A People for His Possession

1 Peter 2:9–10

1 Peter 2:9–10 CSB

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1.  Who we are

The chosen race

Direct contrast of the “chosen people” Israel with us.  Israel linked by physical birth; we are linked by spiritual birth.

Reminder: not by goodness on our part; by grace on His part: John 15:16

John 15:16 CSB

You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.

The royal priesthood

Few commentators spend much time on this aspect of our identity.  Repeats concept of priesthood from v. 5, but with a change: from holy to royal.

Why?  Task of priest

OT priests came to see themselves as representatives of the people before God.  Chief identity: the King’s representatives to the world.

2 Corinthians 5:20

2 Corinthians 5:20 CSB

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

An ambassador spends serious time thinking through the implications of how their dress, behavior, and language will be seen by the people that they have been sent to.  They are conscious that their representation of their own culture must be done in an environment where they can be misunderstood.  They take responsibility for the presentation.  

Has God lost His power in America today?  Unequivocally, NO.  Has God lost representatives who testify to His power?  Sadly, yes.  YOU are the representative that the world sees.  What do the people of America conclude about the King when they see you?  Speaking with representative from Florida Baptist Convention recently: even the world today is looking for the church to be the church.  Like verse 10 says, once we were not the people of God but now we are the people of God.  South Florida is crying out for God’s people to stand and be God’s people.

We try to impact the world far too often through our pastors.  We rejoice today to know that God has given us Emmanuel Carvalho as our pastor!  Yet, it is when we embrace our royal priesthood; it is when we live out our ambassadorship in the places of our life that God’s kingdom is truly expanded.  Hear me, we are a royal priesthood.

We are a holy nation.  Word translated nation is actually “ethnos”, our ethnic identity.  In your church name is an ethnic identifier, Brazilian.  It is a description of your cultural identity on the human plane.  God’s church, however, has it’s place of origin rooted in the holiness of God.  We are a nation that is separated unto God, reflecting his character.

A People for his possession

Corporate identity: the imagery of the eastern king, who kept a special treasure chamber apart from his government exchequer. This was for his own use.

The king owned the exchequer, but the use was for common use; the special treasure was his: for his enjoyment, for his fulfillment, for his use and his use alone.

That is who we are: a people for His enjoyment, His fulfillment and His use alone.

Thought about life from the right perspective: How can I be fulfilled emphasizes the central issue of people: self-absorbtion.  

Key: we belong to HIM.  We are the people of His possession.  Life is lived not for our own fulfillment, but for His fulfillment and the purpose of our lives is to live out His purpose for our lives. Now the interesting side note: John 10:10

John 10:10 CSB

A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

If we live for His fulfillment, we will be fulfilled; if we live for our own fulfillment, we are destined for meaninglessness.

I have had few difficulties, many friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to wife, and from house to house, visited great countries of the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four hours of the day. 

   Suicide note left by Ralph Barton, cartoonist

Many people never get to the place that Barton did.  They are able to live out their lives in selfish pursuits and derive enough joy from them to keep going. Lesson of Barton and many others, however, is that, given the resources to completely indulge, this world runs out of its ability to satisfy. Marie Antoinette said it like this: I have seen all, I have heard all, I have forgotten all.

OK.  So all those thing are ‘who we are’.  Look second at:

2.  What we do

Activity: Proclaim praises of the One

Public activity: conveys the idea of advertise.  Best advertisement is word of mouth: we are so much priest, so much people of his possession, that we spread the word about Him:

Praises: “Praises” could also be translated “eminent qualities,” “excellencies,” or “virtues”.  Our task is to live so that His eminent qualities, excellencies, his virtues are known.

Used to introduce believers into preprogrammed packages designed to lead people to Christ. I am thankful for every person who came to Jesus through these things.  One powerful version originated here in Broward: Evangelism Explosion.  Remember sitting in Namibia, a country in southern Africa, getting to know a family who had come to serve for two years as volunteer missionaries.  The wife explained how someone had knocked on her door and used the Evangelism Explosion methods to share Jesus and that it had revolutionized their family.  

While I celebrate how those methods impacted many, the general pattern is less direct and more awesome.  It is just to advertise the greatness of Jesus Christ as we go around our daily lives.  When we live joyfully, filled with the Spirit of Christ, rarely will be have to begin the conversation.  They will begin it with us: this Jesus that you rely on.  How can I have Him in my life.

Purpose: Proclaim the praises of Christ.

Why do we do it?  Because we’ve been changed!

3.  How we’ve changed

from darkness into light

dominant theme of sin is darkness; dominant theme of Christ is light.  Darkness is not merely being in the dark: darkness is a place where evil and wickedness and perversion and the grossness of sinful invention dominate.  Been to a park and watched children playing.  Some issues, but mainly kids having fun.  We don’t start out desiring perversion.  No, Satan finds us at the right moment and offers something appealing.  Satan casts sinful activity in acceptable formats, just a little further out than you’ve been before.  Buy into that activity; pleasurable.  Casts another….just a little further out; interesting. Not as pleasurable; but pleasurable.  Casts another…hardly pleasurable…but just enough to make you want the next thing.  The next…no pleasure at all…but something you can’t give up.  Become disgusted by its grossness, find it is demeaning beyond measure…darkness. And then the pattern of life is increasingly in the shadows and in the darkness.  Overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed and hopeless.

Here is where all the trumpets of heaven blow.  Christ calls to us in the darkness.  He says “Come to me”.  Just follow my voice.  Come to me.  I will give you rest.  Come to me…I’ll clean up the grossness.  Come to me….out of the darkness and into the light.

Hear his voice today?  Follow.

Two things characterize being people of his possession.  First is baptism.  Second, is the Lord’s Supper.