Read with Me
1 Peter 2:9a
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
Listen with Me
In an age when the Church has largely forgotten who we are and when we are anxiously seeking to be accepted by those who belong to the world, Peter’s keen, inspired analysis of who the Church is, is vital. The fact is that the Church as it is designed will never be accepted by those who are entrenched in the world and its systems. Instead, the Church exists specifically to call people out of those systems in order to be a part of God’s kingdom, God’s systems, to leave behind the broad path that leads to death, and to choose instead the narrow path that leads to eternal life.
Peter points out four key identities and the key purpose of the people of God’s kingdom. We are going to look at the first two today. First, as the people of the kingdom of God we are a chosen people. Throughout history, from the days of Abraham on, God has had a people whom He claims as His own, whom He has called out, set apart, and invited to follow Him and to be His representatives in the world, the emissaries of His kingdom.
Before Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, that people was the Jewish nation. But on the day of Pentecost, the doors were thrown open wider, to all who would repent, and trust in Jesus for salvation. Sadly, many of the Jewish people chose to reject Jesus, thus opting out of being part of God’s chosen people, although the door has always remained open for them to opt back in by believing in God’s Messiah. At the same time, those who had formerly been excluded, the Gentiles, came flooding into God’s kingdom, choosing Jesus, and thus being chosen by God, and becoming part of his kingdom.
God’s people are also a royal priesthood. The purpose of the priesthood is to mediate peace between God and sinful humanity. Under the Old Covenant, this peace was mediated by the system of sacrifices initiated by God Himself. Under the New Covenant, the once-for-all sacrifice was made by Jesus, and God’s people mediate peace between God and mankind by sharing that good news with everyone around us, and the ends of the Earth, inviting everyone to enter into peace with God through faith in Jesus.
Pray with Me
Father, sometimes the wording in these great scriptural promises can make the meaning seem antiquated, not pertinent to us today. But You are right that much of the Church today seems stuck in a search for its identity and meaning. Thank you for opening my eyes to who I have been saved to be and to become. Thank You, Lord, for calling me into something so much greater than any mere earthly calling, and for shaping me to fit into that higher calling. Amen.