Tuesday, August 09, 2016

In our last visit we began describing a “4S” or four step study approach and began using it in our study of 1st Peter chapter 2. The four steps are: spread, sort, structure and summarize. After spreading the information found in the chapter and sorting it into groups I structured the groups into three points: What they were, what they are and what they should be, with a focus on who Jesus Christ is in the introduction and conclusion. We fit into our society before becoming Christians. Once we become Christians we are aliens and strangers in the world, called to declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. Jesus provided through His sacrifice what we needed to become Christians and exemplified how we should live in our hostile world. Peter identified Jesus as “the living stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him” (verse 4). Peter amplifies this by quoting from the Old Testament: “See I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame…The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” and “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” That Jesus was chosen was seen in chapter one. Identifying Him as the living stone suggests at least two things. A stone represents firmness, providing a solid foundation, permanence. Adding that He is the living stone represents the possibility of relationship: “one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”