GOD’S OWN SPECIAL PEOPLE

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on November 14, 2018 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: November 14, 2018 from 1 Peter 2:8b-10

Theme: We are being built together upon Jesus Christ into a holy temple unto God.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

In 1 Peter 2:6-8, we were told of how the unbelieving people of this world would stumble over the message of the gospel that we believe. And along with that stumbling, the people of this world will often cause those who believe the gospel to suffer for believing it and proclaiming it. That was certainly the case for the believers to whom Peter wrote.

Peter sought to encourage his believing Jewish brethren at a time when they were suffering for their faith. They had not stumbled unbelievingly upon ‘the rock’ of the gospel. They had believed and sincerely sought to follow the Lord’s good way for them. But as Peter says throughout this letter, they were grieved by various trials. They were spoken against as evildoers. They suffered for doing good. And they were treated wickedly for having lived righteously. It would have been tempting for them, at times, to think that they had done the wrong thing in following Jesus—that they had made a mistake in building their lives upon Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone.

And it’s then that Peter seeks to encourage them with how God views them. He tells them;

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy (vv. 8b-10).

When we suffer for following Jesus in a dark and hostile world, what a difference it makes to know what we truly are! In the midst of a world that speaks badly of us and of our Savior, what an encouragement it is to hear of how God the Father Himself views us—and how precious we are to Him!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Much of what Peter says in this passage should sound familiar to us. They are words that God spoke with regard to His chosen Jewish people in the Old Testament.

At the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai—after God had delivered them from bondage and had taken them through the Red Sea—He told them, “you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). Similarly, in Isaiah 43:4, God said to them, “Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you”; and in verse 21 that “This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise”. And here, with regard to these suffering Christians, Peter authoritatively transfers these Old Testament words of encouragement to them and reminds them of what they are.

There’s no greater encouragement for us—in such difficult times as these—then to know who it is that God says we are in Christ; and to rejoice in how precious we are to Him!

Let’s look a little closer at these words from Peter; and notice first …

1. WHAT WE ONCE WERE (v. 8b).

Peter began by talking about those who had rejected the Lord Jesus and who were persecuting those who followed Him. Peter identified Jesus as “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” to those who were persecuting His followers; and then explained, “They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed” (v. 8b).

We should understand these words very carefully. It would be going beyond what Peter actually said if we were to say that these disobedient people were “appointed” to eternal judgment. Rather, what he was saying was simply that they were appointed to the consequence of their disobedience to the word—which was ‘stumbling’. They tripped over the word they deliberately rejected; and they suffered the consequences of disobedience and unbelief. And it’s to this disobedience—and the consequent stumbling that followed—that Peter says they were appointed; assuring his persecuted brothers and sisters that their trial was under God’s control.

A good way to explain what Peter means is by looking to a story from the life of the Lord Jesus. He was teaching the people in parables, and those parables often left the general public a bit confused. Many of the folks who heard didn’t understand what He meant. The disciples asked Him why He did this; and in Matthew 13, Jesus told them,

“Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand (Matthew 13:11-13).

By contrast, He told the disciples,

“But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (vv. 16-17).

Those to whom Jesus said this had not stumbled. Instead, it had been graciously given to them to hear and believe! They were, above all people, unspeakably privileged!

The doctrine of God’s sovereignty over people’s response to the gospel is a difficult thing to grasp. It’s very hard to sort it out why it is that He gives it to some to believe and obey the word, and to others to stumble over it in disobedience. But if we aren’t personally overwhelmed with gratitude and praise and thanks to God for the fact that we ourselves have heard the gospel and have believed, then we have missed one of the most glorious aspects of that doctrine! It should move us to offer God our praise and thanks! Many around us may “stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed”; but praise God, we are not among them! That’s what we once were; but that’s not what we are any longer!

This should lead us, then, to consider …

2. WHAT WE ARE NOW (v. 9a).

Peter says; “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people …” The world may not think much of the church of God’s redeemed people; but we should know how unspeakably precious we are to Him! Notice the four things Peter says we now are:

First, we are a chosen generation. The word Peter uses for “generation” (or “people” as it is in the New International Version) is one that speaks of common ancestry—common kinship—an offspring from the same source. We have been made into a family together—brothers and sisters who are children of a common Father. But notice that we are a very special kind of “generation”. Other members of any other kind of family are born into it. But we aren’t natural-born members of this family. We were chosen—adopted by God through His grace; and taken by God from out of this world to be His own!

And we were chosen for a glorious purpose—that is to be a royal priesthood. It would be wonderful enough if we were chosen to be brought into God’s household in order to simply become mere household servants. But we are chosen by God unto a priesthood. It’s our privilege to walk in this world as those who represent God to it; and who lead people to Him from within it. And we do so not simply as any old priesthood; but as priests who are ‘royal’. We are just as it says in Revelation 5:10—”kings and priests to our God”! We serve before Him as royalty!

We are also declared to be a holy nation. The word that Peter uses is ethnos—from which we get the word “ethnic”. We are brought into the church family from different ethnicities; but in the body of Christ, we are one common spiritual nationality—where there is “neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” (Colossians 3:11). And we are also a distinct nation that is “holy”. We are an ethnos set apart from all the rest of this world for God’s own purpose—God’s own use.

And finally, we are declared by God to be His own special people. The old King James Version says that we are “a peculiar people”. And from the standpoint of this world, we are peculiar. But from God’s standpoint, we’re “special”—a valued acquisition—a unique and treasured possession. On the great last day, the old heavens and the old earth will be destroyed—and all that they contain along with them. A new heaven and a new earth will be made. And the only thing that God will keep in the new creation from the old one will be His Church—the Bride of Christ—us! How truly precious we are to Him!

And please notice that there is a definite bond of unity that we enjoy before Him in this four-fold identity. We are not just one offspring—but we are a “generation”. We aren’t simply one priest—but a “priesthood”. We aren’t simply an individual citizen of heaven—but rather a “nation”. You or I are not simply God’s special individuals—but we are His own special “people”. All of this is describing us as a corporate body—His church—His called out assembly! The world doesn’t think much of the church; but God our Savior thinks very highly of it! This should encourage us when, in this dark and fallen world, we suffer together for our love for Jesus Christ.

So; Peter tells us what we once were, and then tells us what we now are. And finally, he tells us …

3. WHAT WE’RE TO DO ABOUT IT (vv. 9b-10).

All of these things are to move us with deep joy, so “that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

Once again, Peter is drawing his image from the Old Testament. In Hosea 2, it says;

“It shall come to pass in that day
That I will answer,” says the Lord;

“I will answer the heavens,
And they shall answer the earth.
The earth shall answer
With grain,
With new wine,
And with oil;
They shall answer Jezreel.
Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth,
And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;
Then I will say to those who were not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’” (Hosea 2:21-23).

And that’s what we now are. The apostle Paul quoted from this same passage in Hosea—in Romans 9:25-26—to show that God has extended this gracious declaration to the Gentiles who believe on Him.

We were, at one time, those who were not a people; but now, we are the people of God. We had not obtained mercy, but now we have obtained mercy. We once lived in darkness, but now we have been called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light. And as a consequence, we should respond by opening our mouths and praising Him in worship! That’s what He has saved us for—that we might forever praise Him for His grace and His goodness to us!

Even in times of hardship and persecution!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Dear brothers and sisters; these are the things we need to remember in times when we suffer in this world for our faith. The world may not think much of us. But God cherishes us very highly! May it sink deeply into our hearts how much God loves us and values us in Christ!

EA