The People of God

 

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 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 2:9-10

 Some people enter into the faith as a transactional relationship. God gives them forgiveness and salvation and they give him allegiance and try to obey. What they don’t realize is that unlike other transactional relationships, like the ones we have with our cellphone or internet providers, this one is permanent. When I became a Christian I didn’t just become a God client, like a T-Mobile user or a Comcast customer, I became a member of God’s family. This verse expresses it in three ways: a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

 In Jesus, we are chosen to be God’s people. In fact, we couldn’t come to Christ if we hadn’t first been chosen as it tells us in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” God looked at the world, the billions upon billions of people stretching out over millennia, and He saw me, He saw you! For some reason that only He understands, He wanted me to be a part of His people. He chose me. Because of this, He opened my eyes to my need for Him, His forgiveness and salvation. He gave me a soft heart that could understand the beautiful gift of His son. He showed me love in a way I could understand, and a way I so desperately needed. Apart from His intervention, I would have never seen or understood all this. If you, too, see your hopeless situation apart from God and desire His saving grace, then you have been chosen as well!

 Next, Paul writes that the people of God are a royal priesthood. This isn’t something that translates easily into today’s society. When we think of royals, Kate and William come to mind who, while they might be nice people, are certainly not priests. Then, when considering priests, we think of old men in long robes, maybe with a tall pointy hat. Somehow, I just can’t put those two together! But think back to where the author, Paul, was coming from. Royal means in relationship to the King, and we are sons and daughters of the great High King of the World, Jesus Christ. I am a princess! I remember exactly where I was, sitting next to a campfire at a women’s retreat in the mountains, when this dawned on me for the first time. As a little girl, like many others, I dreamed of finding out that I was secretly a princess or perhaps marrying a prince and becoming one. But now, for real, I was a daughter of the king! But this is no ordinary form of royalty simply bestowed by means of birthright to be lived out in any way we choose. No, we are a royal priesthood. In biblical times, the priesthood, like royalty, was determined by birth. You were born into it, you couldn’t just go to priest school and then go try to get a job. And these priests were literally the people’s connection to God. They had a special access that others didn’t. In fact, only a chosen few of the priests could go into God’s presence in the Holy place of the temple (Luke 1:9). At this time in Israel’s history this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, a tremendous privilege. But as a New Testament believer, we are a part of a royal priesthood that enjoys unlimited access to the God of the Universe! We don’t just get to come before Him into His presence once in a lifetime. We can speak with our Heavenly Father at any time, day or night, on any day of the year. Oftentimes I think I am a little spoiled by this privilege and I don’t realize the enormity or blessing of it.

 Lastly, Paul writes that we are a part of a holy nation. God’s people, the Church, is spread out over the entire globe, living in many different countries, but having one and the same allegiance to Christ. We all see Him as our head, our King, our ruler. We might have different presidents or kings or dictators over us in our worldly country, but our ultimate citizenship is in the kingdom of Heaven. We live under the same laws, loving God and loving others (Matthew 22:37-39). And one day we will be united in one place as Jesus gathers us from amongst the nations (Matthew 24:31).

Here's the Thing: In Jesus, we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. We are. This is not about me, or you, or any of us individually, but all of us collectively as the people of God, Christians, the Church, the body of Christ.