Pilgrims in a Fallen World: People of God, Called for a Purpose - I Peter 2:9-10

 

Pilgrims in a Fallen World: People of God, Called for a Purpose

I Peter 2:9-10

Introduction: Most of us have various groups with which we identify. For some their ethnicity might head the list. For others, it might be the country in which they were born, or the country in which they hold citizenship. Some people might identify with a particular sports team. For others it might be their profession. On election day just past you might have identified with a political party. All of these things are important to us, they are part of our history and experience. They may all be aspects of our identity, but none of these is really our most important identity. If you know God, you are His child, and you belong to Him. And, He has you in the world as His ambassador. You are a child of the King, and you are here to bring Him glory! As Peter is writing this letter to fellow pilgrims, he is encouraging them concerning our sure hope in Christ. Though they will suffer for a little while, our victory is sure in Jesus. Each of us is a part of God’s plan, and as we saw in I Pet 2:4-5, “Jesus is the precious cornerstone of our faith and our greatest privilege is to know Him and to serve Him.” We saw last week in 2:6-8 that our response to Jesus reveals our heart and our standing with God. We asked, “Is He the most precious thing in your life? Is He your King?” Today we’ll look briefly at 2:9-10 and we’ focus on…

The BIG* Idea: God called us as His own to worship Him, and to have a part in His mission, proclaiming the Gospel of His grace to the world. We’ll look at that from three perspectives: 1) Our Identity; 2) Our Purpose, and 2) Our Foundaiton.

I. Our identity: First, we are God’s People, and His ambassadors to the world (9a).

       “But you are...”  After using the Old Testament to talk about those who don’t believe in 2:7-8, those who continue in disobedience, those who by their action demonstrate they are on a path toward destruction in their unbelief (only God knows if they will one day repent), we see this beautiful contrast: that is them, that is where they are heading, that is what their choices reveal about their hearts, BUT YOU...  Aren’t you thankful for what that is saying? We were by nature children of wrath, but now, in Christ, by grace, we are children of God.  Here Peter uses a series of phrases and allusions, also from the Old Testament, to describe our position, our new standing, in Christ.  What was applied to Israel, he applies to the church.  Let me say at the outset that I don’t view this as so-called “replacement theology,” i.e. the idea that God is done with the physical descendants of Abraham and all the promises now are for the church. I believe all the promises apply in some way to the church, all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for training in righteousness, right? But Romans 11 and other passages say that before this story is over there will be a turning of Israel to Christ. There is a partial blindness for Israel, a veil, until the fullness of the gentiles comes in. Here Peter is talking about the unity in diversity of the church, God’s people, saved by His mercy and grace for His glory.      

       But you are a chosen race [genos eklektos] – In contrast to the unbelievers who stumble and take offense at the Gospel of Christ in the preceding context, Peter reminds his believing readers who they are in Christ. He begins by saying they are a chosen race. Peter touched on this idea of being chosen of God in 1:1 when he identified his readers as “elect exiles” dispersed through the regions of Asia Minor. He used the same language in 2:4 referring to Christ as rejected by men yet chosen and precious to God.  Now he tells his readers that the church of Christ is a New Race, chosen from every race... A little further down he says you were not a people, but now are God’s people. Here he implies the diverse ethnicities of the planet, the color of our skin or our national origin, are not what matters most. I think it is fine to take pride in our nationality or race, or whatever (as long as we don’t look down on people of different groups!). But none of those things that we might identify with are most important to God, and none of them should be most important to us.  What matters most is not our race, but God’s grace. By His initiative, we are His. God is assembling a people from every race and nation as He builds His church. Not because we are good or because we are better than someone else. Because he chose us as His own.  In fact, He loved us from before the foundation of the world.

