A Divine Calling

Last week learned that what really matters is what we do with Jesus, the Cornerstone. Those that reject Jesus will be rejected by the Father and will be dishonored. The idea of God rejecting those who have rejected him and his mercy is a major theme of the Old Testament and especially of the prophets.

Hosea – those who reject

Hosea is a great example. I don’t mean just his sermons, I mean HIS LIFE – Hosea was a great example of God’s rejection of Israel because Israel rejected God.

Let’s read chapter 1 of Hosea together. I am going to read from the NLT because it reads a little smoother for this story:

Hosea 1:2–9 NLT

² When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”

³ So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son. ⁴ And the Lord said, “Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence. ⁵ I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”

⁶ Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. ⁷ But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.”

⁸ After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son. ⁹ And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.

Poor Hosea! God told him to marry a woman who was not going to be faithful to him, even after being married, in order to demonstrate the way Israel had been acting unfaithfully to God. Gomer had three children, and their names all pronounce punishment from Yahweh.

• Jezreel – the only one that mentioned it was Hosea’s child
• Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them
• Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God

Because Israel rejected God, they were going to be “not loved”, they were to be shown “no mercy” , and they would be known as “not my people” or “not the people of God”.  God was going to punish the nation for rejecting him – and God DID punish them.

So the idea of God rejecting those that have rejected Him is not new and should not be startling, though it may be uncomfortable.

Peter – those who accept

We also learned that those who accept Jesus will be accepted by the Father and given honor:

1 Peter 2:7 CSB

⁷ So honor will come to you who believe; …

So, what does being honored look like?

Honor is something bestowed upon us that we cannot place upon ourselves. If I could honor myself, the honor would be arrogance. But, when honored by someone else, and given something as a gift that I could not attain by myself – it is a much greater and truer form of being honored.

Perhaps the closest thing I can think of might be knighthood? Where someone is given a title, a position that is bestowed upon them by someone greater than them, such as a king or queen. A Knighthood or Damehood would be bestowed upon a worthy subject based upon their longstanding service to the kingdom, or great accomplishment for mankind. THAT is where the analogy is upside down. By simply accepting a gift from our King, Jesus, we have honor bestowed upon us. Not for any meritorious service we have rendered, or any great thing we have accomplished, but because of HIS merit and HIS accomplishment, we are honored and knighted, if you will.

This morning, we get to see a few of the many ways God honors those who accept Jesus.  As opposed to those that stumble and are dishonored, those that accept Jesus, who have made Him their cornerstone, they ARE given certain honors.

How God “honors” those that accept Christ

1 Peter 2:9–10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Let’s start with that phrase, “BUT YOU ARE”.

BUT – as opposed to those that reject the Cornerstone.

YOU – this is the plural, meaning it refers to the whole church, so we need to read both the individual and the corporate into it.

ARE – a statement of a present reality.

• Not that they will one day have these honors
• Not that they may some day hope to have these honors
• THEY ARE HONORED now

AT THE MOMENT we accept Jesus, certain titles, privileges, and duties are bestowed upon us, as one being knighted. Handed down by our King, to his subjects that bow at the feet of Jesus. They are immediate, and only revocable by the King himself.

Let’s look at what these honors are:

A chosen people

The first thing we are called is a “chosen race” or a “chosen people”.  The Greek word is “genos”. We have so many English words that come from THIS word!

• Gene, genus, genetics, genesis, generate, generation, gender, genocide, generic

The root meaning of “genos” relates to birth, race, stock, kind, or family.

YOU AND I, at the moment we bow the knee to Jesus, WE become the chosen family of God. Our new birth gives us new genetics – we have a spiritual DNA that connects us with our heavenly Father. We are family, chosen by him (1 Peter 1:1).  Even if nobody else every picked you for anything – God does.

Again, as we looked at 2 weeks ago, this includes people of many different denominations, cultures, countries, and even centuries. All who call upon the name of Jesus are saved, and therefore they are all hand-picked by God.

A royal priesthood

Previously, Peter referred to Jesus followers as a “holy priesthood”.

1 Peter 2:5 CSB

⁵ you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Now, he changes the adjective and calls us a “royal priesthood”.

