Living Stones Built Upon the Living Stone

God is Building Something Out of You

Life comes with an inherent expectation: we build. From childhood through adulthood, we're constantly constructing something. We build knowledge through education, careers through experience, wealth through saving, strength through exercise, and families through commitment and love. Everything about our existence seems oriented toward this fundamental activity of building.

This pattern extends into our spiritual lives as well. Jesus instructed His followers to build their lives upon the solid rock of His teaching. When believers gather together, they're expected to build one another up in faith and strive side by side for the gospel's sake. The church itself is something being built—not just brick and mortar, but a living, breathing spiritual reality.

There's something deeply satisfying about building tangible things. Whether it's a fence, a piece of furniture, or a home, the ability to look back and see concrete results brings a sense of accomplishment. But what if God is building something far more profound than anything we could construct with our hands? What if you are His construction project?

The Divine Construction Project

Scripture tells us we are God's workmanship. He is actively building something out of each person who comes to Him in faith. And here's the challenging truth: one of the primary tools in God's construction toolkit is suffering. Hardship isn't random or meaningless—it's part of His deliberate process of shaping us into something beautiful and purposeful.

This reality offers our first real glimpse into why God sovereignly allows difficulties into the lives of His children. He's making something out of us. He's building something that will last for eternity.

Built Upon the Living Stone

First Peter chapter two presents a remarkable image: Jesus Christ as a living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God's sight. And we who come to Him are described as living stones being built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The invitation to "come" echoes throughout Jesus' ministry. "Come and see," He told His first disciples. "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." This isn't merely about physical proximity—it's about intimate, abiding personal fellowship. It's about the merging of souls, what theologians call "union with Christ."

When we come to Jesus, the Father places us in the Son and begins making a spiritual house out of us. God intends to make His dwelling place in your heart. You become the temple of the living God—not a building made of wood and stone, but a living sanctuary where the Holy Spirit resides.

The Pattern of Rejection and Honor

Jesus was rejected by the religious leaders of His day. They measured Him against their own constructed standards of what the Messiah should be, and He didn't fit their expectations. So they crucified Him. Yet though rejected by men, He was chosen and precious in God's sight. Because He fully satisfied God's standards, the Father highly exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name.

This pattern extends to all who build their lives upon Christ. If we come to the cornerstone that was rejected by men, we too will be despised in the world. Somewhere along the way, we've developed the mistaken notion that because we love Jesus, the world will love us too. But the world hated Jesus, and it still does. Those who follow Him will face similar rejection.

Yet in God's sight, as living stones built upon the living stone, we are chosen and precious. And if this pattern holds true, we will also be vindicated as Christ was, receiving great honor in the kingdom, having suffered with Him.

What God is Building:

A Holy Priesthood

Under the Old Covenant, priesthood was extremely limited. Only descendants of Aaron from the tribe of Levi could serve as priests. Only the high priest could enter God's presence, and only once a year. Anyone who presumed to take priestly privileges for themselves faced severe consequences.

But under the New Covenant, everything changes. Because of Christ, those who come to Him are made into a holy priesthood. This is the revolutionary doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. You have direct access to God the Father. You don't need a human intermediary because your intermediary—Jesus Christ—is at the right hand of the Father.

We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way He opened through His flesh. We can draw near with true hearts in full assurance of faith. This is an extraordinary privilege—unfettered, unencumbered access to our good Father through Jesus Christ.

A Treasured Identity and Glorious Destiny

Scripture describes believers as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession." These titles were originally given to Old Testament Israel, but now they apply to the church of Jesus Christ. Just as Israel was called to be uniquely holy and reveal God's holiness to the world, the church now bears that responsibility.

We are called to be a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden, the light of the world, the salt of the earth. We go and make disciples of all nations, bringing the knowledge of the one true God to the world.

Perhaps most remarkably, we're told: "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." The same God who entered into covenant with His people by faith is now holding out His hands with open arms to all people. He's willing to receive anyone who comes to Him in faith, willing to forgive anyone, no matter who they are or where they're from.

The Purpose: 

Worship and Mission

Why does God do all this? Why build us into His spiritual house? First, we are built to worship and serve the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God wants the same kind of relationship with us that He had with Adam in the garden—the same fellowship, the same worship, the same service.

Whatever the priests did in the tabernacle as they offered their offerings and worshiped according to the law, we now do through the Spirit of Christ who lives in us. God is seeking worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Every Christian, no matter who they are, has something to offer God in Christ that pleases Him and brings a smile to their Father's face.

But there's a second purpose: we are called to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. The gospel came to you because it was on its way to somebody else. God is making something out of you so that you will go and declare His praises, telling others what He has done and how He has revealed Himself.

Suffering as a Construction Tool

When you build a house, the piece of ground must change. Trees must come down, rocks must move, the land must be leveled. That piece of ground has to be transformed before construction can begin.

In a similar way, suffering works in our lives. What God intends to do means that the way things are right now must change. He'll dig here, remove something there, level this area—and it will hurt for a while. But when God is finished, the house He builds out of us will be glorious.

Suffering changes our lives so God can build something out of us. Pain can transform us into true worshipers. It can help us understand our need to draw near to God, that we can't operate on our own. Through prolonged periods of suffering, drawing near to God becomes spiritual discipline—a routine built into our lives.

Suffering can also refine us and remind us of what we've been called to do. It can grip our hearts with the immediate need people have for Jesus Christ. It can clear away the chaff so we can see people the way God sees them—harassed and helpless, without a shepherd.

An Invitation to Come

If you're holding onto some sin, repent. Get it under the blood of Jesus Christ. Forsake it and surrender to the Holy Spirit. Come and receive mercy, and let God make something out of you.

God is building living stones upon the living stone. He's gathering His people, one by one, constructing His spiritual house. The question isn't whether God is building—He is. The question is whether we'll let Him use every circumstance, including suffering, to shape us into worshipers who will go and gather more living stones.

What is God building in your life right now? What needs to change for Him to complete His work? Trust Him with the process. The Master Builder knows exactly what He's doing.