The People of God, Part 2
Text: 1 Peter 2:4-12
Core Idea: We are the people of God – loved and treasured by God, set apart to be more like Him as we aim to live for His glory in this foreign land we live in.
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon, Lighthouse family! It is so good to be together. Good to see all the children and youth joining us. I pray that all of you will be reminded of how much you’re loved by the Lord – how precious you are to Him. And welcome if you’re joining us online! We miss you. I pray that our worship would honor God and show how precious He is to us. We’re going through a sermon series on the Church in hopes that we may see its beauty and glory as God intended. The recovery of this truth may be vital for us today because of the impact that this pandemic has caused in our lives. Even though we’re created to do life with one another, we’re learning to cope with our isolation. Instead of growing in our love for others, we’re focusing so much on ourselves and our family – our needs, safety, and convenience. Of course, I’m not saying that anyone is doing this intentionally out of this selfish heart. It could just be our coping mechanism – learning to survive, adapting to the situation. But I pray that the truth of God will remind us that we are created to commune not only with God but with one another. I pray that we would protect and fight for this community because it really is a privilege to stand with other believers to praise God, to grow in Christlikeness, and to be a blessing and encouragement to one another. May we come to love our church, the people even more so in times like this. Last week, we examined 1 Peter 2:4-12 to learn what it means to be a people of God and what we’re called to do – and we’ll continue that conversation today. So, if you have your Bibles, please turn to 1 Peter 2:4-12 and let me read for us.
4 As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him – 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for. 9 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. 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. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you.
In this passage, there are five images that Peter brings out:
Living Stones Being Built into a Spiritual House
A Royal Priesthood
A Holy Nation
God’s Special Possession
Foreigners in this World
Through the first two images, we learned last week that as the people of God, we are the dwelling place of God’s glory, having our lives weaved into each other, called to mediate for the nations through our prayers and acts of service – and that this kind of transformation will only happen as we come to the Living Stone, the Cornerstone of the Church, Jesus Christ. Today, we’ll look at the remaining three – and I pray that it will give us a fuller understanding of what it means to be a people of God.
1) A HOLY NATION
Let’s read verse 9. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” Peter reminds us that we are a chosen people, a chosen nation. But this nation is special in that it’s holy. Now, what does it mean to be holy? The task of defining holiness may be harder than we think because the word “holy” is a foreign idea to all of us. And it doesn’t help the fact that the Bible uses this word in many ways. Sometimes the word is related to God’s goodness or perfection; but it also implies purity, freedom from sin, or being morally good. Now, it’s understandable why you would think of holiness this way; but we must realize that it’s insufficient. It means much more than that. Then to help us understand this better, I want to take you to the book of Leviticus, which is in its entirety devoted to the subject of holiness. One thing you’ll notice is that Leviticus talks a lot about holy things: holy place, holy ground, holy oil, holy water, holy bread, and so on. Considering all these things, the word “holy” cannot just mean being morally good because what does a moral ground look like? Or what does an impure bread look like? Then the Bible actually teaches that the primary meaning of the word “holy” is “to be separate or set apart.” So, when God says, “I am holy,” He means that He is completely separate and different from all other beings; He is totally unique; He is beyond our imaginations; we cannot compare Him with anything of this world for there’s absolutely none like Him. God is so much greater and purer than you and I can ever comprehend.
And here’s Peter, turning to us, the Church, and says, “You are a holy nation.” Then what does this mean? Sure, it means that we are to be pure, good, and without sin. But more fundamentally, it means that God is literally separating us from the rest of this world to Himself. In other words, when God calls us to be holy, He is calling us to be His. He’s telling us, “You belong to me; I’m calling you to be different, unique from this world. How? Be like me; imitate me.” Then pursuing holiness is to grow to be more like our heavenly Father. It’s about loving God more and more – learning to hate what He hates and love what He loves. Pastor Martin Lloyd-Jones said, “If you really want to love the Lord, then hate evil and sin.” Brothers and sisters, then when God calls us “a holy nation,” when He is inviting us to be more like Him, the implication is that we must take our sins seriously. We must not comfortably co-exist with our sins – no matter how small it may be. This is not done out of guilt, but because of our great love for our Father, our yearning to be more like Him. So, if you haven’t, I invite you to repent today. The sin that you’re struggling with right now; the sin that you seem to go back to over and over again; the sin that you think is not that bad; the sin that has been hidden from others for a long time; the sin that is eating your soul away; confess them to God. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” I pray that no one here will leave this place without receiving His forgiveness that brings freedom from the shackles of sin but also being refreshed to pursue holiness with this renewed passion and zeal.
