Jesus Christ precious to genuine believers

Jesus Christ precious to true believers

Sunday, 8/03/2015

1 Peter 2: 1-8

¹     Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

²     as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

³     if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People

⁴     Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,

⁵     you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶     Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, " Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."

⁷     Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, " The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,"

⁸              and " A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

Introduction

Have you ever thought of Jesus Christ as precious? Is he truly precious to you?

PRE'CIOUS,

Of great price; costly; expensive; of great value or worth; very valuable. valued as rare and beautiful, beloved; dear; cherished; held in high esteem,

Is He of great price to you? Is He beautiful to you? Do you cherish Him and hold Him in high esteem? Is He valuable to you?
It is possible to memorise Scripture, speak and teach doctrine, be fascinated by theology without thinking about how precious Jesus really is. It is important for believers to constantly think of the preciousness of the second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before we go back to the passage in 1Peter, I want to read you an article that makes you think whether or not Christ is precious to us. I think it’s worth thinking about.

Funny how we set our clocks to arise at 5 AM or 6 AM to be at the job by 7:30, yet when Sunday comes we can't get to church for 10 AM to praise the one who gave us the jobs!
Funny how we call God our Father and Jesus our brother, but find it hard to introduce them to our family. Funny how small our sins seem, but how big "their" sins are.
Funny how we demand justice for others, but expect mercy from God.
Funny how much difficulty some have learning the gospel well enough to tell others, but how simple it is to understand and explain the latest gossip about someone else.
Funny how we can't think of anything to say when we pray, but don't have any difficulty thinking of things to talk about to a friend.
Funny how we are so quick to take directions from a total stranger when we are lost, but are hesitant to take God's direction for our lives. Funny how so many church goers sing "Standing on the Promises" but all they do is sit on the premises. Funny how people want God to answer their prayers, but refuse to listen to His counsel. Funny how we sing about heaven, but live only for today. Funny how people think they are going to Heaven but don't consider the dangers of Hell. Funny how it is okay to blame God for evil and suffering in the world, but it is not necessary to thank Him for what is good and pleasant.

Funny how when something goes wrong, we cry, "Lord, why me?" but when something goes right, we think, "Hey, it must be me!"
Oh wait...maybe all this isn't so "funny" after all.

Let’s look at our text.

⁴     Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,

⁵     you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶     Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, " Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."

⁷     Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, " The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,"

⁸              and " A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

We need to keep in mind that Peter is writing to a suffering church. He has been exhorting them to live holy lives in the face of tremendous suffering.

In chapter 1 he’s been showing them that:

• ·         God has chosen them (1:1-2)
• ·         They were born again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Christ (1:3)
• ·         That these trials and suffering is for the testing and refining of their faith if it is genuine (the result being praise, glory and honour when Christ is revealed 1:7)
• ·         That they must live obedient, holy lives and not conform to the evil desires they once had when they lived in ignorance (1:14)
• ·         That they should love one another deeply from the heart (1:22)
• ·         That they were born again from imperishable seed – as the word endures forever so will there new birth endure forever.

In chapter 2 he starts by mentioning things that they should get rid of (all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,) and how they should crave for the pure milk of the Word like new-born babies.

All Peter’s exhortation rests on one important fact. To the genuine Christian Jesus Christ is Precious!

Everything Peter has said so far would have absolutely no meaning if Christ was not precious to him and to those whom he addresses.

In fact… All of Scripture is worthless and would only be of value to the fire if Jesus Christ is not most precious above all things.

Three times from verse 4 – 7 he mentions the word “precious” and several times more throughout his letter.

Let us consider the preciousness of Jesus Christ.

By this I need to say: By no means can I nor any preacher, theologian or scholar of the highest degree ever come close to describing how precious our Lord truly is.

I would have to agree with John 21:25 that concludes by saying: “…I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

Amen!

Christ is only Precious to the genuine Christian

·         Those that are not truly saved, whether religious church goer or morally up standing does not have a real appreciation for the preciousness of Christ.

