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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
November 20, 2022
The People of God
1 Peter 2:9-10
Introduction
I appreciate Phil Jordan preaching last week while I was at Camp of the Woods giving the Sunday worship service sermon to the folks that were part of the retreat and some of the staff. God has blessed us with men who love His word and can faithfully declare it. If you were not here to hear Phil’s sermon Do Not Lose Heart from 2 Corinthians 4: 7-18, I would encourage you to do so. It can be found on the links on our website, or we can make a CD for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA2DcLtYpD0
Turn once again to 1 Peter 2. I will be reading verses 1-12 in the NKJV – another good English translation of this text. The slight difference in word choices between the NKJV, NASB, ESV and Legacy all help to give you a better understanding of the breadth of meaning of the original Greek. This will set the context for our study of verses 9-10 today.
1 Peter 2:1–12 (NKJV). 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, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 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. 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. 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. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Remember that the purpose of Peter’s letter to those in these provinces of Asia Minor – modern Turkey – is to prepare and strengthen them for the persecution that was rising under Nero’s rule. They were already experiencing various trials that were causing them distress, and that would be getting worse. There are already parallels between that time period and our own as the elite in our society including many government entities have started to blame Christians and Christian morals for the conflicts in our nation. The reason that if only we would agree that their moral abominations were good and fall into line with their political agendas, then our society would be harmonious and we would all be progressing toward utopia. Well, utopia will not come until Jesus returns to set up His Millennial Kingdom, and until then, the righteous must always proclaim the truth and point people to reconciliation with God through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to do this even knowing that we will suffer greater persecution for it just as Jesus warned in John 16:33. But we take courage knowing that Jesus has overcome the world and that we are blessed when persecuted for the sake of righteousness and His name for our reward in heaven will be great (Matthew 5:10-12).
I hope you have noticed throughout the flow of Peter’s thought in both chapter 1 and 2, he has made an emphasis on making sure that the Christians to whom he is writing understand fully their position and identity in Christ. If you do not know who you are and your purpose in life, then it is extremely difficult to withstand the pressures of society to conform to it. That is why in Romans 12:1-2 Paul points to the mercies of God – the gospel message – and then urges those who had received it to “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship,” and then he commands them 2“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Your beliefs about yourself and where you fit in the world God has created is vitally important. This is called your worldview.
I was reading a summary of a recent Barna survey (The American Worldview Inventory 2022) that “9 out of 10 parents have a ‘muddled worldview’ and two-thirds (67%) of pre-teen parents claimed to be Christian. However, the big picture result was that only 2% of all pre-teen parents actually possessed a Biblical worldview.” That explains a lot about the rapid decline in our society on every level. When nearly a quarter of Americans self identify as having no religion and the vast majority of the rest live as if there was no God, it is not surprising to see the depravity of mind that Paul warns about at the end of Romans 1 becoming reality before our very eyes. If you want to understand the recent elections, start there. People with depraved minds vote for people with depraved minds, and those with only a left over cultural morality increasingly have a hard time discerning right from wrong resulting in being easily swayed by advertising that plays to their emotions and selfishness. Keep in mind that often both candidates running for office lack integrity and only differ in their current level of depravity as proven this week when 12 Senate Republicans joined all the Democrats in clearing the procedural hurdle to the misnamed “Respect for Marriage Act.” They joined the nearly 50 Republicans that voted with all the Democrats that passed this bill in the House back in July. This bill, which would be more properly titled, “The Disrespect or Destruction of Marriage Act,” redefines marriage by law and threatens legal action against those that advocate God’s design for marriage as the union of a man and a woman – “natural marriage” – as bigoted discrimination.
It does not matter what law makers do in trying to make evil acceptable by redefining it. What God declares to be abominations remain so and He will judge every human by His standards and not those of the individual or that society. Be prepared, for when this bill is passed you can expect immorality and perversion to accelerate and even reading Biblical texts on marriage in public could get you in trouble. Yes, the bill is contrary to First Amendment rights of speech and religion, but the Constitution has proven to be a flimsy protection in most courts for a long time.
