THE PRAISES OF HIM. 1st Peter 2:9 God has a purpose for us. This all began in the mind of God before the world was made – there would be a unique family among all the families of earth and heaven – God chose to be the Son’s holy Bride. He came down from heaven, for a time lower than angels, that He might be like them, apart from sin – He experienced everything they could to the fullest extent – and then seated them in the highest with Him. He made them different; they are a work of God’s doing. Even though sin is all around – they are a set-apart nation, holy in character – through them, all families see how grace abounds.
It is not by chance that God makes a person a unique part of the church in which He dwells and that serves Him. Israel was God’s choice in Old Testament times to represent Him visibly, morally, and spiritually. That nation, out of all the nations of the earth, was offered the great privileges we have today if it obeyed God, but it didn’t and lost those privileges.
Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ today have been chosen in Christ before the world's foundation to be a heavenly people living on earth who resemble the one who chose them. Our heavenly Father wants us to be like Jesus: holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. We have been born again by the Spirit of God and the word of God, indwelt by the Spirit, given a new nature, made a new creation in Christ Jesus, and are in the family of God.
A royal priesthood is the third simile describing our standing in Christ and the privileges we enjoy. Holy priests offer spiritual sacrifices to God and, by faith, enter His presence in heaven to worship Him. Royal priests go into the world to represent our Lord, proclaim the Gospel, and praise Him who has called us. He has commissioned us, who have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light, to testify to God’s saving grace by demonstrating the reality of the fruit of the Spirit and the power of the Gospel through personal testimony and words of testimony.
Not only are believers a holy priesthood internally, but as royal priests, we also function externally in a ruling position as a holy nation. Israel failed in this and has been set aside until the King of the Jews, the King of kings, reigns. As “peculiar people,” or “a people belonging to God,” we are His special possession in the day of grace. God’s plans are being carried out in this dispensation of grace through the church, composed of Jews and Gentiles, one body in the Lord.
It is our present privilege to “proclaim the praises of Him who has called us out from darkness into His marvelous light.” From our own experiences, and through practicing and preaching the truth of God’s word, we reveal the true “Light of the world,” Jesus, by reflecting His light, as He told believers they “are the light of the world.”
Some look with antagonism, others with delight – as they see God’s glory unfold. Seraphim hover, angels burst into praise, as the story of God’s Son is told. Forever, these people will be a special possession of His. To make them His, He willingly gave His life. Through that act of redemption, He purchased His people, who will forever declare, “It is Christ alone that saves!” As a priesthood of people who represent Him on earth – an elect generation, a holy nation whom God blesses – we who have come from darkness to life, given new life, will forever declare His glory by our praises.
When we put our energy and resources at God's disposal and trust Him to guide us, our spiritual priesthood becomes real to us. Peter never claimed to be the church's foundation. He, like the apostle Paul, confirms that there is "no other foundation." The Lord Jesus Christ, the Rock of ages, is the Chief Corner Stone upon which the church is built. Those who put their trust in Him will not be ashamed. Some people stumble over Christ because they have rejected Him or refuse to believe He is who He says He is. "The stupidity of the experts," "the stone which the builders rejected," reveals the foolishness of those who suppose themselves to be builders. That Stone will cause them to fall. They disobeyed the message of the Gospel and, because of that, are destined to fall.
The royal priesthood, of which each believer is a part, has the responsibility to bring people to God. Believers have been designated and chosen by God for this specific purpose. As a holy nation, we are united with all the saints of God in serving as intermediaries between God and sinful people. This is "the ministry of reconciliation" to which we must be committed. This special possession of God is an unusual, peculiar people. Our calling is to publicly demonstrate the praises we have of God for the grace that brought us from the darkness of sin into the light of salvation.
Our relationship with God is not based on our jobs, accomplishments, wealth, education, or self- concept of success. Our worth as persons comes from being children of God. The value in what we do in life comes from what God has done. It is our privilege as spiritual priests to declare to the world the greatness, glory, and authority of our God.
Before we were saved, there was no real purpose for God in us because we were in darkness. We were in our sins under His condemnation. Disobedience and self-will separated us from Him. But when we came to Him as sinners in need of forgiveness and accepted His offered mercy, we now live with purpose and are able to be reconcilers in Christ's name. We are able, with authority, to call people to be reconciled to God, and when that happens, there is a lasting blessing.