Four Facets of Identity

1 Peter 2:9-10

Immanuel – 5/30/21

The elect exiles to whom Peter was writing were facing local persecutions of all sorts. And in the coming years their persecutions were only going to get worse. Because they would not compromise the truth of the gospel they faced an ugly future; and Peter knew it. But all of those persecutions, and all of those doing the persecution, and all those that reject Jesus, are a part of God’s sovereign will.

This is where Peter took us last week. It is very challenging to travel to the other side of election, into the reality that God destines people for disobedience. But we do not choose who God is and how He will be, He tells us who He is and we trust His goodness even if we cannot fully understand Him. After all, He is God and we are not.

If you missed last week’s sermon, I strongly encourage you to listen to it on our website or YouTube channel.

In our passage today we see Peter returning to the doctrine of election, and what He comes back to is filled with glory.

Purpose

Peter reveals four facets to our identity in Christ.

With a new identity comes a powerful activity.

Read 1 Peter 2:4-10

The first word we come to in verse 9 is “but.” A contrast is happening. Peter is contrasting those destined for disobedience with those born again to a living hope –believers with unbelievers, the elect with the disobedient.

Unbelievers stumble over Jesus, they are offended by Him. God become man, Jesus’ call to repentance, the cross, the resurrection, any need for the Savior, the reign of Jesus the King; this is nonsense to them; foolish beliefs and fairytales. In the dark they stumble, destined to reject the Cornerstone.

But it is not so for the elect. We have received the mercies of God. We have been given the gift of faith in Jesus Christ. Rescued from the darkness, God has given us a whole new identity!

Read vs 9

God reaches into the rubble of humanity, electing to lift some out and make from them living stones, stones that He refines through trial. In a sense, Peter is holding up these chosen and precious stones, turning them, observing the different features, and seeing there four glorious facets of identity: a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession.

Chosen Race

The very first of these facets of identity is charged with societal tensions. A chosen race? A race of people that God loves above all other races? We have seen the streets of America on fire because of the tensions that one race is favored over another.

And this is not new to America. Racial tensions stretch all the way back to Peter’s day as Jews and Gentiles both looked down upon each other, as Romans thought themselves superior, and as whole swaths of humanity were pejoratively labeled barbarians. All of these races – believing themselves to in some way be chosen – were quite willing to shed blood.

So what is Peter observing? How is it that God has a chosen race? And you might be tempted to think that the Jews are the chosen race; for does not the whole Old Testament deal with Israel, God’s chosen people?

But instead of a race, God chose a couple unable to have children; a Chaldean couple – or in modern terms, an Iraqi couple. From this couple He would make a family. From this family He would make nations.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” -Genesis 12:1-3

As you know, Abraham and Sarah had a son, Isaac. And from Isaac came the nation of Israel. But it was never merely about bloodlines, it was never about race.

When Israel fled Egypt, a number of Egyptians fled with them, and eventually became Israelites. You see Midianites and Canaanites, Gibeonites and Moabites becoming Israelites; all being added to this chosen race. God made provision in the law, ways the nations could join with Israel. Most certainly, God is not choosing His people according to race.

But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine…Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…I will bring up your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” -Isaiah 43:1,4-7

In this selection from Isaiah 43, God begins by calling Israel His chosen and precious, but it ends with God calling His chosen and precious out of distant lands, from the ends of the earth. A few verses later, God says this:

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” -Isaiah 43:19-21

The wild beasts that honor God, this is an allusion to Gentiles. The desert, the wilderness, these are both symbolic of Gentile races. The new thing that God is declaring is that His people are so much more than one race of people. Remember, the elect exiles that Peter is writing to, these are made up of Jews and Gentiles. This letter is written to a multitude of races.

Paul tells us exactly what is going on.

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. -Galatians 3:7-9

Of course, Paul is talking about faith in Jesus Christ. Where Israel continually failed to truly live as the people of God, Jesus succeeded. Jesus is true Israel, He is the fulfillment of the Law, He is the water in the desert; He is the Cornerstone upon which God is building history.

It isn’t the blood of a race that unites us. We are united by a blood more pure, the blood of Christ.

