Where is our Identity?

1 Peter 2:8-13

I was going to preach on prophecy today but due to unforeseen circumstances I had to change topics at the last minute

1 Peter 2:8–12 ESV

8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 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.

Pray

We are going to go through some of the scripture and discuss what is written and then try to tie it back to the title.

Important Recap 2:8

We see Jesus being described as a living stone that was rejected by people

Honored by God and SET as the Cornerstone

This corner stone is a stone of stumbling and offense

People stumble because of their disobedience

It was preordained for them to stumble, not disobey.

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)

9 But you are a chosen race

But You......

Peter draws a defined line here

Clear distinction between the unbeliever and the chosen

God’s grace and sovereign choice vs. human choice is that line

The Greek word for chosen is the same as for elect.

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)

9 a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession

The phrases we see here used by Peter to describe Christians are the same phrases found in the old testament to describe Isreal.

In the old testament Isreal was a chosen people.

Isreal was chosen to serve as the priesthood

Exodus 19:5-6 “5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Peter sees the church as the new Isreal, a royal priest hood and a Gods chosen Nation.

1 Peter 2:9 that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

The election of the christian is not just for salvation it is for service as well.

Called to bear joyful witness to the saving grace of God

In Isaiah 43:21 we see This was the mission of Isreal and they rejected it. “21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

This has now been passed on to Christians.

We also see this in Matthew 28:19-20 “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

What happens if we don't obey?

1 Peter 2:10 “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.”

We see here the Greek word λαός we are not just a people

If we were Paul would have used δῆμος because this word means people or the public

We are “A PEOPLE”, Gods chosen people.

This word was used in the Septuagint to refer to Isreal.

So what is going on here is that Peter interprets the passages in Hosea 1 to include the reception of the Gentiles in to the people of God.

If we are not Gods people we do not have Gods mercy but now God’s mercy extends to the undeserving Jews and Gentiles alike.

Again showing a correlation between the OT Nation of Isreal and the NT Church.

You know what is amazing here.

Peter Calls

Gentile Converts

What do we know about them?

they Practiced pagan polytheism

it was referred to in 1 Peter 1 as the empty way of life handed down from your forefathers,

It consisted of debauchery, carousing, and idolatry

It was so common that it seemed strange if someone quit or wasn't doing it.

And Peter called them “A PEOPLE” and “a Holy Nation”. These were terms that previously distinguished Isreal from the gentiles.

I think its hard to understand today. Isreal where “God’s People” chosen, set apart. Honored. and the Gentiles.... Well … Its kinda like the greasers and the Socs.

Do you see the connection here?

Once darkness now light

once alone, now Gods family

Once waiting judgement, now receiving mercy.

I believe deep down God gave us a desire to belong. To belong to HIM, his family, But we have substituted that need to belong to HIM with other stuff.

Years ago people belonged. More so now then ever before.

People had a dedication to their towns

families

occupations (for life)

Social organizations

Moose Lodges

Masons

Ods Fellows

Fire Depts.

and so on

People in the world today

live away from where they grew up

away from families

its hard to even be part of your job. One of the last reports says that the average person has 12 careers.

People will follow anything

do anything to fit in (tide pod challenge)

Social media

the deep desire is to fit in and find “Your Group”

We are to the point now that people don’t even know what gender they are.

And then we define others and let others define us by our:

Strengths

weaknesses

and accomplishments

We live with a pressure to perform

We are measured and measure ourselves by this.

Who are we.

Now lets go back to the time this passage was written

In Peters time

People belonged to a city. Jesus of Nazareth

Also known by lineage or their parents

Known by occupation

Then lets take the converted Gentiles

It was even harder for the gentiles

Think about it

they were hated for leaving old customs and associations

they lost much of their identity

and then they chose to follow a leader

a leader with dubious paternity

he was from a poor city

he was a landless carpenter

untrained wondering preacher

and he died by public execution

Where is your identity?

Regardless of what your identity is, the Father, turned it all around when He crowned Jesus with honor by raising him from the dead. And now the exile elect that follow him receive His same honor.

If we look back at the verses we went through and a few that tim went through last Sunday we see this connection

Traits of jesus 1 Peter 2:4 “4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,”

Referred to as a living stone

He was rejected by humans

In Gods Eyes He was chosen and elect

In Gods Eyes He was Valued and honored.

The traits of Jesus’ Followers

Living Stones 1 Peter 2:5 “5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Exiles and Aliens 1 Peter 2:11 “11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

In Gods Eyes Chosen and Elect 1 Peter 2:9 “9 But you are a chosen race

In Gods eyes Royal and Beloved 1 Peter 2:9 “9 a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession

From day to day our perceptions of what we are worth might vary based on

bank accounts

Bills

jobs

vehicles

our past

what else?

but our net worth never changes

Think of it this way

If we were to just get away from society, problems, jobs, money and whatever else we use to value us and walk in the woods for a day or two it would be easy to see our worth.

1 Timothy 6:8 “8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”

Look at the Ukrainians

What is their net worth

What is their occupation

What did they used to do?

what car do they drive

How much many is in their bank accounts?

It doesn't matter does it.

In the grand scheme of things non of this matters.

John Calvin once said “We know ourselves and our worth when we look into God’s face.

We saw in our passages today the Jesus is the cornerstone, rejected by men but honored by God. He was SET in place so we can build our lives on him

When we trust him we share his honor and join his family and that is where we find our identity.

If you define yourself as God defines you

It is more true

secure

liberating from self inflicted shame

We are:

Gods Chosen ones

living temples

royal priest

Why? Because He is first.

For the next several passages and probably next several weeks we are going to see a description of how we can define ourselves and build out lives on Jesus the Cornerstone.

1 Peter 2:11 ESV

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Again Peter here refers to the Christians as Exiles. temporarily staying in a place. Until either they pass away or Jesus Christ returns. another definition to the original Greek word here is a pilgrim.

He then directs the Christian to abstain from the passions of the flesh.

We all know to well the temptations of this world and it seems the further our society drifts from Christ the greater number of temptations there are.

Because the world offers so many great temptations, abstaining from them is like a war. If you remember in 1 Peter 1:13 we saw that Peter said to Gird up the loins of our minds. Prepare for action. And if we give into these temptation they will bring spiritual harm

1 Peter 2:12 ESV

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.

He then directs the christian to keep their conduct among the Gentiles Honorable. When he says gentile here he is referring to the unbeliever.

So when they slander you they will see your good deeds. They will see that you did not do evil in response to their criticism.

We also see this in Matthew 5:16 “16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

2 Corinthians 9:13 “13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others,”

Because of your good conduct and the way you respond to their criticism they will see the light of Christ and Glorify him on judgment day.

Even if your afraid to to witness to people, you can still be effective by having the right conduct amongst the Gentiles, and by them seeing your good deeds they can turn to Christ.

You cant get to heaven by your works but we can pretty much say that someone else can get to heaven by our works.

So when your at work and standing around the water cooler and that dirty joke is told

or the person cuts you off in traffic and you have the fish sticker on the back of your car

How do are you responding?