        A royal priesthood – Peter is alluding to Exodus 19:6, “...you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation...”  These ideas were merged by Peter back in 2:5 when he used the phrase, “...a holy priesthood...”  Here in 2:9 he says a “kingdom of priests” (some translations say, “a royal priesthood) and “...a holy nation...” describing God’s people. In Israel’s history the priesthood was strictly limited to the tribe of Levi and the descendants of Aaron. The king was to be of the Davidic line. So how could someone, much less an entire group of people, be kings and priests? Back in Genesis 14:18, the mysterious figure Melchizedek was one who is described as a priest and a king to whom Abraham paid a tithe. He is pointed to by the writer of Hebrews as a type of Christ (5:6; 6:30; 7:1ff.).  In Christ, we are destined, somehow, to reign with Him (2 Tim 2:12; Rev 20:6; cf. I Cor 6:2-3). Now, as pilgrims in a fallen world, we are also priests, who experience God’s presence, and who offer sacrifices of praise, our bodies as a ‘living sacrifice,’ our possessions and our finances and our gifts of service as thanksgiving offerings to God.

       A Holy Nation – As the Bible tells the story of Israel, it is clear that their “holiness” was often more positional than practical. They were chosen by God and set apart from the pagan nations around them. They were the ones who received through Moses and the prophets the oracles of God, and it was through them that one day the Messiah would come. They were chosen for a purpose. As Peter has written, he has reminded his readers of the holiness of God, and also of the sure hope of salvation that is theirs through faith in Christ. He also implored them to live in the light of that salvation and hope, saying in 1 Peter 1:15-16, “…but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  ¹⁶ since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." Holiness is ultimately rooted in the nature and character of God, the One before whom the seraphim worshipped in the vision of Isaiah, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord; the whole earth is full of His glory!” In one sense, God’s holiness is incommunicable, it is so far above anything that can be sought or even understood by mere creatures. Yet we are given an imperative, “Be holy, as He is Holy.” James describes the concept in terms of how we live, and also in terms of a certain separation from the world:

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world… (James 1:27).

Peter is urging his readers to grasp the reality of their position before God in Christ. They are a holy ethnos, not a nation in the geopolitical sense, but in the sense of a people who share a common culture, a common world view. God shapes our under-standing of who we are, and of our place in God’s creation.

        A people for his own possession – The allusion here appears to be to Deuteronomy 7:6, a word which spoke of God’s gracious election of Israel, but now is being applied to this new entity called the church...

⁶ "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  ⁷ It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,  ⁸ but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deut 7:6-8).

The nation was chosen by God, not because they were good, but of the sovereign and gracious will of God. He chose to love them, not because they were lovable, but because He is love. Peter is applying that theology to the church as a new people of God, composed of Jews and Gentiles.  Paul describes this same new reality, a body, a building, composed of Jews and Gentiles together, at the end of Ephesians 2,

¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.  ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Peter calls them a people for God’s own possession. Think about the idea of being God’s treasured possession. That is true of Israel as God “chose” them for His purpose and glory, here Peter is saying it is true of the church, those who were not a people, but now, in Christ, are God’s people. You, believer, belong to a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession… That is our identity. We are His, and He saved us for a purpose. God called us as His own to worship Him, and to have a part in His mission, proclaiming the Gospel of His grace to the world.

 II. Our Purpose (9b), as recipients of God’s illumination He saved us for a purpose.

     “…that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness, into His marvelous light...” He called us, to be His people, out of darkness into the light for a purpose. To proclaim His excellencies. It seems to me there are at least two aspects of that. We proclaim His excellencies in our worship, and in our witness.

       Our worship. Since Peter is drawing on the imagery and language of the Old Testament, let’s start there.

¹⁹ Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert…  ²¹ the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. (Isaiah 43:19, 21).   