Romans 8:7 “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”

·         True faith in Christ, and sincere love to Him, are accompanied with the soul’s longing to be more and more like Him - in humility, in patience, in service, in submission, and in holiness.

·         They have tasted that the Lord is gracious (2:3) and they hunger for more

Matt. 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

·         They seek the Kingdom of God (Matt.6:33) and do not love their lives even to death (Rev.12:11)

·         They echo the words of Peter in John 6:68 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

·         It is to them that Jesus are saying in John 14: 1-4

¹     "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ²In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴And where I go you know, and the way you know."

CH Spurgeon:

“First, this is a positive fact, that unto believers Jesus Christ is precious. In Himself He is of inestimable preciousness, for He is very God of very God. He is, moreover, perfect man without sin. The precious gopher wood of His humanity is overlaid with the pure gold of His Divinity. He is a mine of jewels and a mountain of gems. He is altogether lovely, but, alas! this blind world seeth not His beauty.”

Christ is Precious because of who He is.

·         He is Immanuel. God with us. The God-man.

·         The excellences of divine and sinless human nature centres in Him.

·         All wisdom, power, majesty, divine or human, created or uncreated, seen or invisible, the highest affection and honour belongs to Him.

Colossians 1

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.¹⁷And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

·         He is fully God and fully man so that in his humanity He is able to sympathise with our weaknesses.

Hebrews 4: 15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Christ is Precious because of His Blood

His Blood redeemed me

1Peter 1:18-19 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

His Blood cleanses me from sin

[1 John 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.]

His blood preserves my life

[Exodus 12:13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,

His blood speaks better things than that of Abel

[Hebrews 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. ]

 

Christ is Precious because He is a seeking Saviour of hell deserving sinners

Matthew 9: 12-13

¹²   When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

·         Only when you realise how sin sick you were can you truly see Christ as precious

·         You have to feel and taste the disgust of your sin to appreciate Christ as precious

·         Only in the face of your own depravity and utter wickedness can you see the beauty and preciousness of Christ

·         It is when you realise that the stinking, rotting corpse that smelled so badly that people tried to stop Jesus from coming close to it was actually you, and yet our Precious Saviour came close and called you out…

·         That’s why He is precious to me! I was Lazarus!

I can imagine how Peter felt when Jesus called him. A rude, cussing fisherman that would deny Christ… and still find mercy at His feet!

Or Paul who murderously persecuted the church and cheered on when they stoned Stephen to death… the worst of sinners… yet he found grace at the feet of our Precious Saviour.

Christ is Precious because of His promises

2Cor. 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

2 Peter 1:4
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

·         Matt 16:16-19 "And I say that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it"

·         Matt 28:20 "Teach them to observe all I have taught you and behold I am with you always until the end of the world"

·         Jude 1:24 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,”

·         John 16: 13-14 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” (Rom 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.)

·         His grace is sufficient for us – 2Cor.12: 9

·         Phillipians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus".

·         1Cor.10:13 “…but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

One of my favourite promises that has kept me through the most difficult circumstances…

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Is Christ truly Precious to YOU?

I am not talking about sentimentalism or an emotion that you feel when you sing a worship song. Or how loud you can pray and shout the name of Jesus.

Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 13 of a man who found a treasure in a field and then covered it up, then in his joy he sold all he had and buys that field.

Again He tells of a merchant that in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Is your heart with Christ? Is he truly your treasure?

 

Matthew 6: 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

 In Matthew 19:16-22 a rich young man comes to Jesus wanting to know what he must do to inherit the Kingdom. He was willing to do all the right things, but Jesus was not more precious to him than his life’s possessions. Scripture says, “he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

What is dearer to you than Jesus? What are you holding onto that’s more precious to you than Jesus Christ.

Matthew 10: 37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Andwhoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

May the Lord give you an open heart to receive the gospel, so that the eyes of your heart might be enlighten so that you can behold His glory... For He is Precious!