The most important thing about you, 1 Peter 2:9-12

I’d like to share a couple of quotes with you this morning as we begin: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” A.W. Tozer, “The Knowledge of the Holy” (from “The Knowledge of the Holy”) I like this quote, I find it helpful because it lends some understanding as to why we do what we do. You see, like Clay said in his sermon last week: “What you claim about God will be revealed in how you live your life.” Tozer would agree with Dr. Anthony. For Tozer goes on to write, “Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.” You see the manner in which you live your life is dependent on what you truly believe and think about the Lord. 37 years before Tozer wrote his book, CS Lewis came across a similar phrase regarding the importance of what we think about God. In his book, “The Weight of Glory” Lewis wrote, “I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God Himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important. Indeed, how we think of Him is of no importance except in so far as it is related to how He thinks of us.” C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory” I think something is happening in the culture of Christianity between the 1940’s and the 1970’s. I have spent time reflecting on these two perspectives and I agree that both of these perspectives are significant, but I tend to lean in Lewis’s direction about which is more important. Lewis continues, “It is written that we shall “stand before” Him, shall appear, shall be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God . . . to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness . . . to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.” C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”

The most important thing about you and your life is how God thinks of you, and what you think about Him only matters in relation to His thoughts about you. In writing to a Christians who were dispersed, struggling, discouraged, and even persecuted Peter reminds them who God says they are. To a church that has experienced its share of struggles and difficulties over the years To individuals who have experienced loss, hurt, pain, grief, heartache, betrayal, discouragement, exhaustion, and even persecution at work or in our community... Lean in and grab hold of the truth of who God says you are. The reason you can and should live for Him and push living by faith to forefront of your life is because of who He says you are. You are His... and these verses serve to remind you in your hard, dark, and lonely moments of the truth that will sustain and encourage you to press on in your life and relationship with Jesus. 1 Peter 2:9–12 (ESV) 9 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. 10 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. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 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. Remember who you belong to. 9 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. 10 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. (Toy Story Moment)

Peter reminds them of the distinction that comes from belonging to God. Unfortunately I think it’s a distinction that has been tarnished and diminished in the lives of many who claim to belong to Christ. The distinction is diminished when we hold on to competing loves and priorities. There is no competing agenda, identity, or purpose for the Christian. You were once dead in your sins, regardless of how old you were when you were saved. Regardless of how committed to the Lord your parents might have been. If you are a Christian, there was a time when you were not one of God’s people and you had not received His mercy. But, through the power of the Gospel you have been saved and transformed and are now adopted into the people of God and have received the mercy of God. As Peter said in 1 Peter 1:3 (ESV), “3 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” When you consider the words that Peter to describe the way God thinks about us... This is ultimately the language of mercy, grace, and love. We are a chosen race (or generation), based on the mercy and grace of God, not our works. Regardless of who you were before Christ, and regardless of what you have accomplished or done since Christ... the important thing about your life is that God says that you belong to Him... He claims you as His, and everyone He All God’s people are called to the same purpose: To present a unified display of the greatness of God to the world around us. God’s people are called to carry out the same purpose in the diversity of their lives, families, jobs, neighborhoods, and even countries. God’s purpose for your does not change depending on your circumstances... hence Peter writing to believers who are struggling and calling them to proclaim the goodness of God to those around them and pursue faithfulness in their personal and public lives.

Fulfilling God’s purpose for your life depends on embracing who God says you are. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 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. You cannot accomplish the plans and purpose for your life if you are trying to be someone other than who God says you are. In fact, you cannot fulfill God’s plans for your life if you try to add another purpose or identity to your life. The nation of Israel was plagued with the problem of trying to please God while living according to their own plans and desires. 4 Things God’s People Must Embrace if they Want to Make a Difference in the World: 1. You are loved You are part of God’s people because of the love God has for you. You may be hated by the world or an outcast in the culture, but you are loved by God Himself. 1 John 3:1 (ESV) See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Romans 5:8 (ESV) 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV) 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—

Psalm 36:5–7 (ESV) 5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. 7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 2. You are strangers and exiles (aliens) in a foreign land Though you may have lived here your entire life, this is not your home. You could call this enemy territory and you have been placed here for a reason. In some ways the whole world is watching the foreigners known as Christians to see what it looks like to belong to the Kingdom of God. Your allegiance is to the Lord and your citizenship in His kingdom trumps all other ruler and authorities on earth. (Separation of church and state- largely a Baptist idea... its about keeping the world, politics, social agenda’s etc, out of the church. But it has never been an idea to keep the church out of the state. The state and its affairs are secondary and beneath the affairs of the church and the kingdom of God. The instructions for Christians as they relate to the government are covered later in this letter, but here and all throughout scripture the obedience Christians give to the ruling earthly authorities is out of obedience to a higher authority- God. And when worldly rulers contradict God, we are to follow the Lord and trust Him with the consequences. 3. You are in a battle that requires a commitment to purity As one of God’s possessions you are an instrument for His purposes, and if you want to be used as an instrument you must make yourself useful... and that is directly connected to your purity of heart, mind, soul, and body. 2 Timothy 2:20–22 (ESV) says, 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

4. You are witnesses of God’s greatness to the watching and listening world 12 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. Honorable conduct is both admirable and honest. It’s admirable because its faithful and exemplary. Christians who are living personally for the Lord will live publicly in a way that is characterized as “right’, “good”, or “truthful”. Honorable conduct visibly good, but is also honest and genuine. One of the greatest issues that I believe we face in our churches in Tupelo and North East, MS, is honesty. It is culturally acceptable to say and do the “right” things or the “good” things. But, if our motivations are actually rooted in the gospel and we talk openly about the gospel as our motivation then we can find ourselves counter- cultural even in the church. The world is fine with people doing good things just like the world is find with people doing wrong things. What the world is against is people doing “God things.” So, you can pretend to belong to the Lord in the way that you live... but you cannot live honorable as a Christian unless the way you are living is honest. The implications here is that lost people will not be led to praise the Lord for hypocrisy or dishonesty, in fact... those are often the downfall and obstacle to the effective witness of individuals and churches. “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving word simply finds unbelievable.” - Brennan Manning As we close I want to go back to where we started... with the point that: Who God says you are is the comfort, encouragement, and hope that you need to persevere in the midst of the hard, dark, lonely, and difficult moments of the Christian life. Who does God say you are? Does your personal life resemble the calling and purpose God has for your life?

Does your public life resemble the calling and purpose God has for your life? What’s keeping you from dropping your guard and getting real with Jesus?