Now, this truth applies to us as individuals but especially as a community. It’s true that it’s easier not to get involved with other people’s problems; it feels uncomfortable pointing out the sins of others – it feels like we’re being judgmental. So, we ignore what we see, or we justify ourselves by saying, “Well, it’s not that serious.” But when we choose to be quiet, we’re not only disobeying God but we’re also hurting the community because we’re constantly moving away from the church that God desires us to be – we’re allowing our brothers and sisters to remain under the shackles of their sin. Then Lighthouse family, I know that this is not easy; but we must recognize that this is what we need to grow and mature in our faith – we must learn to keep each other accountable; we must learn to speak the truth in love. This is what it means to be a holy nation, a holy community – being concerned for each other’s fight against their sin.
Of course, this is hard to do in a large group like this, which is why it’s crucial for you to join a small group. Even then, we know that this doesn’t just automatically happen. We must choose to set aside our pride, make ourselves vulnerable to each other, and share openly about our sins. Initially, this probably will feel awkward, embarrassing, and painful, even scary; but this will be our first step of building our community to be marked by grace – how can there be grace without sin exposed? Pastor Ed Stetzer writes, “Spiritual growth begins with discomfort. When God’s Word points out a seemingly outlandish expectation, this creates internal discomfort. When the Holy Spirit whispers a seemingly unreasonable expectation, discomfort is the outcome. The idea that spiritual growth begins with discomfort is a fact many church members and church leaders have been unwilling or unable to embrace. In fact, because we often find ourselves in the mode of longing to grow a church numerically rather than growing individuals in the church spiritually, we will be tempted to downplay the biblical expectations of a disciple so that attenders will be comfortable and choose to become church members.” What a sobering word! Brothers and sisters, what kind of church do we want to be – a church that caters to the comfort of the people coming or a church that will be obedient to the truth, even if it hurts, uncomfortable, knowing that God is purifying us, carving us to be more like Him? Then let us pursue honest yet grace-fuelled relationships by humbly learning to confess our sins to God and to one another. I understand that it will take time. But when this becomes part of our life together, our relationships, not just within the small group but the church as a whole, will radically be transformed. We will experience accountability yet feel so accepted and encouraged because our words to one another will be driven by the love for each other and ultimately, God. We are a holy nation; then let us help each other become more and more like our Father.
2) GOD’S SPECIAL POSSESSION
What does this mean and why is this significant to us? To feel the weightiness of this truth, we must first remember that everything belongs to God. There’s nothing in this world that does not belong to Him because He created and governs all things. But when Peter says that we are God’s special possession, he is emphasizing the infinite value that God places in us. We are precious to Him. You matter to Him. God cares for you. Now, the impact of this truth is threefold. First, this truth is for God. Let me explain by reading Deuteronomy 7:6-9 for us. This is what Moses said to the Israelites: “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your ancestors that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery… Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.” When God calls the Israelites His treasured possession, the emphasis is not on the fact that they are special, but that God is. He is the kind of God who treasures a people that is not lovable; He is the kind of God who gives worth to the worthless; He is the kind of God who is faithful even when the people are faithless. So, when we hear that we are God’s special possession, it should draw us to humble praise and thanksgiving to God.
Second, this truth is for the community. When we realize that we are precious to God, it must mean that this is how we should see each other as well. If God has placed this infinite value in the people we see around here, who are we to treat them any less? We must learn to cherish each other – value one another above ourselves. Then let us devote ourselves to loving one another with that same love.
And lastly, this truth is for us. We live in a world that disregards and despises God, which means that Christians will inevitably face ridicules and persecutions. It’s not easy to follow Christ in a world that mocks and undermines the truth of God. Then in the midst of this fiery trial, this truth will sustain you, will give you hope to persevere through. When the world rejects you, remember that you are special to God. When the world abandons you, remember that you are treasured by God. When the world hates you, remember that you are loved by God. What makes this truth even more amazing is by remembering who is saying this to us: He is our heavenly Father. He sees us as His children. And as our Father, He’s saying to us, “Everything’s going to be okay, I’m here for you. My love for you will never change.” Then let me ask you: Are you burnt out and exhausted today? Do you feel dry and lost? Do you feel overwhelmed by the weight of this world? Do you feel like a failure? Do you feel so far from God? Then hear this truth again: you are God’s special, treasured, precious possession – He is for you, and you belong to Him. He loves you as a heavenly Father – His love is patient; His love is kind; His love will never dishonor you; His love always protects, always perseveres; His love never fails. Even though we may abandon Him and turn our backs against Him time to time, His love will never give up on us (1 Cor. 13). How can I be so sure of this? Look at the cross – He gave up His one and only Son so that we may have life and have it to the full (Jn. 10:10). We are God’s special possession.
3) FOREIGNERS IN THIS WORLD
We find this image in verse 11. Now, what does it mean to be a foreigner, an exile in this world? Well, let’s think of it this way: exiles are different from immigrants in that an immigrant has chosen to be where he is, which means that he will willingly, intentionally try to assimilate to the new place by learning the language and the culture. But an exile didn’t choose to be where he is; in fact, he hopes to return to his homeland, which means that he may continuously feel out of place in this new environment. In the same way, Christians are aliens in this world because we now belong to God. We are not immigrants but foreigners in this world because our citizenship is now in heaven – and our lives should reflect this new reality.
