Introduction: How many times do you say “Picture this?” Or, “let me
paint a picture of what is happening?” These are not paintings or
photographs, rather they are word pictures that help us understand a
concept. That is our study this week. What word pictures in the
Bible help us to better understand unity in the church? Let’s plunge
into our study of the Bible and learn more!
- Nation
- Read 1 Peter 2:9. What do you think Peter means by the
term “holy nation?” (He is not simply describing a
country, he is describing the combination of church and
state.) - What is unusual about the citizens of this theocracy?
(We are all “royal” priests who belong to God.) - What concepts normally come to mind when you
think of a priest? (One who leads in religious
matters. This picture tells us that we are all
religious leaders.) - What is our job? (To praise God!)
- Where did we used to live? (We used to live in
darkness and now we live in light.) - When you consider the words “holy,” “nation,”
“priest,” and “light,” does this suggest a division
from others? (Yes. A nation covers a specific
territory, a priest is a specific job category, holy
is something set aside, and moving towards the light
suggests a grouping. All of these paint a picture of
a division from the rest of the world.) - Read 1 Peter 2:10. What was our former status? (We were
not God’s people and we did not enjoy mercy.) - How can that be? Didn’t God always love us and show
us mercy? (Context is important. We explore that in
the next section.) - Temple
- Read 1 Peter 2:4-5. What did priests do during Peter’s
time? (They offered sacrifices to God.) - What makes our sacrifices acceptable? (We offer them
through Jesus Christ.) - Think about this a moment. What was the reason for
the Old Testament sacrifices? (To rid the people of
their sins.) - These are the verses that precede the text telling us
that we were not a people and did not enjoy mercy.
How would you answer the question about whether God
has always loved us and shown us mercy? (Jesus came
to live, die and be resurrected for us. This rescued
us from our terrible decision to turn our allegiance
over to Satan. Jesus gave us the opportunity for
eternal life. The opportunity to be in a right
relationship with God is now ours!) - Re-read 1 Peter 2:5. How are we like Jesus? (We, too, are
now “living stones.”) - Why are we described as stones? I’m not sure that is
how I would want to be complimented – “Cameron, you
are a lot like this rock: round, fat, dense, and you
don’t move.” (We are “stones” that are alive to form
“a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.”) - Once again, we are told that we are all “priests,”
part of a greater order of priests. What does that
say about whether we are all ministers for God? (In
the next section we will be studying a picture of a
church that looks like a body. This tells us that we
do not all have the same jobs. But, all of us are in
unity as ministers.) - Read 1 Peter 2:6. What is the design for our living
temple? (Jesus is our cornerstone. If we put our
confidence in Him, we “will never be put to shame.”) - Read 1 Peter 2:7-8. If a person does not build his life on
Jesus, what happens? (Jesus is merely a rock that trips us
up, makes us stumble and fall.) - What causes this stumbling? (Disobedience.)
- Can you explain this? Why does rejecting Jesus make
us disobey? (We are naturally evil. Our sinful human
nature makes us “not a people” of God. Jesus changes
all of that if we accept Him.) - Read 1 Peter 2:11-12. We earlier learned that our job as
priests is to bring glory to God. What aspect of our job
of bringing glory to God do we find here? (We are priests,
in an organized “holy nation” for the purpose of showing
our good deeds to pagans. This brings glory to God.) - What gets in the way of these good deeds? (“Sinful
desires.” What do you desire? What do you spend time
thinking about? If it is sinful, this creates a “war
against your soul.”) - Consider your life. Who are you glorifying by your
actions? (I don’t know about you, but this is a
constant rebuke to me and a reminder to focus my
desires on the true goal.) - The Body
- Read 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. What is the unifying power in
all of these different abilities? (The Holy Spirit. He
directs who gets what abilities and roles.) - Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. To what are members of the
church compared? (A human body.) - Read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. Paul now tells us that
our body is a temple and God lives in it. How can he
say that our body is a temple and that we are stones
for a greater living temple? (We are individually
important, and we are collectively important as a
unified church. The common element is that God,
through the Holy Spirit, lives in us. He also directs
the building of the greater temple.) - Read 1 Corinthians 12:14-20. What are we warned against?
Hand envy? (We should realize the importance of our
position in the church. Every position is critical for the
body to operate properly.) - Should we be content with our position? (Read 1
Corinthians 12:29-31. This tells us to “eagerly
desire the greater gifts.”) - What is the difference between envy and desiring to
have greater gifts? Have you run into church members
who envied the role of another church member?
(Decades ago I had a member of the class who would
start asking questions of other members. As the
teacher, I could have just sat down, because she was
now asking questions. This was not my idea of what it
meant for me to teach the class, so the church
offered to let her teach her own class. Within
weeks, people stopped attending her class and she
left the church. I believe this illustrates the
problem of saying “because I am not a hand, I do not
belong to the body.”) - Read 1 Corinthians 12:21-24. Against what is Paul warning
us? (Not only is every role in the church essential, but
no one should look down on the role of another.) - Is this another weapon against envy? (Yes. Envy may
begin because church members sense that some roles
are more important than others.) - What specific advice does Paul give the church to
fight against the problem of thinking that certain
roles are less desirable? (We need to treat those
jobs with “special honor.” We need to publically
praise and thank those who do those jobs. Being “up
front” has built into it a reward. We need to reward
those who do jobs which are not inherently
rewarding.) - Gate Crashers
- Read John 10:1-6. The Bible tells us that the people did
not understand the point Jesus was making. Do you see any
lesson about unity in this? - What do you think Jesus means when He speaks about
recognizing voices? (We need to recognize the voice
of God.) - When you think about issues of unity in the church,
how much of this arises from not understanding God’s
will, understanding His “voice?” (The thief and
robber can only succeed with those sheep who do not
know their shepherd.) - How can we know God’s voice? (By doing what you
are doing right now, studying God’s word. Ask
the Holy Spirit to help you understand as you
read the Bible and try to understand its
message.) - Friend, do these Bible word pictures of a nation, temple,
stone, body and sheep help you to better understand what
God has in mind for our unity? Will you do your part, by
the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring greater unity to
your church? - Next week: When Conflicts Arise.