Are you ready to be persecuted for simply declaring what God has said about marriage and calling people to turn from their sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Peter was preparing the people to whom he was writing for persecution. We need to take to heart what he says so that we too will be ready and able to withstand it. That begins with making sure you understand who you are and God’s purpose for you in this life and where you are going when it is over.
Going back to 1 Peter 1:1-2, Peter marks the Christian’s identity as someone who has been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, and being sprinkled (cleansed from sin) by Jesus’ blood. He adds in 1:3 that according to His great mercy, God has caused the Christian to be born again. In 1:18-19 Peter points out that Christians are redeemed from their former futile way of life inherited from their forefathers by the blood of Christ. In 2:5 he calls Christians “living stones” being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. This morning we will see five additional aspects of the Christian’s identity.
Peter also marks the purpose of a Christian’s life. In 1:2 it includes obedience to Christ. In 1:7 it includes having a faith that withstands the tests and brings praise, glory and honor to Jesus. In 1:8 it is a belief in Jesus that enables rejoicing in Him. In 1:13 it is having minds girded for action and a sober spirit because of the hope fixed on God’s grace through Jesus Christ. In 1:14-17 it is an obedience in pursuit of holiness that opposes the former lusts done in ignorance. In 1:22 it includes an obedience to truth that results in purification of the soul and a sincere and fervent love for the brethren from the heart. In 2:1-2 it is a longing for God’s word that will result in continued spiritual growth while putting away the former ways of life that are contrary to Christian love including malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy and slander. And then in 2:5, Christians have a purpose in this life to be a holy priesthood that offers up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Finally, Peter also marks the hope the Christian has for the future. In 1:3-4 it is a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and an incredible inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading reserved in heaven and guaranteed by God Himself. The salvation of the soul from sin and its consequences that began with God’s choosing in eternity past, entered present time upon being born again, and will be finalized at the revelation / return of Jesus Christ. It is that hope – confident assurance – in Jesus Christ and His promises given in the living and abiding word of God that enables endurance in present circumstances (1:7).
The better a Christian understands his identity in Christ, the purposes God has for him in this life, and the eternal promises that belong to him, the better able he will be to both fulfill his God given purpose of existence and to withstand the pressures of this world to conform to it. What Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:2-4 applies to this. 2 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
In 1 Peter 2:9-10 gives five additional facets of a Christian’s identity and one additional purpose for the Christian to fulfill. 9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
A Chosen Race – 1 Peter 2:9
Peter begins this section with an emphatic adversative, “But you” (ujmei:V de; – umeis de) that contrasts who Christians are compared to those in verse 8 that stumble because they are disobedient to the word of God and will receive the just consequences of eternal judgment because of that. Peter already pointed out in verse 2 that Christians long for God’s word in order to grow spiritually.
Remember that Peter is writing to churches that are largely made up of Gentiles, yet he calls them here a “chosen race,”gevnoV ejklektovn / genos eklekton. Our English words gene and genealogy come from gevnoV / genos, and is frequently used to refer to people that have a general biological relationship to each other so that it is also translated as “family (Acts 7:13),” “nation (Phil. 3:5),” and “descendent (Rev. 22:16).” However, it is also used to refer to other general relationships such as “kinds” of languages (1 Cor. 12:10, 28), “kinds” of fish (Matt. 13:47), and “kinds” of demons (Matt. 17:21). It is striking that Peter, a Jew, takes what in the Hebrew scriptures is applied to Jews and also applies it to Gentiles. Peter had learned the lesson from the vision God gave him in Acts 10 that God does not “show partiality, but in every nation (ejqnoV / ethnos) the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” The gospel enabled the fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abraham that in your seed all the families (patriav / patria) of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3; Acts 3:25). Or as Paul describes in Ephesians 2:11-22, Jesus broke down the barrier of the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles so that He might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross.
