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God’s Building 115

but of incorruptible seed through the living and abiding word of God. Peter
emphasizes the word. This is part of our basis for emphasizing the truth.
Why did he not say that you were regenerated by the Spirit? It would be
right, but instead, he emphasizes the word. He said that the incorruptible seed
that came into you to regenerate you is the living and abiding word of God,
which of course is the Spirit. Then in 1 Peter 2:4, he calls Christ a stone. The
Lord had told him, “Peter, you are a stone.” Then Peter realized that the Old
Testament makes many references to Christ as a stone—He is the foundation
stone, He is the cornerstone, He is the topstone. Peter also tells us that He is
the living stone. He realized, “This Christ who has regenerated me also wants
to make me a stone. Christ is a living stone and He will get into me and make
me the same as He is; He will transform me from a man of clay into a stone-
man like He is.”
At Peter’s Conversion the Lord Giving Him a New Name, Peter—
a Stone (John 1:42); and When Peter Received the Revelation
Concerning Christ, the Lord Revealing Further That He Was the
Rock—a Stone (Matt. 16:16-18); by These Two Incidents Peter
Receiving the Impression That Both Christ and His Believers Are
Living Stones for God’s Building
At Peter’s conversion, the first time he came to the Lord, the Lord gave
him a new name: Peter—a stone. And when Peter received the revelation
concerning Christ, the Lord revealed further that He was the rock. This is in
Matthew 16:18 “Upon this rock I will build my church.” That rock is Christ
and the revelation concerning Christ. A rock is also a stone. By these two
incidents, Peter received the impression that both Christ and His believers are
living stones for God’s building.
We, the Believers in Christ, Being Living Stones as the Duplication of
Christ through Regeneration and Transformation; Our Being Created
of Clay, but at Regeneration Our Receiving the Seed of the Divine Life,
Which by Its Growing in Us Transforms Us into Living Stones
We, the believers in Christ, are living stones as the duplication of Christ
through regeneration and transformation. The key for us to become these
living stones is to experience transformation. That means there should be a
change. We can define transformation as an outward change that is the result
of an inward change. In other words, we will see the change. It is an outward