The living temple

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," and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. - 1 Peter 2:4‭-‬12 ESV

Rev. Kyu Lee

What is church?

We have ideas, but many of them can cloud. Many Americans have decided that they do not need church; they can commune with God without it. Some of us see church as a store of spiritual products. Christian celebrity culture is the result. We idolize specific personalities and ministry heads. We go church "shopping" to find a church that fits our needs. The vast majority of church goers become pew warmers who leave the work to the "professional" ministers (pastors, elders, & deacons). All of these things fall shirt of the biblical vision of church given to us by God. We, the church, are called to a higher purpose. Church is more than just for our own individual needs & desires.

History (background) of the church

The temple is where people can meet with God. This is His address, so to speak. If there is a temple in your city, then you know God is in your place. The tabernacle is the first temple of God. In Exodus, God gives some very detailed instructions about the tabernacle. Everything down to the furniture, even the recipe for the oil to be used for the lamp stands.

The tabernacle actually resembles the garden of Eden. Both entrances face the east. They are guarded by cherubim. The angels with wings guard the ark of the covenant. In Eden, Adam meets with God. The tabernacle is also where the presence of God can be found. The tabernacle represents things that we have lost after the fall. It is a taste of what we had before. The temple is the same, but brick and some rather than tents.

It (the church) is a model of the coming redemption of the earth. The new heavens and the new earth are represented in the temple and the tabernacle. Jesus supersedes both. He is the presence of God. The tabernacle and the temple are a sign/reflection of Jesus. The temple was a place of sacrifice. Animals were brought and sacrificed for their sins. Jesus is both the sacrifice and the priest. We no longer need animal sacrifices, because Jesus was the sacrifice. So the church is the new temple. The church is where God lives and dwells. The church should reflect and give a taste of the new world to come. We are a model of the coming restoration of creation.

Cornerstone of this temple is Jesus

The cornerstone is the first stone set down. It must be perfectly straight and perfectly aligned. Any deviation would threaten the integrity of the building. Jesus is the cornerstone. We are to align ourselves according to Christ. We can distort or lose sight of this. Jesus was rejected by the religious leaders and the political powers of his day. He is not the successful one. He's not the prospering one. He makes his place with the marginalized and the poor. Not the successful, not the prospering... but the lowly.

He (Jesus) stumbles people. We often make others stumble. We don't reflect Christ well. Or we are proud and self promoting rather than Christ promoting. Let them stumble over Christ instead. Let then struggle with God instead. That is the life of faith. We are marked by God. We have a calling, a charge from God. We are prophets. We are to proclaim Jesus and the good news. We are priests. We lay down our lives for the sake of our friends. We pray for them and sacrifice our lives for them. We are royal. We are to extend God's kingdom and his rule. We are to expand the number of those who worship and obey Jesus. We aren't here to make money to buy bigger and better toys. We aren't here for ourselves. We are to love a life on mission for God. We are to love and respect people around us.

Hope leading to holiness

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. - 1 Peter 1:13‭-‬21 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Meaning of holiness

What does it mean to be holy? What is it exactly? It is embedded in the verse. Be holy as God is holy. It is a communicable attribute. We can't be omniscient or omnipotent like God. But we can be God-like.

So how can we be like him? He is totally other. He is set apart from everything else. He is transcendent. We can be other in regards to our relationship with others. We are totally other in how we live our lives. We should be distinct from the world and the culture around us. We are called to be thermostats, not thermometers. We don't reflect the culture around us, but rather we are to set and change the environment.

We are supposed to look like God. How does God look like in human form? That's easy. Jesus is the word in flesh. He accurately reflects God's character to the world. Holiness should not be confused with haughtiness. Holiness comes along with humility; we know this because of what we see in Jesus' life.

