Treasured Possession

Vision

God had put treasure and value in each person, but they were looking at other people ignoring their own value

The more people focused on other peoples value, the more they were blind to their own value

God wants to give you revelation of His love, purpose, & meaning

“Take time to meditate on His word”

Do you know how much value is in you?

God has placed high value on you

Exodus 19:5-6

Exodus 19:5–6 “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.””

#1 YOU WILL BE - Treasured possession

God saying, “You will be,” was all-inclusive, indicating “they would all be”

Prophetic declaration of the future

You will KNOW

How do I know I’m treasured?

I have to know Him

Power and confidence in Him

Radiate His love

Why do I love you? B/c I know He loves me

Bigger “yes” burning in us

Unshaken in pursuit of Him

Why does God love me w/ all my flaws?

Getting to know Him reduces the flaws

He longs for us to know Him this way

We can tell others

LIFE: His love sets me free

Hurt & betrayal creates fear

Others hurts projects onto me

He pursued me in my mess

Who else do you know loves like this?

These are the people you surround yourself with

Closest friends should make you want to know God’s heart behind His words

Knowing who God is in you is one of the most powerful gifts on earth

My own possession = “special treasure belonging privately to a king,” which “implies special value as well as special relationship”

What does this special relationship look like?

Earthly & supernatural

Protection & provision comes from being under the authority and dominion of God (Ex 16, manna)

Special treasure = valued property, peculiar treasure, which י׳ has chosen (בחר) and taken to himself; always of people of Israel

Exodus 6:7 “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.”

Not lonely

Not afraid of people anymore

I am taken as His possession

If you don’t know you are His what does your life look like?

How can your life change by knowing Him?

#2 You WILL BE - kingdom of priests

Exodus 19:6 “you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.””

OT priests were intermediaries between people and God

“kingdom of priests,” but it “can be rendered ‘priestly kingdom.’

OR “priesthood (kĕhunnâ)” keh-hu-nah

Not one or two priests

National representation as God’s ambassadors

God wants us to depict Him on earth

Exude power that was reflected in the world

Comes from knowing Him

I KNOW His presence in me

God wants to give you powerful rights

What are some of your rights in knowing Him?

Nearness

Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,”

Becoming a kingdom of priests is one where God Himself rules as the king

I don’t step into a room alone

I operate under a kingdom with a powerful king

Resources of heaven are available to them by right of covenant with God

He owns everything yet wants to give everything to us

I have access to Him

WE point people to God

We as His priests are His people who carry out His desires

Matthew 28:18 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Matthew 28:20 “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””

Bring heaven to earth

Matthew 6:9 ““This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,”

Matthew 6:10 “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 6:11 “Give us today our daily bread.”

Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Matthew 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”

Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Matthew 6:15 “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

God wants a holy nation of priests

No longer simply a nation, but a “holy nation”

“holy,” = “set apart, different from all other people.

Set apart to belong to God

Dedicated entirely to serve God

What would your life look like if you were dedicated entirely to God?

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Revelation 1:5 “and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,”

Revelation 1:6 “and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”

You still have a choice

Covenant = A sacred kinship bond between two parties, ratified by swearing an oath

Bi-lateral = both parties are obligated (think marriage)

Exodus 19:5–6 “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.””

God chose to give them this special covenant while the Israelites had a choice to become His special treasure

Unique relationship expanded to the world

God’s children become all who put their faith in Jesus

Isn’t ethnic, political - spiritual

Family of God

NOT ISOLATION

God’s covenant of love:

Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”

Deuteronomy 7:7 “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.”

What does it mean when someone “sets their affection on you?”

What if feeling different from others is part of God’s plan?

Deuteronomy 7:8 “But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

Do you know how loved you are?

Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”

Pray

How can I carry God’s heart to others around me?

Break off things that don’t allow you to share the gospel

Care about what He cares about

How can I be more intentional with God to know Him better?

Background:

Where did God’s people come from?

God had promised Abraham that He would multiply his descendants, give him land, and continually bless him through establishing a covenant

Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.””

Genesis 15:5 “He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.””

Genesis 17:8 “The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.””

Genesis 22:18 “and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.””

God spoke to Abraham, explaining they would be enslaved for 400 years, but afterward they would come out with many possessions

Genesis 15:13–14 “Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.”

God did it

Exodus 12:41 “At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.”