MONTHLY NEWSLETTER With Rev. Dr. C. A. ONITIRI (January 2023) Part 2.

PART 1:

Now what do these descriptions in 1 Peter 2v9 mean?

A. You Are A Chosen Generation.

The Greek word is genos. In this context the word means kindred, offspring or family. So this phrase could be translated “You Are A Chosen Family.”

You may now ask – How can one enter that family? The answer can be found in this same part of the verse – they are chosen.

If you read Revelation 17v14 you will see that this is the 2nd step in the three-part conversion process (“Called, Chosen and Faithful.”)
Being called is the 1st step of the process. This happens when God the Father reaches out and draws a person to Himself.
John 6v44,

V44; “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

V65; “And he said, therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.” KJV

Being chosen implies that a person responds to that calling by believing and acting on it.
Being faithful means that such a person remains committed to that calling throughout his or her life.

See, through being called and chosen, as true Christians we are officially wrapped into God’s family.

God the Father becomes our Spiritual Father, and Jesus Christ becomes our Elder Brother. As Christians therefore, we relate to one another as brothers and sisters.

Indeed, the Church is also known as “The Household of God” (Ephesians 2v19).
This is another way of stressing the family relationship between God and His people.

In Deuteronomy 7v6 God used this similar language in describing His relationship with Israel in the Old Testament. “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself…..” KJV

In Israel’s case, God called and chose them as a physical family that grew into a nation. In the case of the Church, He calls people from around the earth – from different ethnic background and nationalities – and brings them into a spiritual family.

B. A Royal Priesthood.
Why call God’s people – “Royal Priesthood”?
What does it mean?

To understand this, there is need for us to be familiar with the basic functions of the Old Covenant Priesthood.
Their important role was to make fellowship possible between a holy God and a sinful people.

In otherwords, they served as intercessors or mediators between God and people and they did so by:

1. Presenting various sacrifices and offerings from people to God.
2. Praying to God on behalf of the people.
3. Maintaining the tabernacle which involved burning of incense before God and being sure the altar and ground were properly cared for.
4. Teaching the people how to be holy by properly instructing them on God’s law and how to discern between good and evil.

This was necessary because the people did not have God’s Holy Spirit and thus could not have a Spiritual relationship with God. But when Jesus built the Church of God, He did not ordain a physical priesthood to lead it. Rather, He set up an entirely new kind of leadership office, that of the elders (or ministers).

Jesus Christ serves as High Priest for the people of God. Hebrew 4v14; “Seeing that we have a high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” KJV

While on earth, He made the sacrifice for Humanity and set a living example of God’s law in action.

Presently, He intercedes for His people with the Father and maintains and leads the spiritual temple (the Church).

How then are the people of God “A Royal Priesthood?”

The answer is that Christ’s sacrifice and the giving of the Holy Spirit make a direct relationship with God possible under the New Covenant. Under this new covenant, Christians with God’s Spirit can fulfil some of the basic functions that ancient Israel needed priests for:

1. Christians can have direct access to the one-time sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
   Hebrews 7v27;“Who needed not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” KJV
2. As Christians, we fulfill part of the symbolism of the old sacrifices by presenting our lives as a “living sacrifice” to God (Romans 12v1)
3. As Christians, we can pray directly to God the Father through Jesus Christ. John 14v13 & 14. V13 “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do , that the Father may be glorified in the Son. V14 If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.” KJV
4. As Christians, we are the temple of God. (1 Corinthians 3v16) “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.” KJV
5. As Christians we have God’s law written in our hearts and we are to discern between good and evil using Jesus’ example and the words of the Bible.
   Hebrews 5v14; “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” KJV

By exercising these formerly priestly duties in our lives as Christians and God’s people, we are preparing to serve as “kings and priest” over the earth during the millennial reign of Christ. (Revelation 5v10)

Now knowing that we will be kings and priests in God’s Kingdom will help us to better understand and appreciate why Peter described God’s people as “A Royal Priesthood” we are destined to lead and teach people on earth as a “Royal Priesthood” in the world to come.

C. A Holy Nation:
This is another direct reference to what God desired Israel to be in the Old Testament times.
Exodus 19v6;“And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priest and holy nation…” KJV

This is indeed what God called them to be, but for most of their history, Israel fell far short of this standard.

Today as Christians, we are to be different. We are to exhibit holiness in our everyday lives.

Holiness, essentially means the quality of being set apart by God to live a morally upright and righteous lives based on the Word of God.

To be holy, we must model our behaviour after God Himself. 1 Peter 1v15-16; V15 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

V16 Because it is written, be ye holy; for I am holy.” KJV

Now what does Peter mean by calling God’s people a nation?

The word nation more broadly applies to any group of people unified by something or someone. The Church of God, unified by the truth of God and the power of God’s Spirit, collectively forms a spiritual nation of people spread throughout the world.

God wants His nation, the Church, to be “a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle …. But that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5v27)

In otherwords, God’s nation is united and identified by the conduct of its members. They are a collective body that strives to live “holy, and blameless and above reproach in His sight.” (Colossians 1v22)

D. His Own Special People (A Peculiar People)
In Deuteronomy 26v18 , God proclaimed Israel to be “His Special People” and He revealed in vv16-17 what would distinguish them i.e observing and walking in His laws and ways.
But Israel consistently failed to fulfill God’s purpose for them.

Instead of being a special and distinct people, they embraced the sins and idolatry of the nations that surrounded them. Ezekiel 20v16; “Because they despised my judgements, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their hearts went after their idols.” KJV

But the Church is to be different. They should not follow the ways of the world, they are to stand out.
They are to be as described in Philippians 2v15; “….be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebukes, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” KJV

Blameless, harmless, without rebuke, lights in the world.

This is how God’s people, we Christians, His “holy nation” are to be, a truly special people. These attributes makes us Christians to be distinguished from any other people on the face of the earth. 2 Corinthians 6v17 says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean things; and I will receive you.” KJV

So, rather than becoming spiritually assimilated into the world around us, we as God’s people today must endeavour to be a special people by keeping to God’s laws and ways.

PART 2:

Now what should God’s special people do?

In that Scripture 1 Peter 2v9, Peter describes what those people should do in their lives – “…. that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” KJV

Apart from worshipping God through songs, perhaps the most important and powerful way they can “show forth the praises” of God is to set an example of His way of life in action through their daily conduct.

Jesus said in Matthew 5v16 to Christians: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.” KJV

We must praise God in word and in deed. Peter ends that scripture by stressing the truth that “God called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

When God calls people into the truth, He frees them from the darkness of deception and allows them to perceive and understand the light of His truth. (John 8v32)

As a result of this calling, God’s people commit their lives to “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5v8)

IMPORTANCE OF 1 PETER 2V9.

This verse is fully loaded with meaning for God’s people today.

By using these four descriptions which are strongly rooted in the Old Testament, Peter connects the New Covenant Church with the purpose God gave to ancient Israel, He did this to stress the importance of the Church as spiritual Israel.

By reading and meditating on this one verse, we as God’s people are reminded of what we need to be – a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God’s special people – and what we are to do.

SHALOM .