A Royal Priesthood

1 Peter 2:1-12

Key Verse: 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.”

All people build their identities around their careers or relationships or cultural upbringing. What is your identity? How do you define yourself? In history, Jewish people have been identified as God’s chosen people, because the scripture defines them as God’s chosen people. What does then the scripture define Christians as? Today’s passage defines who Christians are. Apostle Peter wrote this letter to early Christians who were scattered throughout the region of Minor Asia due to severe persecution. Through this letter Peter helped them to know who they really were in the sight of God, although they were rejected by people and became outcasts. At this time, let us also know our identity in the sight of God and live up to it.

I. Crave pure spiritual milk. (1-3)

Look at verse 1. “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.” Malice is an intention to do evil toward others. Deceit simply means deception. Hypocrisy is the sin of pretense. Envy is discontent. And slander is a false statement to damage other person’s reputation. We know that the world is full of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind, and so full of problems. Christians are God’s people who build up a godly relationship with God and with others. But we cannot have a lasting relationship if we have malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander in us. So we must get rid of them.

Look at verses 2-3. “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” Peter encourages early Christians to grow up in their salvation. They were born again by God’s grace through the word of God (1:23). But being born again is not the end of everything. It is the beginning point of living by faith. After turning from the life of sin to Christ, we Christians must continually grow up in our salvation. We must grow in the likeness of Jesus. As an infant grows and becomes a toddler, then a teenager and then an adult, we Christians are to grow until we become mature and attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13). Imagine an infant that does not grow but remains as an infant continually. That is a serious problem. Likewise, a Christian who does not grow after being born again is abnormal and serious. How can Christians grow? Just as babies grow through feeding on milk, newborn Christians can grow through feeding on the word of God, the pure spiritual milk.

Here the important word is “crave.” Have you ever become so thirsty that you couldn’t think about anything else but just water? If yes, you craved water badly. When we crave something, we think only about it and earnestly seek it. As Christians we are to crave pure spiritual milk the word of God. Some people including myself crave Junk food although they know that is not healthy. Likewise, some Christians crave not pure spiritual milk but junk food and become spiritually depraved. They feed their heart and mind with worldly power, fame, wealth, computer games, pornography and other things of the world. They don’t grow spiritually, but become corrupt. We are to crave God’s words and grow to be like Jesus. At the CIS Bible conference I saw some students who came from Irkutsk, Siberia all the way to Moscow to listen to the word of God. They had saved money for many months to pay for the conference. Many of them shed tears as they listened to the word of God. They talk and act like Jesus the good shepherd. Let us crave God’s words. Let us come to Bible study with a craving spirit. Let us write a sincere reflection each week in a craving spirit so that we can grow. This new semester, we are going to study Mark’s gospel in which we can learn of the Messiah Jesus who came to work diligently to plant faith in people and to lead them to God’s kingdom. May we crave God’s word and grow in Christlikeness.

II. Come to Jesus, the living Stone (4-8)

Look at verses 4-5. “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—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.” Here Peter introduces Jesus metaphorically as the living Stone. No doubt Peter had in mind a stone house, God’s temple, being built by God. So he quotes Isaiah 28:16 and Psalm 118:22 and testifies that Jesus is the cornerstone of the house (6-7). But the cornerstone Jesus was rejected by his people. Although his people had waited the messiah, they rejected him because Jesus was not their kind of messiah who could save them from their political and economic troubles. But the messiah that the scripture had prophesied was the one who would save people from their sin and death and establish God’s kingdom in their hearts. That was exactly what Jesus had done and fulfilled the scripture. He became the living Stone, the foundation of God’s salvation house. Although his people rejected him and killed him on the cross God raised him from the dead and made him Christ the Lord. In this way, Jesus became a chosen and precious cornerstone.

Now as you and I come to Jesus the living Stone by faith, we also become living stones just like Jesus. Like Jesus, we may also be rejected by humans but we are chosen and very precious to God. God uses us as living stones to build his house together with Jesus Christ the foundation stone. We know that rejection from peers and others is hard to bear. The early Christians were persecuted harshly and lived in catacombs and caves in foreign countries. But they could bear such hardship by coming to Jesus the living Stone and remembering him who was rejected in their places in order to bear all their sin and save them from eternal condemnation. Then they had new heavenly strength from God and participated in Jesus’ suffering and rejection willingly and thankfully. They became living stones that God used for building his house. We as Christ followers may experience rejection and suffering in the world. But let us come to Jesus and think about him who suffered in our places, instead of falling into doubting God’s love and feeling sorry for ourselves. Let us know that we are living stones that are following and imitating ‘The Living Stone’ Jesus.