Now, it’s not easy to live this way, because in our sinfulness and brokenness, we’re constantly tempted to fit into this world. We don’t want to stand out. We want to go with the flow. We want to have what others have. We want to look like them. But we must realize that this is destructive, deadly to our souls because the world we live in is not neutral when it comes to God; it’s intentionally against God, it hates God. Let me read a quote from a book called God in the Wasteland. David Wells says this about the world we live in: “It is one of the defining marks of Our Time that God is now weightless… He has become unimportant… [The people] consider Him less interesting than television, His commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, His judgments no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and His truth less compelling than the advertiser’s sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness. It is a condition we have assigned Him after having nudged Him out to the periphery of our secularized life.” Friends, if we allow ourselves to passively drift with the current of this world, God will become weightless and unimportant in our lives. I pray that this grieves your hearts. I pray that you recognize how serious, urgent this matter is then. Listen to verse 11 again: “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” As Peter is urging you, I’m urging you, God is urging you, Christians – be awake to see that there is a war against your soul. Then let me ask you: are you keeping a watch on your soul? If we are to remain faithful, we cannot be passive; we must actively fight against the current of this world. How do we do this practically? One simple way may be to guard our hearts against what we’re feeding our souls. What is nourishing your soul? Are the things you’re watching nurturing your passion for God or simply helping you pass the time? Don’t be naïve: these things aren’t neutral – they will lead you to hunger for the things of this world.
Then what does it mean to live as a foreigner in this world? Verse 12, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” We must live in such a way that will not only bring glory to God but lead others to glorify God. In other words, our lives must magnify and attract others to the glory of God. If we fit into the world so well that our lives don’t point people to God, we’re no longer foreigners or exiles in this world; we’ve become citizens of this world. Then friends, does your life cause people to wonder what’s up with you? Do they wonder how it is that you have such hope in this hopeless situation, how you can be so generous when you yourself are in need, how you can be so loving when you’re not treated with respect and dignity? Now, doesn’t this truth sound familiar to what we talked about a few weeks ago? Let me read from Matthew 5 again, “You are the light of the world… let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” As I mentioned then, I say it again: let us embody, live out, speak the truth of the gospel wherever we go and, in every relationship, we’re engaged in. Let us live in a way that will attract the people to see this hope that we have in Jesus Christ. This is how we are to live as foreigners, strangers in this land.
Then let me summarize. According to Peter, this is what it means to be the people of God: we are the dwelling place of God’s glory, being fuelled by His love for us, set apart to be more like Him so that we may bring glory to Him in this foreign land through our prayer and acts of service for the nations.
GOSPEL
Then as we end, I want to turn our attention to verse 10 again: “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.” Several commentaries point out that this language is actually borrowed from the book of Hosea. Hosea, if you remember, is a prophet who marries a woman named Gomer, who becomes unfaithful to him. You could see how painful this was to Hosea because he names one of their children, “Not loved” (or literally, “No mercy”) and another, “Not my people” – these were their real names. Now, things got worse and in fact, she finally left him for someone else. But instead of receiving comfort from God, He says to Hosea, “Go, show your love to your wife again”; so, Hosea goes and pays money to bring her back. Now, this shocking image in the book of Hosea teaches that God is the faithful husband that will win back His faithless Bride – sanctify her and restore her with love and mercy. God was telling the Israelites that “though you’ve been unfaithful to me, I’m going to buy you back. Though you were named ‘No mercy,’ you will receive mercy. Though you were named ‘Not my people,’ you will be called my people.” Now, why would Peter write this here?
Because Peter wanted to show us that this too is our story. We were made to be in a relationship with God, but we turned away from Him. We were unfaithful, which meant that we deserved to be cast out; we deserved to be abandoned; we deserved to be in the dark. But God does something incredibly shocking – He intervened. He appointed His Son Jesus Christ as our Bridegroom who was then sent out to the world to redeem us back – not with money, but with His blood on the cross. Jesus Christ died in our place so that we would be forgiven; but He rose from the dead so that we, who were the enemies of God, would be called the people of God. Through Christ, instead of casting us out, He embraced us. Instead of abandoning us, He claimed us as His own. Instead of leaving us in the dark, He called us out of darkness into His wonderful light. Brothers and sisters, this is our story. Then how can we not be amazed every day? How can we not remain humble?
For those of you who are yet to experience this amazing grace, we’re praying for you. We’re praying that God would call you out of darkness into His wonderful, marvelous light which will fill your hearts with this unspeakable joy. Then I invite you to come humbly before Him.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, we are the people of God – loved and treasured by God our Father, set apart to be more like Him as we aim to bring glory to God in this strange, unfamiliar land we temporarily live in. This is made possible only through the person of Jesus Christ, who went out to redeem us back in which the payment was His own death on the cross. Then let me finish by declaring verse 9 to all of us again. “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.” May this truth transform how you’ll think and how you’ll live in this world.