12-08-23-ENG.

"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. "

1 Peter 2:9 
GOD'S ROYAL PRIESTS

Read It: 1 Peter 2:9-10
Today we're talking about some serious new perspectives on who you are as a part of the Church. Peter packs about as much perspective into two verses as you can get. Consider the title "a royal priesthood." Priesthood is a term loaded with biblical meaning. To show you all that it means, I would have to start in Genesis and go through the entire Bible. Here's the bottom line. God set aside Israel as His chosen priesthood, His special representatives on earth. Their job was to show the world what God was like. That's what a representative does. But Israel messed up in its assignment to be God's "kingdom of priests" and "holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). In fact, Jesus told the priests and religious leaders of His day that the kingdom of God would be taken away from them and given to another nation (Matthew 21:43). That's us, brothers and sisters! Jesus wasn't talking about a political or geographical nation. He was referring to the "holy nation" of His Church, the people who are His representatives on earth in this age. These terms Peter draws on are all borrowed from the Old Testament. They originally applied to Israel, but Peter uses them to describe the Church. In doing so, he is telling us that God is doing something brand new in the Church.

In Israel, being a priest was the highest honor you could get. Today, you and I minister as God's priests-and not just priests but royal priests. That means you're a child of the King. You have been given the incredible ble privilege of-ministering-before God in His new temple, the Church. More than that, you and I have gone from nobodies to somebodies in Christ. What do I mean? Well, as Gentiles we were outside the covenant nation of Israel. Paul says we were strangers to God's promises, like hungry gry folk looking in the window of a fine restaurant (Ephesians 2:11-12). But that's all changed now We're somebody. We've been adopted by Jesus Christ. We're family now. If you are having trouble "finding yourself," self," let God tell you who you are. Think About It Now as God's priest, you don't freelance. You have only one message to deliver: the "excellencies" of the One who brought you from darkness to the light.