Look at verse 5 again. According to this verse, Christians are living stones and are being built into a spiritual house. In other words, we Christians are to be one in Jesus and be built together into a spiritual house. We came from all walks of life. We are all different. How can we be built into one spiritual house? As sinful human beings it is easy to break and split Christ’s church, but difficult to love one another and build it together as one body. To build one spiritual house, therefore, we must clothe ourselves with Jesus who died for others to give life to them. We must crucify our sinful nature and become a new creation in whom Jesus lives. I saw some who are very powerful and pious individually, but troublesome in their churches. I saw some others who are somewhat weak and simple individually, but very influential and treasured in their churches. To build the spiritual house, we all must die to ourselves and live in Christ. In the past, my lack of patience often made some people troubled. Instead of having Christ’s patience to forgive and wait for them, I was impatient and judgmental. But Jesus is so patient and long-suffering. He has been bearing all my sins patiently helping me to learn of him. Jesus wants me to build myself, my family, our ministry on him. Jesus wants me to build together his church with him and with our co-workers who are chosen and precious people of God.

III. You are a royal priesthood. (9-10)

Let’s read verse 9 and memorize it. “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.” Here we can see four different titles given to Christians: “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” Let’s think about them one by one.

First, you are a chosen people. Christians are God’s chosen people. Jesus said to his disciples in John 15:16, “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last…” God chose Abraham out of many people in the world. He chose Jacob, not Esau his twin brother. Jesus chose his disciples. He chose a tax collector Levi and a zealot Simon. He also chose Simon Peter a fisherman and Paul a zealous scholar. Jesus chose you and me out of so many people in the world. God chooses some people when they are very young and some others when they become post-secondary students or old people. Our God chooses his people and loves them with everlasting blessings. Those who are chosen by God are no better than those who are not chosen. God chose us not because we were good and lovable. He chose us not even because we would have good influence after conversion. He chose us to love us and bless us and make us bear good fruit. Many Christians don’t really understand the amazing grace and love in God’s amazing choice of them as his chosen people but just took it for granted. The truth is that we never deserved for God’s election. To choose us as his chosen people, God put his Son to the cross. God so loved us and gave his Son to choose us and bless us. Before God chose me, I had lived as his enemy, hurling insults at him and mocking Christians. But he chose me when I was a university student and blessed me with eternal life and with meaningful mission to serve him. What astonishingly great blessing I have received! I am God’s chosen one. Oftentimes, I am in awe of God’s choice of me and give thanks to him for what he has done in my life.

There is no one in this room or in the whole world who deserves to be chosen by God. King David praised and thanked God in awe, “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” (2Sa 7:18) Let us thank God for choosing us to be his people and let us live as his chosen people, loving him with all we have and serving others as God is doing.

Second, you are a royal priesthood. The two offices of king and priest were accounted very honorable. According to Moses’ law, however, the same person could not sustain both these offices. King couldn’t be a priest and vice versa. Once King Uzziah violated the priestly office and burned incense in the temple. Then he became a leper by God’s punishment until the day of his death. But there was one in the Old Testament who was both king and priest. He was Melchizedek who was king of Salem and the priest of the most high God. According to Hebrew 6-7, Jesus is both king and priest in the order of Melchizedek. Now We Christians become royal priests. Royal priests have privilege to come directly to God because they are priests themselves. Another privilege is to bring their own or others’ petitions to the king Jesus. Jesus showed a good example. As the Royal High Priest, Jesus prayed to God earnestly to forgive sinners, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34).

Each Christian is a priest—royal priest. Therefore, as royal priests, we must come freely to God and offer intercessory prayers to God for the people of this generation. We must pray to God to forgive all of our sins, and ask God to grow our coworkers, parents, children and students on campus in Jesus. We must pray for the city of Toronto to be a city of God and for Canada, a God-honoring nation.

Third, you are a holy nation. As God is holy we Christians are to be holy. When we are dead to sin and alive in Christ, we can become holy. Then the Holy Spirit dwells in us and makes us a holy nation. We are called to reflect God’s holiness through our daily life by the help of the Holy Spirit. When we love God with all our hearts, and love one another, we can reveal God’s holy presence to the world.

Forth, you are God’s special possession. God purchased us with the precious blood of Jesus his Son. Jesus’ cross proves our value before God. We are God’s special possession. We are God’s jewels and treasures. Joseph Song bought a new car and now he treasures it like his own son. How much more does God treasures us whom he bought with his sons’ blood? We are the great value and worth to God because we are God’s special possession.

Now as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God’s special possession, how should we live? Look at verse 9b. “…that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” To declare the praises of him does not mean preaching at people; rather, it means to share with others the abundant grace we have received from God just like a Gerasene man who shared what the Lord had done for him with his town’s people. This man was once possessed and tormented by 6000 demons but later healed by Jesus. Then he went to his hometown and shared it with all the people wholeheartedly. Once we lived in the darkness of sin and death. But God sent his Son Jesus who rescued us from darkens into his wonderful light. We share it with others. Still there are many people groping in darkness. They do not know that there is God’s wonderful light Jesus for them. And so we are to share the praises of Jesus eagerly with them. Louis Perdomo has been sharing the praises of Jesus with his family members. So Chris his brother began hearing Jesus, the wonderful light. He is eager to share it with Seneca college students as well as the Upper Room attendees. During this new semester, may we declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light to campus students so that they can see and experience God’s wonderful light themselves.

Today we learn our identity that God set for us. Living in this materialistic and pleasure-seeing world, we can lose our true identity and live just like godless people. But let us not forget who we are in the sight of God. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God’s special possession. Let us live up to our identity and declare the praises of him joyfully and confidently. Amen.