In his first epistle, Peter continued to stress the spiritual unity of believers by faith, turning away from any sectarian view of Jews and Gentiles, and stressing the spiritual temple being built by the Holy Ghost of all those with faith in Christ. Peter describes Christ as the rejected cornerstone, promised to Israel of olden times. It had been described as the place where rebellious Israel would be destroyed, and believing people would be saved! Christ is that living cornerstone, chosen by God, and precious. All who trust in that Stone are built up a spiritual house atop it, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Christ had told Israel that it would murder Him to seize possession of the kingdom, and that God would destroy the nation, and give the kingdom to a nation that would obey God. Jesus explicitly connects this judgment with the ancient prophecy of Israel's rejection of Himself as the cornerstone. Peter repeated the same judgment against unbelievers, Jews and Gentiles, and used the identical metaphor of the rejected, precious cornerstone. But then Peter described that other nation Christ had promised would be given the kingdom: you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a special people! These blessings Peter described to this spiritual nation that trusts in Jesus, are the very same blessings that God promised Israel just before He gave them His Ten commandments at Mount Sinai. But Israel had disobeyed God, and rejected the cornerstone, and tried to seize Christ's inheritance by destroying Him. Therefore, all those blessings fall upon a new nation, that glorious house of faith!