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 marvellous 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. 1 PETER 2:9-10 (English Standard Version)
INTRODUCTION
God’s call on our life extends farther the moment that we have been saved from our sins. He wants us to live and establish Christ-like character and lifestyle in us through the power and intervention of the Holy Spirit. Since Christ is the High priest, we are called to be Royal priesthood. The concept of royalty encompasses certain characteristics that should coordinate the children of God’s spiritual life. What a fascinating picture of Christian living portrays as a royal priesthood, and it has qualities such as nobility, charm, authority, wealth, freedom. In every place, in every seasons of life, God has called us to be a royal priesthood, to be a noble and peculiar, in every nation, tribe and tongue.
Our God invites us to believe that these spiritual qualities and prerogatives may and should be enjoyed by every child of the King of kings. To be chosen is to be one who has given a divine favor, selected for a certain and specific divine purpose. God has chosen us to be a witness to the world, to bring fruit, to be a minister to the world, to be agents of the mysteries of God. In this lesson, we will look into three (3) royalties of being called by God a royal priesthood.
1). ROYAL EXISTENCE
- 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. 1 PETER 2:9
- 6 But you shall be called the priests of the Lord. They shall speak of you as the ministers of our God, you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. ISAIAH 61:6
God’s intention is for all followers of Jesus is to be set apart. To be set apart means to be made holy, sacred, and consecrated to Him. We, Christians, are given a special role in this life to serve Him. We are transformed from the depravity and darkness to the Kingdom of marvelous light. We are intruders or strangers of this deprived system of this world. We are called to be set apart from this world and given a distinctive purpose, which is to serve and worship God and to imitate Christ in every aspect of life. As followers of Jesus, we must embrace our identity which Christ bestowed upon us, which is to live a holy life, empowered by God’s grace and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
2). ROYAL EFFECT
- 9… that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 PETER 2:9b
Being a follower of Christ in this broken and deprived world, we have three great roles and responsibilities which is important to us: (1.) To worship and serve the living God, that will endure all over eternity, (2.) To build every follower of Christ, a role that will endure until we are all made complete and with fullness in Christ Jesus our Lord. (3.) To be a vessel of God to turn others from darkness into His marvelous light through sharing what God has done for us.
When we became a follow of Jesus, we received the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Those gifts are entrusted to us for the benefits of God’s people. Our responsibility is to impart those gifts to those people who have accepted the salvation of Christ and started their new life in Christ Jesus.
Our responsibility as a royal priesthood requires total and full surrender. When God declared His glory to Isaiah, the prophet surrendered himself absolutely (Isaiah 6:8). Paul surrender his whole being to Christ in his journey towards Damascus road (Acts 9:15-19). And even Jesus, our eventual illustration, daily submitted to His Father’s Will (John 5:19). A life of submission must be said, “Lord, let Your will be done according to Your purpose. Whatever, whenever, and however you want it, I will obey.”
3). ROYAL EXCHANGE
- 9… who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 PETER 2:9
- 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 PETER 2:10
- 25 As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” 26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” ROMANS 9:25-26 (also read HOSEA 2:23)
We who are the holy people of God too enjoy an extraordinary relationship compare to any other relationship we had experienced in this broken world. Our relationship to God is not solely an individual connection, but it is a chain. Our relationship with God as our father, and us as His sons and daughters has been given to us because of Jesus Christ. As followers of Jesus, we share in the legacy of the saints and we share in the life of all other believers. As members of the body of Christ, each of us share in a most intimate fashion the life of the Spirit with our brothers and sisters as together we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as together we build and establish one another in this most Holy Faith, and as together we praise and worship the Son of God.
MAIN POINT: We are chosen generation to be a salt and light of this broken world.