Therefore, all who believe in Jesus – as Savior and Lord – are a part of the chosen race: people from every tribe, tongue, and language, with all skin colors and cultures. From all these, through faith in Jesus, God is creating a new race of humanity: redeemed and holy, chosen and precious. If you believe in Jesus, you are among God’s chosen race, a spiritual race, regardless of your race.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. -Galatians 3:28-29

If you are Christ’s, then you are among this chosen race!

Royal Priesthood

The next facet of identity that Peter declares is that of a royal priesthood. Back in verse 5 Peter introduces this concept, but there he calls the elect a holy priesthood. Now he refers to a royal priesthood.

Royal, meaning we have a King, we have been appointed by the King, and we are about the King’s business. And as a priesthood of all believers, it means that our business is worship; worshipping King Jesus!

There is more! Being of the royal priesthood is more than worship. In fact, this next element drives us into deeper worship: we have an access to God that the Old Covenant priests could never approach.

The Old Covenant priests ministered in the temple, nearer to the presence of God but always with an impenetrable separation between from God. Only the high priest was ever allowed to go behind the curtain and enter the holiest of places; and that only after rigorous cleansing rituals.

But Jesus is both our king and high priest. Instead of needing cleansing Himself, He cleanses the elect with His blood and His word. Instead of being the only one granted access to the holy places, Jesus tore the curtain in two and brings the Holy of Holies out to us.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. -Hebrews 10:19-22

We, once the rubble of humanity, can now enjoy what no high priest of the past could ever imagine: God with us, God in us, us with God. And this is not reserved for a select few, there is no special office of priest, everyone who believes joins this royal priesthood, with equal access to God.

You shall be called the priests of the Lord; [foreigners] shall speak of you as the ministers of our God. -Isaiah 61:6

You are one of these royal priests!

Holy Nation

Now we come to the third facet of identity that Peter lists: a holy nation. The nations of the world chase after gods of their own making: gods of selfishness, gods of comfort, gods of power, gods of pleasure. Just as God once plucked Abraham from his pagan land, now Christ the King plucks people from idolatrous lands and cleanses them from their wickedness.

In the Old Covenant of law, it took animal sacrifices, ceremonial washings, and other rituals for a foreigner to join Israel. But in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ we need not offer sacrifices, for Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice once for all. We need no ritualistic cleansing, for Christ washes us with the Holy Spirit.

Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

-1 Corinthians 6:11

It is the Holy Spirit that invades our hearts the very moment God pulls us from the rubble. In that moment we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, joined to Christ, holy as He is holy, and given citizenship within this holy nation.

And this nation has no borders, yet it is ever expanding. This nation does not have a government, and yet it governs billions. This nation conquers its enemies, but it sheds no blood.

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, [Jesus] answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” -Luke 17:20-21

Folded into all the countries of the world, as priests among pagans, a spiritual race from all races, is found this holy nation; like salt sprinkled over the earth. Together we are bound by our joyful allegiance to the Lion of Judah, the King of all kings, Jesus Christ our Lord!

You are a citizen of this holy nation!

For His Own Possession

Now the fourth and final facet of identity that Peter gives us: a people for His own possession. What does it mean for a people to be God’s possession? It means that we are His, and we belong to no other.

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set His love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers.

-Deuteronomy 7:6-8

To be God’s own possession is to be treasured by God, to be chosen and precious. It is to recognize the humble and desperate situation that we were in and trust that God has taken you from ruined to redeemed. And He does this not because you were great in some way, but purely because – within the infinite councils of His own will – He chose to love you.

If you are God’s own possession, is there anyone that can break into His vault and steal away His treasures? Is there anyone possessing such power that they can snatch you from His hand? Can anyone separate you from His love?

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39

Theologian Edmund Clowney writes this:

“The Lord loves…because He loves! Nothing can explain the love of God for sinners. God’s ‘good pleasure’ is the movement of His own will, springing from His own nature. How the language of love is lavished upon God’s people in the Old Testament! They are God’s inheritance, His personal and prized possession, His treasure. God bears them on His shoulders, carries them in His arms, holds them in His hand, seats them at His feet. He loves them with a jealous love; they are to be His alone at the exclusion of all other gods; they bear His name. The love of a father for a son, of a husband for a wife, is used to describe God’s love for His people.”

