I and II Peter--Christ Our Precious Corner Stone

I and II Peter--Christ Our Precious Corner Stone

These are the Epistles of joy in suffering. I Peter chiefly the suffering of persecution; II Peter chiefly the suffering of temptation and of the surrounding apostasy. He speaks of himself as a witness of the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 5:1), and as an eye-witness of His majesty (2 Peter 1:16); of partaking of Christ’s sufferings, and partaking of His glory (1 Peter 4:13; 1 Peter 5:1).

Peter dwells on the sufferings of Christ and the sufferings of His followers. He to whom our Lord gave the commission “Feed My sheep,” delights in this Epistle to speak of Christ the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 2:25; 1 Peter 5:4), and of His servants as under-shepherds (1 Peter 5:2-3).

He speaks of Christ the precious Corner Stone, and of believers as living stones in the same Temple (1 Peter 2:4-8). By implication he speaks of Christ as our great High Priest by whom we offer spiritual sacrifices, and of the royal priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9).

Peter brings out very fully the atoning work of Christ through His death, and precious blood shed for us (1 Peter 1:18-20; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Peter 2:20), and he closes his writings where Paul, in his Epistle to the Thessalonians, began--the blessed hope of the Coming of the Lord (2 Peter 3:1-18).

He throws radiant light on the inspiration of the Scriptures (see 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Peter 1:16-21; 2 Peter 3:15). He also includes Paul’s writings under the same title as the Old Testament Scriptures, and shows that he wrote not in his own wisdom, but by wisdom given from above.

Note the use of the word Precious in both Epistles.243