Yesterday, my discussion was primarily focused on establishing the need to take an honest look at where our effectiveness lies as the Church in reaching the lost. The first step in Living Out Loud starts with the question, "who is yelling" or rather what is our identity? 1 Peter 2:9, "But 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;" Answering this question lays the foundation on which we can build. If we are building on the identity of our jobs, family, possessions, or anything that is temporal, we lose our identity when those things blow away in the wind of life.
According to this verse, who does God say we are? In verse 9, Peter uses language that previously was used to refer to the nation of Israel, however, here, he is not talking about Jews. “Israel was a physical race of people, descendants of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.” (Thomas Constable) The church, however, is a spiritual race that has been grafted into His Holy nation (Rom. 11). Just as the nation of Israel was to be a "nation of priests who would stand between the Holy God and the rest of humanity," the church has the same task, although there are some obvious differences in function. We are to be the instrument through which the light of God is to shine on those who sit in spiritual darkness. Note the phrases he uses. We are called “a chosen race” which has to do with the identity that is given to us. Secondly, we are a “royal priesthood” which describes what we are to do with that identity in that we are the next generation of interceders for the world (2 Cor. 5:14-21). We are also “a holy nation” which describes the manner from which we are to operate- holy and set apart. Finally, "A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION" reminds us that 1. we are not our own; 2. the price that was paid for our redemption; and 3. from where we get our power to function in this role.
The remainder of the verse tells us of the ends result of all of this. The Greek word for "proclaim" could be translated "advertise." We are advertisers of how great our God is to a world that is in the dark. Our lives are walking billboards for Christ we should “radiate the ‘marvelous light’ into which God has graciously called us. What are we advertising with our lives? I will go into this tomorrow.
According to this verse, who does God say we are? In verse 9, Peter uses language that previously was used to refer to the nation of Israel, however, here, he is not talking about Jews. “Israel was a physical race of people, descendants of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.” (Thomas Constable) The church, however, is a spiritual race that has been grafted into His Holy nation (Rom. 11). Just as the nation of Israel was to be a "nation of priests who would stand between the Holy God and the rest of humanity," the church has the same task, although there are some obvious differences in function. We are to be the instrument through which the light of God is to shine on those who sit in spiritual darkness. Note the phrases he uses. We are called “a chosen race” which has to do with the identity that is given to us. Secondly, we are a “royal priesthood” which describes what we are to do with that identity in that we are the next generation of interceders for the world (2 Cor. 5:14-21). We are also “a holy nation” which describes the manner from which we are to operate- holy and set apart. Finally, "A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION" reminds us that 1. we are not our own; 2. the price that was paid for our redemption; and 3. from where we get our power to function in this role.
The remainder of the verse tells us of the ends result of all of this. The Greek word for "proclaim" could be translated "advertise." We are advertisers of how great our God is to a world that is in the dark. Our lives are walking billboards for Christ we should “radiate the ‘marvelous light’ into which God has graciously called us. What are we advertising with our lives? I will go into this tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment