Wanna feel Special

The book of 1 Peter fits so perfectly into the world we live in today. Peter was writing to the persecuted church. In America, we do not see the open persecution that Peter or even those in other countries around us see. Yet, we still see the weird looks or hear the snickers or the putdowns that we get when we proclaim our Christianity to the world. Chapter 2 verses 4 – 12 of 1 Peter is a light of hope to the Church. My journal will go a little more in depth into these verses, to indentify the historical content, the meaning of the verses, and what I personally got from the passage.
My passage of 1 Peter 2:4-12 was writing by Peter and it was Peter who was speaking. It was written in letter form to the persecuted Churches in the Roman Empire. It was written somewhere in between A.D 62 and A.D. 64. Since it is a letter and not a description of events, I have assumed that it took place at the same time. These were very scary times for the new Church. Nero was emperor of Rome at the time. Nero hated the Christians and was heavily persecuting them. He even burned Christians on stakes to light his dinner parties. Back on topic, the content of my passage is to give encouragement and hope to the Church, while also giving a reason for their persecution.
Peter through this passage uses the analogy of Jesus and us, Christians, being “living stones” and being used to build a spiritual house. This analogy would have made a lot of sense to people in Biblical times. Many knew how to build a house of rock. What I found so interesting about this was that Peter’s name latterly means rock in Greek. In Ephesians 2:19-22, it tells us how the apostles and prophets are the foundation and Jesus is the cornerstone of the building and we build it up into the Holy temple. Another word in the passage that jumped out to me was the word precious. Girls always want to feel like they are precious. I looked up the original meaning for this word in Greek. Entimos (verse 4) means in honor, prized, precious, and dear one in Greek. I love to think that my Jesus thinks I am those things. In Proverbs 3: 15, Solomon describes wisdom as being female and as being more precious that rubies and nothing you desire can compare to her. I believe this is powerful, because wisdom is described as female, meaning it is a female characteristic and again she is seen as being one of the most precious things. Another word that leapt off the page was the word chosen. Ek-lektos (verse 9) in Greek means picked out, chosen, and my favorite, elect of God. Who would not be encouraged with the thought that we are the elect of God! In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, it tells us that we should always thank God because He chose us from the very beginning and that we are sanctified through Him and our belief in the truth. Another word that I was interested in was sacrifice. Thusia (verse 5) in Greek means sacrifice and victim. I never thought about this before, but when we sacrifice our needs in a way, we are a victim in the world’s eyes. Mercy also was a powerful word to me. Eleeō, which in Greek, means mercy. Eleeō only means mercy. That is powerful, there is only one meaning for mercy! I have learned so much from this passage.
I loved the message that these verses have! I want to take several things from this study. One, I need to remember that I am precious and chosen by God. I cannot get over the meaning of Ek-lektos (the elect of God). As a female, there are times when I really need to know that God prizes me and He handpicked me that I am elect of Him. Second, I want to better watch how I present myself to the world. I really liked how the Holmon translation put it. It said about verse 12 that we are to conduct ourselves honorably. It says that though we may get mocked, torn down, and persecuted, if we live our lives with honor they will see Jesus through us and may get saved. I want to live my life in a way that I reflect my Savior. My youth pastor used to always tell us that we maybe the only “Jesus” that people will ever see. It is huge to think that our actions may bring someone to Jesus or may push them way from Him.
Therefore, I cannot get enough of this passage. In 1 Peter 2:4-12, God shows us through Peter how special we are and how we will use our persecution for good. In a world full of pain, these verses are a ray of shining hope to a world desperate for a small break in the clouds. I am forever changed by this Bible study. This journal was an in depth amazing study of 1 Peter 2:4-12, we looked at the historical content, the meaning of the verses, and how it changed me forever.