To be God’s, is to be His forever. You need not worry; you need not work. Jesus has earned everything for you already. How deep the Father’s love for you.

Now rest in the glorious reality that through faith God has given you a whole new identity: no longer disobedient rubble; but a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession. This is a single identity with four glorious facets.

From Abraham to Jesus to us, this was always the inheritance for the people of God. This was always God’s plan.

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. -Exodus 19:5

Jesus is the one who has kept the covenant of law. He perfectly obeyed the voice of God. All we must do is believe - in Christ and His goodness – and rest in His work that brings our salvation!

But notice, not one of these facets of our identity in Christ is an individual identity. Every single one is communal. This identity can only be realized within the context of the church. You may be one of the elect, but you cannot live as the elect without the church. This identity is for us together, and not for you to hold alone.

As Peter said a chapter earlier – to the church:

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart. -1 Peter 1:22

We can only be what Christ has called us to be when we – the church – are loving each other, serving one another, carrying each other’s burdens, and washing each other in the word of Christ. All the mercies of God exerted for your salvation were to add you to something greater; not so you could stand alone with all the best opinions and preferences. Take up your cross, die to yourself, and live for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Look at all that God has done for us! Marvel at the identity He has given which none of us deserved! Won’t you submit yourself to such a good and glorious King?

Activity with Identity

For the King gives more than a new identity. He also gives an activity. This activity is what reveals that we are chosen, it is the royal commission given to our order of priests, it is what makes this nation holy, it possesses our souls. We find this activity in the second part of verse 9.

Read vs 9

There are three parts to the activity that comes with our identity.

Recognize that you were in darkness.

Before Christ called to you, you were dead in your sin. You were a worshipper of other gods – the gods of this world. Likely these gods only left you tormented by the twin evils of arrogant self-love and desperate self-loathing; both of them the children of self-absorption. And stumbling in the darkness Jesus was nothing but offensive to you.

See Jesus’ call as the dawning of marvelous light.

When Jesus called to you, the self-absorbed shadows of your heart were swallowed by a new and pure love, an infinitely greater love: the love of the Living God who calls you chosen and precious, who gave Himself for you, who makes you holy and brings you into a glorious kingdom that cannot be shaken.

And day by day the light of Christ grows brighter, and the former shadows grow strangely dim. All that was mired in the self-centeredness now rockets into the glories of Christ-centeredness. All this because Christ has redeemed you, called you by name and chose you! What absolute excellencies!

Look how verse 10 emphasizes this.

Read vs 10

Proclaim the excellencies of God!

God did all of these things, gave you a new identity, so that your tongue would flow with praises for God. Speak of His mercies! Speak of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ!

The highest pursuit of this chosen race is to praise the One who has given His blood. The holiest place we can enter is saturated with praises for God. The rallying cry of this holy nation is “Hallowed be Thy name!” A people possessed by God is thrilled by the One who so securely holds them in His hand.

We are a people called to doxology!

Read Psalm 96

During last week’s baptisms we heard of the excellencies of God. What power when we remember our once depth of darkness, Jesus’ marvelous call into the light, and rejoice over the excellencies of God! I received a text the following day saying, “Sunday’s baptisms were the best I’ve ever witnessed! Awesome testimonies!” Someone else texted me with, “I have been thinking all day about Sunday’s amazing service! How precious is the gift of shared life in Christ!”

How moving it is in our midst, when the excellencies of God are proclaimed! What do you think would happen when the excellencies of God are proclaimed in your family? In your workplace? In all your areas of influence?

Brothers and sisters, chosen and precious, ministers of the King, holy citizens, treasures of God; will you remain silent?

Jesus once said, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

-Luke 19:40

We are the living stones! Christ has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light so that we would cry out, “Once I was lost, but now I am found! Once I was blind, but now I see! Above all my sins, God’s mercies are more! The Lord reigns! Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice!”