Sermon26-44Summary 1Pt2 "Grow into Jesus"

1 Peter 2:1-10 theme verse 2 Peter 3:18

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

On this thirty-ninth Sunday of the year 2026, I pray that the grace of the Holy Spirit may be full in you. Sisters and brothers, last week we looked at worship as joy. This week, through 1 Peter 2, we would like to look at how we can grow into the knowledge of God together.

1) Today's passage begins with "therefore," pointing back to 1:22-25: when the living word of God is proclaimed and the Holy Spirit renews us, we begin to live a holy life that grows into love. So Peter exhorts us in verse 1 to reject malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander, since we cannot love others, or grow spiritually, while harboring these.

2) Peter then teaches how to grow in holiness, which is really the same as growing in love — holiness and love are one. He gives two ways: in verses 1-3, drinking pure spiritual milk since we have already tasted God's goodness; and in verses 4-10, coming to Christ the living stone to become a holy temple and a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices and proclaiming God's excellencies.

3) First, the end of our growth: becoming a holy priest. Verse 5 says we are being built into a spiritual house to become holy priests offering spiritual sacrifices — present tense, still becoming. But verse 9 says we were already chosen as a royal priesthood, a holy nation. So this growth is already-not-yet: we grow into the identity we already have in Jesus, and I hope we may respect and love each other on that basis.

4) Looking more closely at verse 9: "but you" contrasts with verse 8's disobedient who stumble — but you are chosen as God's possession. The Greek "basileion hierateuma," royal priesthood, can also mean kings and priests. So we are God's holy possession through His election before creation, called to be kings and priests, and we grow into an identity we already have.

5) Peter introduces two means of spiritual growth. First, longing for pure spiritual milk like a newborn longs for milk. "Pure" (Greek "ádolos") means flawless, as Psalm 12:6 says, "The words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a furnace, like gold refined seven times." "Spiritual" (Greek "logikos") is the same word translated "spiritual" in Romans 12:1 — so the spiritual milk is God's word, our spiritual nourishment.

6) The medieval theologian Bonaventure said meditating on God's pure, spiritual word gives three benefits. First, Hebrews 4:12: the word is alive and active, sharper than a double-edged sword, purifying our souls by judging the heart. Second, John 17:17: God's word is truth, illuminating our minds and nourishing souls born again by that truth. Third, 1 Peter 1:22: obeying the truth purifies our souls and leads to the perfection of love. So we must diligently read and meditate on His word for our spiritual growth.

7) Peter's second means of growth is coming to Jesus Christ, the living stone, to be built into a spiritual house together with brothers and sisters. Since "come" and "be built" are present tense, this growth must continue throughout our whole lives through consistently coming to Jesus and fellowshipping with Him.

8) Peter gives two metaphors for Jesus. First, the living stone: Jesus is not only risen and alive but a life-giver, mediator of the new covenant, so that when we come to Him we too become living stones providing living water for growth. Second, the cornerstone: in first-century Middle Eastern architecture, cornerstones at the four corners set the whole building's alignment. We are built on Christ the cornerstone and connected to each other in Him, as Ephesians 2:20-21 says, "Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord."

9) Hebrews 12:2 calls Jesus the founder and perfecter of faith — He gives life and completes our growth in faith. John 10:9 says, "I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasture." That pasture is His word (John 15:7), and the Holy Spirit leads our growth by reminding us of His words (John 14:26); the Bible itself testifies of Jesus (John 5:39). The end of our growth is also Jesus: Romans 8:29 says we will be conformed to His image, 1 Corinthians 1:30 calls Jesus our wisdom, redemption, justification and sanctification, and 2 Peter 3:18 exhorts us to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

10) As Calvin says, our whole salvation is comprehended in Christ: "If we seek salvation, we find it in the very name of Jesus... In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from this fountain, and from no other." The end, the means, and the very nourishment of our growth are all found in Jesus Christ; we must come to Him and grow into Him through His word.

11) Our whole salvation and spiritual growth is in Jesus. For holy living, we come to Jesus who lived a perfect holy life in the fullness of the Spirit despite sharing our weakness; for loving living, we come to Jesus who lived a perfect sacrificial, serving life for us until death. Jesus is also the Word from the beginning (John 1:1), and as Isaiah 66:2 says the LORD looks to the one who is humble, contrite, and trembles at His word — so let us come to Jesus, the Word of God, longing for His pure and spiritual words.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today's text, we learned that we grow in holiness by longing for the pure and flawless spiritual milk of God's Word, putting away malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. So, after reflecting on ourselves for a moment and looking at whether we are truly longing for and feeding on God's Word, and whether there is a particular sin among these that we need to put away, I hope we could share our thoughts and experiences with one another.

Q2 And also we came to know that in Christ we already have the identity as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for His own possession, and that we grow by continually coming to Jesus, the living stone and cornerstone. So, after reflecting on ourselves for a moment and thinking about whether we are truly living out of this already-given identity in Christ day by day, I hope we could share our thoughts, experiences, and the grace we have received with our team members.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon )

Please help me to live in that ( learned way of life )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.