A Picture of the People of God...

From June 24-28, EBC preteens participated in the third week of Preteen Camp at Mt. Lebanon in Cedar Hill with a total of 1,200 campers for the week.  Our group was made up of 37 campers and 8 adult chaperones. 

 

The camp preacher was an evangelist from Lawton, OK named Keith Coast, and the theme for the week was “Identity” based on 1 Peter 2:9-10.  That will also be our text for this morning.

 

Earlier this month, our country celebrated Independence Day or the Fourth of July.  If you are an American Citizen, that day means something very significant for us.  We celebrate our independence or a freedom as a nation, and it is very special to be an American Citizen as there is no other country like it in the world. 

 

Being a United States Citizen is part of our identity.  However, if you are follower of Christ, the Bible speaks of another citizenship.  For the believer, we have citizenship in heaven in addition to our earthly citizenship.

 

Ephesians 2:19, 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

 

Philippians 3:20, 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Again, our heavenly citizenship is due to our identity in Christ. 

 

This morning, I want us to see from 1 Peter 2 this picture of God’s People...our identity.  We will see who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

 

 

1. Who Are We? 1 Peter 2:9-10

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

 

In verses 9 and 10, Peter does something very interesting in that he used language that previously was used to describe Israel, God’s people in the Old Testament.  However, he wasn’t writing to Israel.  He was writing to the Church. 

 

That doesn’t mean the Church had replaced Israel, but it does mean that the Church has joined Israel as the people of God, God’s own special people.

 

We are chosen generation.  That highlights that God has chosen us as followers of Christ. 

 

We are royal priesthood.  Royal means that we belong to the king.  That is King Jesus. 

 

In the OT, there were few priests.  Every follower of Christ is a priest meaning we have full access to God, and our role is to be a bridge-builder between Christ and the world.

 

We are holy nation meaning that God has set us apart to be distinct from the world.  However, on many fronts, the church isn’t doing our best. 

 

Brothers and sisters, our marriages should be holy.  Our businesses should be holy.  Our language should be holy.  Our recreation should be holy.  Our spending should be holy.  That is who we were made to be in front of a watching world. 

 

We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. 

 

 

2. What Do We Do? 1 Peter 2:1-2, 4-5, 9

1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby…4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

 

As the people of God, this text says we are to demonstrate certain behaviors.  We are to long for God’s Word.  We are to live in God’s community, and we are to laud God’s mercy.

 

First, in verse 2, God’s people are to long for or desire the pure milk of the word, and we are to this so will grow.  Peter is invoking the image of a newborn baby crying and crying and crying because he or she is hungry for mother’s milk, and newborn babies need their milk so that they will grow. 

 

Some of you as the people of God are not growing, and the reason that you aren’t growing is because you aren’t longing for and getting God’s Word.  And the reason you aren’t getting God’s Word is because you aren’t laying aside malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all evil speech. 

The people of God must lay aside or take off the ways of the world.  Malice is pure evil or the absence of good.  Deceit is intentional deception or dishonesty.  Hypocrisy is living your life as two different persons.  Envy is wanting what is not yours to have, and slander to criticize and malign. 

 

God’s plan and desire is for His people to grow, but our growth is stunted when we don’t long for His word, and if you aren’t longing for His word in your daily life, it may be because you haven’t laid aside the behavior of a lost world.

 

Second, we are to live in God’s community.  In verse 4, God’s people are to come to Him.  That isn’t a reference to salvation but to daily living, and we come to Him as living stones. 

 

This “stone” language that Peter used takes us back to his own confession in Matthew 16.  The Lord Jesus told Peter that He was going to build His Church or community on the rock. 

 

That Rock is Jesus, but also includes us a living stones. 

 

The people of God were never meant to live in isolation.  We are meant to live in community with one another so that we can be built up into a spiritual house. One rock doesn’t make a house.  Many rocks are needed to build a house.

 

And we are built up as a spiritual house when we offer spiritual sacrifices.   Again, we sacrifice or offer our marriage and our business and our language and our recreation and our finances.  We offer our entire being as we love the Lord our God with all that we have and all that we are in heart, soul, mind and strength. 

 

Third, we are to laud or praise God’s mercy.  That should be part of our identity.  Look at verse 9. 

 

Because of who we are, we are to proclaim or laud the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 

 

Let me let you in on something.  God doesn’t owe us ANYTHING.  We owe Him EVERYTHING.  Therefore, we should be about proclaim His mercy every day to anyone and everyone who will listen.

 

The people of God ought to be known for longing for God’s word and living in God’s community and lauding God’s mercy. 

 

3. Why Do We Do What We Do? 1 Peter 2:3, 6-8, 10

3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious…6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

“Behold, I lay in Zion

A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,

And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,

“The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone,”

8 and

“A stone of stumbling

And a rock of offense.”

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed…10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

 

So why do we do what we do?  Why do we long for God’s word?  Why do we live in God’s community?  Why do we laud God’s mercy?

 

We long for God’s word because we have tasted and seen that Lord is gracious according to verse 3.  If you have been born-again after hearing and understanding God’s word, you know that the message of this book is grace.  Read it again and again and again because of what you know to be true.

 

We live in God’s community because we believe in Jesus as the only Savior of the world.  Verse 6 says He is the chief cornerstone. 

 

When we believe in Him, we are made part of God’s community of faith, the Church. 

 

We laud God’s mercy because Gentiles, like us, have accepted into God’s people as we have received His mercy according to verse 10. 

 

As a lost person, we are not God’s people.  His mercy allows us to be part of the people of God. 

 

 

Conclusion

So here is my invitation this morning.  If you are part of God’s people, remember who you and what behavior should characterize your life: long for His word, live in His community, and laud His mercy.

 

If you’re not part of God’s people, I invite you to answer that call today.  Look at verse 7.  If you haven’t answered God’s call to salvation, you are being disobedient.  You are rejecting Jesus as the your only hope for forgiveness of sin, eternal life in heaven, and peace with God. 

 

Consequently, you are appointed to God’s judgement if you continue to live in disobedience.  However, you can be saved today.  Will you?