Living Stones

By Ford Pfister  |  Preached July 19, 2026 [watch online] |  1 Peter 2:4–10

1 Peter — “Living Stones”

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 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.
—1 Peter 2:4–10 (ESV)

Before you open your Bible this morning, I want to ask you a simple question: if you had to describe Jesus using only one image, one metaphor, or one simile, what would you choose? John the Baptist chose “the Lamb of God.” The Apostle John chose “the Lion of Judah.” Peter called him “the Good Shepherd.” Jesus called himself the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the true vine, the bridegroom. Each of those names is true. None of them is enough on its own.

Charles Spurgeon, one of the most influential preachers in history, put it this way: “No one figure is sufficient to set forth Christ as He really is.” Jesus is holy, set apart, without comparison, and Scripture keeps reaching for new pictures because no single one can hold Him. This morning I want to add one more facet to that picture, straight from 1 Peter 2: Jesus, the living stone.

A Living Stone, Rejected by Men

To help you picture what Peter is describing, let me tell you about a mission trip I took to Ecuador this past March with our college and young adult ministry. Our mornings were spent on a construction project — first sifting dirt by hand through a wooden-framed screen to make mortar (four days of work for one pile), then loading Ecuador’s much heavier, 110-pound bags of concrete mix into a mixer.

The most memorable job came last. An Ecuadorian foreman dumped a huge pile of rocks at our feet and told us, with almost no further instruction, to sort the good rocks from the bad. My teammate and I guessed — and guessed wrong, again and again. It turned out the foreman wasn’t looking for a rock that merely looked good. He was looking for one specific, hidden quality: a perfectly flat side that could be set into the concrete form so the rock would show beautifully once the form came off. Only the foreman, not us, could tell which rocks actually qualified.

That image is exactly what Peter is describing in verse 4. Jesus is “a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious.” Humanity looked at Jesus and, like my team sorting an unfamiliar pile, got it wrong. We put him on trial. We mocked him as a false king. He was beaten, crucified, and buried — rejected, by every human measure, as not good enough.

But that isn’t where the verse ends. Where the world rejected Jesus, God exalted him. He was chosen — chosen to die for our sins, chosen to be raised from the dead, chosen to be seated at God’s right hand with authority over all things. The world’s rejection and God’s choosing sit side by side in the same verse, and only one of those verdicts is the true one.

The Living Cornerstone

For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
—1 Peter 2:6–8

In verses 6 through 8, Peter quotes Isaiah and the Psalms to keep unpacking this same identity. Jesus is the living stone — living because there is real life in him, the abundant, eternal life John 10:10 describes, not just quantity of days but quality of life. He is also the stone: the strong, unchanging foundation on which God builds his people. And he is the cornerstone — the very first stone set, the one everything else in the building is measured and aligned against.

Put together, this leaves every one of us with one choice: build your life on Christ the cornerstone, or reject him and stumble, exactly as verse 8 describes. There is no third, neutral option.

You Are Chosen by God

You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
—1 Peter 2:5

Up to this point, the living stone is singular — Jesus alone. That part makes sense: he lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and is seated in glory as God’s only Son. But verse 5 doesn’t stop with one stone. Peter turns and says that we — believers — are like living stones too, being built into that same spiritual house.

Take me back to that rock pile in Ecuador. As I picture God sorting through who to use to build his church, choosing Christ makes total sense — Christ is perfect, sinless, God’s own Son. But verse 5 says God didn’t stop at one stone. He reached back into the pile for you and me, and we became living stones in the Builder’s hands — chosen, and precious.

Let me be careful to clarify what that doesn’t mean: it doesn’t make us equal to Christ, sinless, or God’s only Son. What it does mean is that God chose us anyway. The Builder reaching into the pile for his selection was fully aware of every flaw in the rocks he picked — and chose to use them regardless. On our own, we are not living stones. Attached to the cornerstone, we have life in him and through him.

I understand, intellectually, how God could choose to use Christ — perfect and precious and qualified. What I still can’t quite get over is how God chooses to use me. The image that keeps coming to my mind is adoption. I think of a pastor I know who once described the hardest conversation of his life: being asked, as he pursued adopting a child, which race he’d accept, what age, whether he’d take a child with a disability, whether he’d take siblings. That process of narrowing who is “acceptable” is the furthest thing from how God chooses his children. Scripture says God sees us as chosen and precious — chosen out of the world’s discard pile and into acceptance, from death to life, from darkness to light, from lost to found, from guilty and alone into mercy in a new family.

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.
—1 Peter 2:10

You Are Chosen by God for a Purpose

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
—1 Peter 2:9

Verse 9 doesn’t stop at identity — it gives purpose. Being chosen isn’t the end of the story; it’s what you’re chosen for: to proclaim the excellence of the one who called you out of darkness into marvelous light.

Let me get personal for a moment. I remember what my own life looked like before Christ — what it felt like to be in that discard pile, not good enough. I remember darkness, anger, sadness, turmoil, frustration, hatred. And I know what my life looks like now: peace, joy, fulfillment, love — not because the rock changed itself, but because the Builder chose it and called it perfect. Before, I didn’t have people who truly loved and cared for me the way I do now. I didn’t know mercy or belonging the way I do now.

If you’re afraid to share your faith, worried you’ll be asked a question you can’t answer, hear me: you don’t need all the answers — tell your story. Tell how the same Builder who chose Jesus as perfect and precious, while we were still sinners, sent Christ to die for us so that we too could be chosen and precious.

This ties back to the whole shape of our summer here at BFBC — camp, VBS, the Utah mission trip, Mission Ecuador — all of it rooted in the same conviction: knowing what it feels like to be in the rejected pile, and knowing the change that happens in a heart when it grasps that God chooses it and calls it precious.

So — Who Does God Say You Are?

I want to leave you with three questions to sit with. First: who is Jesus to you — chosen and precious, or rejected? The clearest picture of rejecting him isn’t only the crucifixion; it’s choosing any other stone — career, money, relationships, comfort — in his place. Second: who does God say you are? Not your friends, not your parents, not your teachers or coaches — God. For a long time, I believed the world’s lies about myself over God’s truth: that I was chosen and precious. Third, and finally: if you are chosen and precious and following the Lord, are you living out your purpose — proclaiming the excellence of the one who called you out of darkness and into marvelous light?

Let’s pray together: thank you, God, that we are seen as chosen and precious not through our own ability but through our connection to Christ — the living cornerstone the world rejected, whom you chose and placed as the foundation of your church. I ask that every person here leave knowing they are chosen, precious, and sent with a purpose to proclaim your excellence as your children.

Scripture references in this message: 1 Peter 2:4–10 (anchor); John 10:10 (allusion). (ESV)

Want to go deeper? Join us for a small group or reach out to our team to talk more about what it means to be chosen and precious in Christ, at Berea First Baptist Church.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.