In fact, the specific word translated “proclaim” in I Pet 2:9, is used in the Septuagint (LXX, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures in use in the apostolic age) almost exclusively in the psalms, in the context of worship. For example, in Psalm 107:22, we read: “And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!” Our worship is a celebration of who God is, and also of what He has done in history. It seems, that somehow, our worship brings joy to God, and brings Him glory. And I think we can agree that worship is not limited to times of gathering here as a church on Sunday morning. We can live with an attitude of worship, proclaiming His excellencies in our lives. And worship is really the goal of…

       …Our Witness. We proclaim His excellencies to the world through our witness, as we carry out our part in the Mission of God (Missio Dei). We want to seek every means possible to tell our neighbors and friends about the greatness, the majesty, the love of God manifested in Christ. Our desire is for them to believe and join the choir! And so, we proclaim the riches of His grace to the world.  How do we do that? We bear testimony, we are witnesses who can talk to others about the difference God has made in our lives. We were in darkness, until He shined the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in our hearts. He called us out of darkness, into His marvelous light. He illuminated our understanding of the Gospel!  We traveled so much as missionaries, especially during home assignments, going from church to church, that occasionally it would happen that I would wake up at night or in the darkness of the early morning, and it would take me a minute to figure out where I was. I remember once, during a flight to or from Brazil (they were typically overnight flights of about 8 or 9 hours), waking up in the middle of the night. It was a rare situation with empty seats available and I woke up in the darkened cabin – and I think I said it aloud – “Do you mean to tell me I am STILL on this airplane?” It’s like for a moment I forgot where I was and where I was going!  Humanity is in the dark. As John says in his gospel, “Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.” Our minds, if we know Him, have been “illuminated” by God, we’ve been called out of the darkness into the light. God called us as His own to worship Him, and to have a part in His mission, proclaiming the Gospel of His grace to the world. People from every race and nation will surround His throne according to the Book of Revelation.  We read in Rev 7:9,

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb...”

What a beautiful picture! Here Peter contrasts what we were, before believing in Christ, and what we are, as His redeemed, called out, gathered together people. We were in darkness, now we are in the light.  We were not a people, we were dispersed among the nations, nothing unifying us or setting us apart. We were without God, and without mercy. Now we have experienced His grace, His love, His mercy. He called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. And He called us as His own to worship Him, and to have a part in His mission, proclaiming the Gospel of His grace to the world. So, we see in v.9 Our Identity and Our Purpose. Now in v.10,

III. Our Foundation: Saved by Grace, we are Gospel-centered people (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.”

       The two parallel phrases in v.10 are drawing on Hosea 1:6,9 and 2:23. Referring to the names of Hosea’s children. The unfaithfulness of Gomer is a picture of the nation's unfaithfulness to God, and the names that the children would be given would picture God’s dealing with the nation. Look at Hosea 1:6,9, 2:23 (more on this Wed. night I am sure!)…

1:6 - She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, "Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.

1:9 - Then the LORD said: Give him the name Lo-ammi, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God.

But we see hope of restoration in Hos 2:23…

2:23 …and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, 'You are my people'; and he shall say, 'You are my God.'"

The picture is of gracious restoration, of mercy being extended, is being applied to Peter’s readers. The were not a people, not God’s people. They were by nature children of wrath. That is what God has done for us in Christ. BUT GOD… the One who is rich in mercy, saves (Eph 2:1-4). Our foundation is the Good News, the Gospel, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. And so, our life, our thinking, our worldview, our heart… we are shaped and empowered by the Gospel of His grace.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Our identity, our purpose, our foundation. God called us as His own to worship Him, and to have a part in His mission, proclaiming the Gospel of His grace to the world.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? How do you describe yourself in terms of the groups you identify with? It may be that ethnicity or nationality comes near the top. That is ok. Maybe you have an interest in sports or are active politically. None of that is bad. But, if you know Christ, you know that your primary identity is rooted in Him, and that His calling on your life must be at the center of your purpose in life. Peter used an astounding series of descriptors from the Hebrew Bible in these verses to help his readers, and us, to understand our true identity in Christ. Then he tells us why… to bring God glory… in our worship… and in our witness. We were Lo-ammi, not God’s people, but now, because of Jesus, by grace through faith, we are God’s people. Savor that truth, and consider what God did to make it so – He spared not the Son, but delivered Him up for us all… That should move your heart to worship!  Amen.