1 Peter 2:9 CSB

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

What does it mean to be a priesthood? Well, what do priests do? I guess that might be a great place to start. The list of functions of the priests could be quite lengthy, however I think we can put them into some broader buckets to start with:

Present sacrifices to God.

They were to take the gifts of the people and offer them to God. That is what Peter said in 2:5.

While we do not offer animal sacrifices, we do honor God with the sacrifices we make financially and relationally. Most of all, we offer sacrifice to God by obeying him:

1 Samuel 15:22 “Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.”

Direct worship in the temple.

The priests were responsible for corporate worship. This could include music, dance, teaching scripture, fasting, celebrating the feasts, etc.

Interceded for the people.

The priests prayed for the people. They lifted the people up to God in their prayers – for health, prosperity, protection, and even the forgiveness of their sins.

Ministering before the Lord and to others.

The priests would serve God and others. That was their calling. They ministered in the tabernacle or temple for both God and the people around them. They were to be the physical representation of God to the people, by living exemplary lives and serving others.

Peter will refer to serving others in more detail later:

1 Peter 4:10 CSB

¹⁰ Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

I suppose a royal priest is one that is appointed by the King to carry out the duties of the king in the areas of sacrifices, worship, ministry. This is something the entire church is part of. EACH OF US, you and me, have been given a royal commission to lead in sacrifice, worship and ministry for our King and to each other.

Sacrificing, worshiping, serving, praying… while not everyone in the church is a “priest” we are all called to act like one.

A holy nation

This is a fun phrase to consider. The Greek word is “ethnos” from which we get our English words: ethnic and ethnicity. ⭐ It refers to a social group that can be connection by birth, by region, or other connection. We might use the words “nation” or “tribe” in its place.

The interesting thing is that most common translation of this word 93/164 occurrences, is the same way Paul generally uses this word, which is “Gentile” – which is a non-Jew or even a pagan  (this word is translated as “heathen” 5 times). So we could possibly translate this as “holy heathens” 😂  Probably not the best way to translate it, but fun to think about. 🙂

Peter says we are a “holy nation”. The church is a nation, a tribe, a group of people, set apart from the common. Remember, we have to go back to PETER’s understanding of “holy” which means separated from the common and ultimately set apart FOR God.

Jesus followers – the church – are a SET APART CULTURE. We become a tribe that is distinct from all other tribes. Different from the common culture.

• The way we interact with each other is different
• They way we treat our spouses is different
• The way we raise our kids is different
• The things we talk about, the way we talk about and to others are different
• Our values and priorities are different
• How we define what is right and wrong will most likely be very different

These differences are between us, collectively, and our culture. For instance:

• making corporate worship on Sundays a priority
• giving our first fruits and tithing back to God
• seeking to know God through prayer and bible study

When you tell people that you dedicated a few hours of your day each Sunday to worship God, and that you give money to God, and that you study the Bible to learn about God, many of them will question your decision-making process!

But being a “holy nation” also means that the way we define our culture must also be different. It must align with our Kings decrees:

• defining marriage the way God does – between one man and one woman
• keeping our covenants, such as marriage, by fighting FOR our marriages
• viewing purity as a necessity by saving sex until marriage, by being faithful in marriage – including avoiding porn
• valuing every life that God creates, even the not-yet-born life, and protecting those lives

Sadly, in North America, it has become hard to distinguish the Christian culture from the common culture in many of these areas. The modern church has become more concerned about not being offensive to our culture, or has even chosen to embrace our culture, as if we have forgotten that we are given the title, the position of “HOLY PEOPLE” – a set-apart culture that is supposed to act different because our core values come from God’s values.

We cannot point people to God if we are not living up to the honor God has bestowed upon us as a holy nation.

A people for his possession

Peter then defines Jesus followers as God’s possession.

We do not like thinking of people as possessions, do we? But, at the same time, my kids are MINE. They belong to me, or they did, up to a certain age I was responsible for them legally. I could even write them off on my taxes 😉 – they were my possession, far more valuable than anything I can buy, and something it is never OK to sell.

However, in the days when slavery was acceptable, such as Bible times, people might have chosen to become slaves to pay off debts. It also was not uncommon for someone to buy someone else’s slave, or even someone’s freedom.

