As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”[a] and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
There is only one saviour, Jesus Christ, and only one spiritual building, the church. Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone of the church (Eph 2:20), binding the building together. Jesus is a living stone rejected by men but in sight of God chosen and precious. John 1:11 says Jesus came to his own but his own rejected Him. Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:22,23
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 2 God send him as the very foundation upon which we could build our lives. Peter’s source for this stone imagery was likely the teachings of Jesus himself, for in all three Gospels Jesus prophetically identifies himself with the rejected stone (Mark 12:10–11; Matt. 21:42–44; Luke 20:17–18). In fact, all seven NT passages that quote the OT stone passages unanimously identify the stone as Jesus (in addition to these cited in the Synoptics and Acts, see Rom. 9:32–33; Eph. 2:20–22; and, of course, 1 Pet. 2:4–8).
So who is Jesus? He is a living stone,Corner stone ; Chosen and Precious But rejected by men
Now Who we are? We are just like this living stone are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priest hood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The placement of the Living Stone with living stones in the temple implies the close relationship of Christ with believers and their common nature as human beings. The Cornerstone is called “living” by virtue of his resurrection; the same resurrection life brightens the stones that come to him and take their place in the new temple. So we are a living stone because we have come and build our lives on this cornerstone. Peter wrote this letter to the believers living in five different provinces, yet he said that they all belong to one “Spiritual house”. We belong to each other because we belong to Christ.
There are two factors that will help us to continue to be a living stone. 1) We must continue to be in Christ who is chief Corner stone and very foundation this building 2)To grow in Christ we need fellowship that is why God has placed us in spiritual body. Remember to become like Christ is a community project.