A Royal Priesthood.
We are God’s special possession:
“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. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Pet.2:9-10).
A Royal Priesthood
- Royal Priesthood: Peter encourages believers to bear their priesthood in mind when facing persecution. They must see themselves as priests, who can go to God on behalf of the people who are persecuting them. A priest is a mediator between God and men. We must refrain from all the differences and turn to God so that blessings may flow through us.
- Holy nation: We have been set apart or belong exclusively to God. Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), so we obey heaven’s laws and seek to please heaven’s Lord. “You shall be holy for I am holy” (1:16).
- We are the people of God: In our unsaved condition, we were not God’s people, because we belonged to Satan and the world (Eph. 2:1-3, 11-19). Now that we have trusted Christ, we are a part of God’s people. We are a “people of His own special possession,” because He purchased us with the blood of His own Son (Acts 20:28).
- We are proclaim God’s message: It is only because of His mercy, and it calls us to be faithful to Him. We are living in enemy territory, and the enemy is constantly watching us, looking for opportunities to move in and take over. As citizens of heaven, we must be united. We must present to the world a united demonstration of what the grace and mercy of God can do. All of these privileges carry with us one big responsibility: revealing the praises of God to a lost world. The declare means to tell out or to advertise. Because the world is in the dark, people do not know the excellencies of God; but they should see them in our lives. Each citizen of heaven is a living advertisement for the virtues of God and the blessings of the Christian life. Our lives should radiate the marvellous light into which God has graciously called us.
Each of these 4-pictures emphasizes the importance of unity and harmony. We belong to one family of God and share the same divine nature. We are living stones in one building and priests serving in one temple. Our Christ is the Corner Stone and we are the living stones. We are citizens of the same heavenly homeland. It is Jesus Christ who is the source and centre of this unity. If we centre our attention and affection on Him, we will walk and work together. If we focus on ourselves, we will only cause division.
Unity does not eliminate diversity. Not all children in a family are alike, nor are all the stones in a building identical. In fact, it is diversity that gives beauty and richness to a family or building. The absence of diversity is not unity; it is uniformity, and uniformity is dull. It is fine when the choir sings in unison, but melody comes from diversity.
Christians can differ and still get along. All who cherish the “one faith” and who seek to honour the “one Lord” can love each other and walk together (Eph. 4:1-6). God may call us into different ministries, or to use different methods, but we can still love each other and seek to present a united witness to the world.
After all, one day all of us will be together in heaven (Jn. 17:24); so it might be a good idea if we learned to love each other down here!
Martin Luther said it perfectly: “In essentials, there should be unity. In non-essentials there can be liberty but all things should be in charity.”
(some thoughts are taken from Wiersbe’s exposition)