Down here we only see the construction, but up there we see the offerings of worshiping saints. Look with me at the finished product, what all of the edification or building up that we are to be each involved in doing, is for. Turn with me to I Peter 2 where Peter shows us the Church functioning as God sees us and desires us to serve.

1 Peter 2:4-10 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone," 8 and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. NKJV

Do you see what God is doing? He is taking each of us as we are saved and placing us into Christ's church. There we are to be offering our lives as living sacrifices of worship. Just as we are to do forever in Heaven (worship Him) so we are to be doing now as we go through our earthly lives.

Peter wrote to people living and working in the Roman Empire. This letter went to the Roman Province of Asia (modern Turkey) where there was a very high degree of civilization. People had to work just like today just to survive. But Peter said, as you go to work-you are to worship. As you go through life-you are a priest to God.

Becoming a temple of living stones that each is offering worship and collectively are a temple to God is not easy. That is why Peter surrounds this description of what God wants and how we are to offer Him worship with all of these exhortations. Note all the struggles these believers faced.

• They had to be reminded to put away the old life (2:1).
• They had to be encouraged to eat spiritual food (2:2-3).
• They had to be often reminded that this world is not their home (2:11a).
• They needed strong exhortations to abstain from feeding the flesh (2:11b).
• They had to be reminded and taught how to be living a lifestyle that pointed to the Lord (2:12).
• They had to be submissive to the laws of society around them (2:13-17).
• They had to learn to work hard for their employers (2:18).
• They had to learn to go through hard times or suffering affliction and not quit (2:19-21)