The concept of a chosen race comes from several Old Testament passages including Deut. 7:6-9; Psalm 33:12; Isaiah 41:8-9 and 44:1-2. God chose to set His love on Israel because of His oath to their forefathers despite their small size (Deut. 6-9) and stubbornness (Deut. 9:6). In 1 Corinthians 1:21-31 Paul makes it clear that God has chosen and called to Himself the foolish, the weak and the shameful to magnify His name and remove any basis for men to boast. That is why the starting point for salvation from the human perspective upon hearing the gospel is humility and repentance. Christians are a “chosen race,” a race whose relationship to one another is not due to blood ties, but due to being born again into God’s family (1 Peter 1:3, 23).
A Royal Priesthood – 1 Peter 2:9
Christians also have an identity as a “royal priesthood.” I spoke about this to some degree in the previous sermon that covered the reference in verse 5 to a “holy priesthood.” The Jewish priesthood was according to God’s choice of the tribe of Levi to serve Him as priests (Deut. 10:8; 18:5; 12:5). The Levitical priests had multiple responsibilities and functions including leading in the worship of the Lord, carrying out the administrative and civil tasks of the nation, and being mediators between God and man. As mediators they were required to both declare the laws of God to the people and offer up the animal sacrifices of the people in worship of the Lord. Christians are not Levitical priests for we neither receive our priesthood through a genealogical line nor do we have the responsibilities of civil functions nor do we offer up animal sacrifices.
Peter calls believers a “royal priesthood.” Royal (basivleioV / basileios) refers to what pertains to the king. That king is Jesus who is also the perfect High Priest who, as described in Hebrews 10:12, “having offered on sacrifice for sins or all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” Animal sacrifices for sin were made null and void when Jesus voluntarily became the perfect sin offering purchasing redemption and granting forgiveness for all who will believe in Him. In addition, as described in Hebrews 7:25, Jesus “is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.” Hebrews 7:11-28 explains how Jesus is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek and why it is superior to the Aaronic priesthood.
Believers are “royal priests” because we are chosen by the king to serve Him, and we are given access to “enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 10:19-22) being able to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). “Through [Jesus] we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18). This is the important doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. We have direct access to the Father through Jesus and the Spirit instead of going through any system of human priests. That is in contrast to false religions and cultic systems in which you have to go to a human priest to gain forgiveness of sin usually through some exchange of value, fulfilling a religious ritual, or doing good works. As 1 John 1:9 explains, we confess our sins to God who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Christians are also “royal priests” in fulfilling the mediator role of priests in declaring the word of God to others in both evangelistic and edification efforts, and in praying for others both believers and unbelievers alike. All Christians are also to be involved in the worship of God corporately and individually and also taking the opportunity to lead others in it whenever the occasion arises. That is obviously part of church life and should also be normal in home life, but it should also occur when we are out by taking the time to offer thanks to God for them for meals, pray for safety in travel and petitioning God when some issue of concern comes up. All of that should be normal in the life of a Christian, for every person that believes in and follows the Lord Jesus Christ is a “royal priest.”
A Holy Nation – 1 Peter 2:9
The next statement of Christian identity that Peter makes is that Christians form a “holy nation” – e[qnoV a{gion / ethnos hagion. This is another description that was originally used of the Jews with it first occurring in Exodus 19:6 when God instructs Moses to tell the Israelites that had come out of Egypt that if they would obey the voice of Yahweh and keep His covenant with them, they would be to Him a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Peter is applying the description here to churches that are mostly Gentile.
Ethnos in its original sense refers to “a multitude associated or living together” (TDNT), but developed to also refer to “the largest unit into which the people of the world are divided based of their constituting a socio-political community – nation, people” (Louw-Nida). Peter is using it here to refer to the larger community of believers as a whole, or as referred to in theology books, the universal church around the world as compared to a local church. You, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, are part of something much larger than yourself and even this local church or even our church association.
Peter describes this “nation” as holy. Peter used this same word in 1:15-16 writing, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” To be holy is to be set apart to God and therefore to reflect His moral characteristics. Christians, as stated, are to live holy lives, and as a whole, they constitute a holy nation, a community of people around the world that share the same beliefs and therefore desires and goals in life in serving the Lord.