Motivation for holiness

Paul uses the word, therefore. This means that he has an important point to make. The command to be holy, comes after talking about what Jesus has already done. In Christ, we are elect exiles, saved. Because Jesus has done for us, we are to do these things. This is a pattern in many parts of the Bible. The ten commandments, for instance, tells is all these things to do. But right before, God says
"I am the Lord, your God..." God has saved and claimed them as his, therefore, act like this. We aren't earning anything. It is the response to what God has already done. Indicative comes before imperative.

We are compelled because Christ has died for us. We are commanded for the same reason. We are not doing these things to be saved. But rather as a way to express gratitude, thankfulness, and joyfulness for salvation. We can obey because of what has already been done.

The faith that saves is always accompanied by good works. A faith that does not result in a desire for good works is a dead faith.

We were slaves to sin and death. Our fathers both biological and thinking give us ways of thinking that are futile. From cultural, philosophical, and other modes of thinking... we have inherited ways of living and thinking that are useless. But God frees is from these things. We no longer need to live according to those rules. We have a new Master.

Maturing in holiness

Even though we were enemies of God, He saved us. In Christ, we have an eternal inheritance. God's salvation of us frees us from having to impress others. We can do good works without looking for other's approval. We are already loved and approved by God through the death and life of Jesus. This allows us to genuinely love others. Without envy, without pride, without ulterior motives, without needing their approval.

The glorious gospel

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
1 Peter 1:10‭-‬12‭, ‬21‭-‬25 ESV

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
1 Peter 2:1‭-‬3 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

The central focus of the Word of God is the Gospel, the good news. It is news, as in history. It is not good advice. It is what has already happened.

Centrality of the Gospel

Suffering comes before glory. There are many examples of this in the Bible, but the death and resurrection of Christ is foundational. The prophets, though prior to Christ, knew of the foretold suffering Messiah. From 1400BC, in Genesis, there is a passage prophesying about the coming Christ. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Gen 3:15 ESV) The old testament is not just a historic record, but it is about Christ.

We cannot read the scriptures properly without a focus on Christ. This will result in legalism and self centered living. We will descend into either self righteousness or guilt ridden living. We cannot find joy in the word of God.

Children's storybook Bible
God's big picture
Getting the message

Depth of the Gospel

Angels don't need salvation. They are observing history from another perspective and the gospel is awe inspiring. While the gospel is simple, it is also full of unsearchable riches and the vastness of it's implications. The reason the gospel is mundane and boring is not the gospel, but it is the heart within us. The gospel should impact and transform all aspects of our lives and how we see things. It will take an eternity for us to wrap our minds around what the gospel is and has accomplished.

The Transformative Gospel

The gospel is an imperishable seed. It brings about eternal life. But it is not just for the start of our spiritual lives, but it is also necessary for our growth and maturity. The gospel is sustenance. The gospel is not minimal required theology, it is the full knowledge of living.

Living Hope

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. - 1 Peter 1:1‭-‬9 ESV

Rev.  Dwight Yoo

The nature of hope

We don't have the same hope as hoping for something that may or may not come. Christians have a hope based upon the resurrection of Jesus. It is based upon a promise from God. It is not wishful thinking. Hope gives our lives meaning. In the Christian view, faith is confident expectation.

The object of hope

Even of you lose all your earthly things, you h have a heavenly inheritance that no one can take away. What is this inheritance? It is not just houses. It is many things, but primarily it is God himself. God's salvation includes many rewards and heaven, but above all it is living and bring in the presence with Jesus & God.

The power of hope

The confident expectation of heaven can allow us to endure suffering. We can find joy, and sometimes, even rejoice in the midst of persecution and pain. Trials are for refining our faith. It is not God testing us, but God working on us through tough situations.

We are constantly tempted to put our hopes in other things rather than in God and heavenly things. Pain forces us to confront whether we believe what God says. Whether God and God alone is enough. All our other hopes can disappoint. How can we know that we can withstand these trials and tribulations? The word says we are guarded by God's power. God gives faith and salvation, then he guards us for that salvation.