is the foreordained Beloved Son, given for the world.
He is Creator and Sustainer of all things.
(Hebrews 1:2-3 “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son,…by Whom also He made the worlds;…and upholding all things by the word of His power…”)
To God’s glory, Christ was promised, came, and fulfilled all HIs Will for the atonement of sins, the redemption of mankind and creation, and the defeat of all enemies of God…sin, the devil, death.
To God the Father, Christ HIs Son….is dear, most beloved (John 3:16-17)….
….yet He “spared not HIs own Son” (Romans 8:32) when our sin was laid upon Him, on the cross.
Not one part of our punishment was “spared” Christ…..that we might become “precious” to God, in Christ. That God might become our Father.
1 Peter 1:18-19 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
Christ is the “Stone, a precious corner Stone” of His Church.
Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”
He is our Precious corner-stone. And as we are in Him, we are lively stones…builded up in HIs spiritual house. And Peter says to those who have tasted that the Lord is “gracious”.
(This grace is not the grace that saves…Eph. 2:8-9,….
….but the grace which comes to us day by day from the Lord….and enables us to stand against the wiles of the devil….and have joy and peace, even in the trials and suffering of our way, from here to heaven.)
1 Peter 2:3-5 “If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
To Whom coming, as unto a Living Stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
(Have we so tasted that our Lord is gracious day by day?)
Then comes the blessed statement:
1 Peter 1:17 “Unto you therefore which believe He is precious:…”
And He is! He is the value of my life.
Through Jesus, we have received….”like precious faith” (2 Peter 1:1)…..and His divine power (grace) hath given unto us all things that works in our life for godliness….
….He gives us “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter1:4)….that we might be enabled to be like Him…”partakers of the divine nature”…escaping the pollution that is in the world through lust.
[Think pollution of air and water. We breathe, the air may seem fine, but there are particles of things which may cause illness. We drink water, and within the water their may be chemicals or germs which will hurt. So we are in the world….and it is a beautiful and wonderful world….but there are also many things which defile us, as we walk through it…..
…..and so we are warned of them. But that alone would not be enough….so, God, through Christ, has given us His Word…..His precious promises to escape these “pollutants”.]
Peter writes, after many years of ministry of the precious trial of faith. (1 Peter 1:7). For we are called to trials…..to strengthen and encourage our faith and dependency on our Lord Jesus….for He is not only our example in this…..but our courage, our strength, our peace and joy.
The Psalmist, when he saw that God saw him in every way….and his situation….exclaimed in joy and hope!
Psalm 139:17 “How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!”
And surely we can say the same. He sees, He knows, He thinks of us always….and in His thoughts of us, are the means and ways to bring us through. He is gracious!
He is Precious!
So we are called to go forth in our everyday days…..and shine His light….sow HIs gospel seed…..proclaim that He is Precious:
Psalm 126:6 “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bring his sheaves with him.”
John 4:35 “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”
Our lives show Christ Jesus. Are we showing how precious to us, He is?
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 