It is easy at times to feel isolated as a Bible believing Christian even in a country in which there are still a lot of churches. How much more alone might you feel if the majority of your society is against you and you are being actively persecuted for your faith in Jesus? Knowing that you are part of something much larger than what you can see and that the purpose of your existence it to reflect God’s holy character can be a great encouragement to remain faithful and stand firm even in circumstances that test your faith. Christians are part of a holy nation.
A People for God’s Own Possession – 1 Peter 2:9-10
God brought the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt and made a covenant with them. If they would keep that covenant, God included this promise in Exodus 19:5, “then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples of the earth, for all the earth is mine.” Peter applies this to the church. People, laovV / laos, was a poetic word for a “population,” “a group of inhabitants.” It was used in the Septuagint (LXX) to refer to an unified people and extensively used as a specific reference to the people of Israel with an emphasis on them having a special and privileged position as the people of God (TDNT). Peter uses it here in this same sense for Christians tying it directly with peripoivhsiV / pteripoiāsis meaning “to obtain, acquire,” “a possession.” The NKJV translates this as “special” and they KJV as “peculiar” from a Middle English term derived from the Latin (peculiaris) which refers to private property or something exempt from ordinary jurisdiction especially a church (Webster).
This is a very appropriate description of Christians because we belong to Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 points out that even our bodies are not our own having been bought with the price, the redemption price of Jesus’ own blood as Peter pointed out in 1:18-19. Paul stated it this way in Titus 2:14, “[Jesus] who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
This description is humbling and probably even more so for Americans of these times who have been steeped in the idea of being independent and free to do whatever strikes your fancy while also fed a constant diet of rhetoric about the evil of slavery. Finding out you are the possession of someone else, even if that is God, is repulsive. Yet, as Paul points out in Romans 6, you are either as slave of sin or a slave of God depending on whether you obey sin or righteousness. Personally, I, like Paul, rejoice in being the slave of Jesus Christ. It not only makes decisions easy since it is simply a matter of doing my master’s will, but it also means that He is the one that will care and provide for me. It also makes the prospect of facing persecution easier since my purpose of existence is to please my master in all circumstances. His promises for eternity enable me to endure whatever suffering I may experience in this life.
Proclaim God’s excellencies – 1 Peter 2:9
Peter next states a specific purpose of being a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a people for God’s own possession. It is “so That You May Proclaim the Excellencies of Him Who Called You out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light.” That was actually a purpose God had given to Israel as stated in Isaiah 43:21, “The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise.” Psalm 78 instructs each generation to tell to the next generation the praises of Yahweh including His strength and His wondrous works. Specifics are given throughout the Hebrew scriptures and includes everything from creation to the flood to the Exodus through the times of the judges and kings, the deportation and return and all the fulfilled prophecies. In this passage Christians are to proclaim – announce, declare, speak out about – the excellencies of our God. Excellencies, ajrethv / aretā, is manifestations of power characterized by excellence – “wonderful act, powerful deed” (Louw-Nida).
Excellences would include all that God has done, but the specific deed of excellence referenced in this verse is God’s call of them out of darkness and into light. Psalm 107:14 mentions this, “He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death And broke their bands apart.” This reference in that verse is to those who had rebelled against God and were suffering the consequences, but they had then repented and cried out to Him for salvation and God had done so. This is the cycle seen during the time of the judges. The darkness and light being referred to in 1 Peter 2:9 is from Isaiah 9:1-2, “The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.” Matthew 4:14-16 records this being fulfilled at the coming of Jesus. The darkness is a reference to spiritual ignorance and unbelief and the light is the coming of truth resulting in belief.
There is an interesting statement in Psalm 102:18, “This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.” While the context of that verse better fits a description of the future Millennial kingdom, it is also true that the Abrahamic covenant included a blessing to all nations; Psalm 22:26-31 and other scripture refer to all the families of the earth worshiping Yahweh; Jesus spoke of “other sheep” that would become part of His flock (John 10:16); and Acts and the various New Testament epistles make it clear that Gentiles would be included in the church as those that would know and worship the Lord God. So what was true of ancient Israel is even more true for Christians because we can add to the praise all the specifics of the coming of Jesus, His life, the salvation from sin He has provided by His own atoning sacrifice, His resurrection from the dead, and His promises for the future.
