Because this role of supervising is so influential and impacting, we want to offer these lessons as guidance in the best way to oversee and lead new mentors in training. This first lesson today is on using cross-centered language.
We want to learn to communicate in gospel language and to help our Mentor-In-Training do the same. Our goal is to have every thought, if not every sentence, focused on the cross of Christ. All believers have the heart to do this, but sometimes there is a learning curve to implementing this skill effectively.
To learn how to communicate in a cross-focused way, we will study through 1 Peter 2:4-10. Please take a moment and read through this passage of Scripture, noting the central focus of the cross, and then answer the questions below:
1 Peter 2:4-10 (NIV) As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
As we look at this passage, we notice 1) Peter’s continual reference to the cross, 2) his application of the cross to daily living, and 3) his use of the Old Testament as it points to the cross. In this course, we will examine each of these three points.
Question 3. Please list every place in 1 Peter 2:4-10 NIV where you see Peter pointing to the cross of Christ.
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Peter points to the cross by describing Jesus as “the Living Stone - rejected by humans” (verse 4). Peter is referring to the Jewish leaders who rejected Jesus as the Messiah, to Pilate, who rejected Jesus as King, and the angry mob who demanded that Jesus be crucified and killed. Throughout His life, Jesus faced rejection, and it all culminated in His death on the cross when He was “despised and rejected by mankind...” (Isaiah 53:3).
Peter points to the cross when he describes Jesus as “the Stone the builders rejected” (1 Peter 2:7). By this, he means that the chief priests rejected Jesus as their Messiah, and instead demanded His crucifixion. The builders rejecting Jesus is yet another reference to the cross.
This Stone the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. The rejection of the Stone is a reference to the cross, and the Stone becoming the foundation, or cornerstone, is a reference to the resurrection and subsequent reign of King Jesus in His church, showing the gospel to be the very foundation upon which the church is built.
“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Peter points to the cross as that which gives us reason to praise God (1 Peter 2:9).
Question 4. According to 1 Peter 2:4-10 NIV, what did Christ accomplish for us on the cross that forms the motivation for praising God?
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