This phrase matches well the spiritual sacrifices mentioned back in verse 5. It is hard to remain in a negative mood when you start praising God for all that He has done. There are quite a few Psalms that begin as a lament and switch over to joyful praise as the writer begins to recount the works of the Lord. That is a definite help when facing persecution.
A People that Receive God’s Mercy – 1 Peter 2:10
In verse 10 Peter points out two more acts of God toward Israel that he now applies to the Christians which reinforce that the previous reference to the God’s call from darkness to light is spiritual salvation. “For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” The references in this verse are a summary of points made in the book of Hosea.
The word for people here is once again laovV / laos which I noted earlier was a reference in this context to people with a special and privileged position as the people of God. What had been true for the Jews became true for all who became Christians including Gentiles. The special position of the Jews came from God’s unilateral covenant with Abraham. The special position of Christians is due to God’s act of mercy – an undeserved compassion arising from God’s own character – that caused them to be born again into His family.
One note of caution I need to quickly add here is that although Peter is taking what had previously only applied to Jews and is applying them to all Christians which includes Gentiles, Peter is not replacing Jews with the church. He is expanding the actions and promises of God to include all Christians. As Paul points out in Romans 11, though Jewish branches of the olive tree were broken off so that Gentile believers could be grafted into the rich root of the olive tree, the partial hardening of Israel at the present time will only last until the time of the Gentiles has been fulfilled, and all Israel will yet be saved. The Christian church does not replace Israel and neither does it receive either the promises or curses specific to that nation. God still has a future for the nation of Israel as His people for He will fulfill all of His promises made in His covenants with them. The people of God include the Old Testament saints, church saints (Christians), and those that will be saved during the tribulation and the Millennium to come. The church is a subset of the people of God.
Conclusions
Knowing your identity in Christ and God’s precious and magnificent promises will go a long way in being able to withstand being persecuted for the sake of righteousness and Christ’s name. In 1 Peter 2:9-10, Christian identity includes being a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a people for God’s own possession because of God’s mercy extended to them. A purpose for their existence is to proclaim the excellencies of God who called you out of your sinful darkness and into the marvelous light of His salvation. Be diligent to learn of God’s character and wonderful acts in both history and toward you that you can fulfill this purpose.
If you are not yet a Christian, then accept Jesus’ invitation to learn of Him. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28–30, 28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Talk with myself or any of our church leaders, we would be glad to help you learn who Jesus is and what He has done for you so that you can also be included as one of the people of God.
Sermon Notes – November 20, 2022
The People of God – 1 Peter 2:9-10
Introduction
The Purpose of Peter’s Letter: Preparing & strengthening Christians for rising _____________
Christian position & identity in Christ is ___________to withstanding societal pressures (Rom. 12:1-2)
Barna survey: Only ~2% of all preteen parents actually possess a __________worldview
(Dis)Respect for Marriage Act __________________________________________________________________
Redefining or legalizing something does not ________what it is – Abominations before God remain abominations
Are you ready to be persecuted for simply declaring what ________has declared?
1 Peter 1:1-2 – Christians are __________by the Father, sanctified by the Spirit, and cleansed by the Son
1 Peter 1:3 – Christians are “___________________” according to the Father’s great mercy
1 Peter 1:18-19 – Christians are those _____________from their former futile way of life
1 Peter 2:5 – Christians are “living stones” being built up as a spiritual house for a holy _____________
A Christian’s purpose / character includes: obedience to Christ & truth, tested faith, rejoicing in Jesus, minds girded for action, hope fixed on God’s grace, pursuit of holiness, purification of the soul, sincere & fervent love, longing for God’s word, spiritual growth, be a holy priesthood offering up spiritual sacrifices to God
The Christian is given salvation and a living ________& incredible inheritance in heaven guaranteed by God
The better the Christian ___________His identity, purpose & hope in Christ, the better he can withstand the world
A Chosen Race – 1 Peter 2:9
“But you,” a emphatic adversative contrasting Christians with those in v. 8 that __________& are judged
“Race,” gevnoV / genos, – “family,” “nation,” “descendent” – also “kind.”
Christians are a “chosen race,” whose relationship to one another is due to being ____________into God’s family
A Royal Priesthood – 1 Peter 2:9
Levitical priests led in worship, ____________between God & man, and fulfilled civil tasks of the nation
Royal refers to what pertains to the _____, and our king is Jesus who is also the perfect High Priest (Heb. 7 & 10)
Believers are “royal priests” because we have been chosen by the king and given _____to the Father through Him
Every Christian is a ________responsible for worship, leading in worship, declaring God’s word, and intercession
A Holy Nation – 1 Peter 2:9
Nation, e[qnoV / ethnos, “a multitude associated or living together.” Peter uses it to describe the ________church
To be holy is to be ____________to God and therefore reflect His moral characteristics
The Christian may feel isolated, but he is part of something much __________than himself
A People for God’s Own Possession – 1 Peter 2:9-10
People, laovV / laos, a poetic word for “__________,” “a group of inhabitants.” Used extensively in LXX for Israel
Possession, peripoivhsiV / pteripoi sis, “to obtain, acquire” – Christians are a people ____________by God
Christians belong to Christ – ____________with His own blood – 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 1 Peter 1:18-19, Titus 2:14, etc.
Being a possession – a slave – is humbling, for your life belongs to your __________, not yourself
Proclaim God’s Excellencies – 1 Peter 2:9
Declaring __________to God was a purpose given to Israel – Isaiah 43:21; Psalm 73, etc. – and to Christians
Excellencies, ajrethv / aretā, manifestations of power characterized by excellence – wonderful act, powerful deed
Excellencies includes ______that God has done; this passage points out His calling them out of darkness to light
The reference here is to Isaiah 9:1-2 fulfilled in Matthew 4:14-16 in coming out of ignorance & unbelief to _____
The purpose given in verse 9 matches well the spiritual _____________mentioned in verse 5
A People that Receive God’s Mercy – 1 Peter 2:10
The quotes are from the book of Hosea with people, laovV / laos, referring to those who are the _______________
The special position of Christians as the people of God is due to God’s __________extended to them
This passage does not support replacement of Israel by the church. The church is grafted in but ______from Israel
The partial hardening of Israel at the present time is temporary, and God will _______all of His promises to Israel
Conclusions
Knowing your identity, purpose and hope in Christ will enable you to withstand worldly pressures & persecution
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help.
Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Write down all the verses mentioned in the sermon and look them up later. 2) Count how many times the word “Christian” is mentioned. Talk with your parents about what it means to be a Christian.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. What is the purpose of 1 Peter? Why is his message important in our own time? What evidence do you see of rising persecution of Christians within the United States? What has Peter already said about a Christian’s identity, purpose and hope in 1:1-2:8? How will understanding Christian identity, purpose and hope increase the ability to resist the world and stand firm in persecution? The Israelites were a chosen race, what does it mean that a Christians are also a “chosen race” ? Explain. What were the responsibilities of the Levitical priests? What is a “royal priesthood” and how does that description fit Christians? What responsibilities of “priesthood” do Christians have? What is the importance of the doctrine of the priesthood of every believer? Israel was to be a holy nation (Exodus 19:6) – how does that same designation fit Christianity? What does it mean to be holy? Explain the meaning of people, laovV / laos, as used in 1 Peter. How are Christians a people? How did they become the people of God? Why is that humbling to the believer? What are God’s excellencies? What are some ways Christians to proclaim them? What does it mean that God called Christians out of darkness into His marvelous light? How did Christians, who were not a people, become the people of God? Does Peter support the idea that the church has replaced Israel? Explain. What is the relationship between Israel and the church? Will God fulfill the promises made through the Hebrew prophets to the nation of Israel? Explain why or why not.
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