That is why verses like this make sense in those days:

1 Corinthians 6:20 “for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.”

If you DO read the book of Hosea this week, you will find in chapter 3 that Gomer went off to be with another man, and Hosea found her and bought her back.

Through faith in Jesus we are redeemed, we are bought back out of slavery from sin and into slavery to God. That is the way Paul refers to it in Romans 6:17-18.

God has redeemed us because he values us

Titus 2:14 “He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.”

The consequence of God’s redeeming work and divine decree is the creation of a people that previously did not exist.

So the church is give the honor of being:

• a chosen race
• a royal priesthood
• a holy nation
• a people for God’s possession

These titles that are given to the followers of Jesus are very specific. Remember, Peter loves to reference words and phrases that are hyperlinks to the Law and Prophets. In a society where most instructions was passed down orally, these keywords were instantly recognized by the listener. In this case, Peter is taking them back to the Exodus again – and the Mosaic Covenant.

Exodus 19:5–6 “5 Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, 6 and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.””

The covenant with the descendants of Abraham was that if they would obey God, they would be these things. WE, through our obedience to the truth (1 Peter 1:22), are now the children of Abraham. We are a “New Israel” if you will. We do not replace Israel, for God promises to redeem a remnant from her as well. But we enter into the same special place as her. We ARE:

• God’s possession
• God’s people
• God’s priests
• God’s nation

A nation, a tribe, a priesthood and a people for God, through faith in Jesus. The church is now the people of God because of the mercy of God. Peter puts it this way:

1 Peter 2:10 CSB

¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Why does he phrase it that way? Because he is hearkening back to a story. He is pointing back to a prophet. Because when God announced punishment on Israel, he also told Hosea that at some point in the future, he was going to draw people back to him. Let’s go back to our story in Hosea and read about that day:

Hosea 2:23 CSB

²³ I will sow her in the land for myself,

and I will have compassion

on Lo-ruhamah;

I will say to Lo-ammi:

You are my people,

and he will say, “You are my God.”

In naming his children Lo-ruhamah (“shown no mercy,” Hos 1:6) and Lo-ammi (“not my people,” Hos 1:9), Hosea had pronounced judgment on Israel, but also anticipated a reversal when his children would be renamed Ruhamah (“shown mercy,” 2:1, 23) and Ammi (“my people,” 2:1, 23).

Peter is saying that you and I are the children of that promise. That we are now part of the redeemed, restored, people of God IF we have obeyed God – if we have accepted God and his Son who died for our sins.

As children of that promise, we have been given honor once again. Honored with the titles and positions of:

1. “chosen people” stressing God’s loving initiative in bringing the church to himself.
2. “royal priesthood” emphasizing the church’s corporate role in worship, intercession, and ministry.
3. “holy nation” showing that God has “set apart” the church for his use.
4. “a people belonging to God” stressing ownership; we are people that belong to God.

Going back to our knighthood example, we have been knighted by the king, given titles and authorities. But to what end? Why would the King of Kings choose to bestow honors like these on his church, on you and me?

Because there is an even greater honor that these titles bring: we have a divine commission. You and I ALSO get the privilege of sharing Jesus with other! We have a calling of proclaiming the praises of God to the nations – beginning in our own back yard.

What is the CALLING of those who have been honored?

Let’s go back to verse 9 because I skipped a part of it:

1 Peter 2:9 CSB

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

SO THAT you can tell others, “proclaim (evangelize) the praises (excellencies)” of the one who called us out of darkness and into his “marvelous light”.

The greatest honor is that God allows us, redeemed former slaves, to be ambassadors for him – telling people about the work he did for us and in us through Jesus.

He brought us out of darkness and into the light.

And this is the commission that you and I have as the church. To tell people about Jesus so they can be called out of darkness and into the light. This is the commission that the Apostle Paul was given by Jesus:

Acts 26:16–18 CSB

¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

And it is the same commission the entire church, you and me, have from Jesus.

It has ALWAYS been the mission of God’s people to be ambassadors to the nations around them. It is THE mission of every people group that God chooses.  This is what God had in mind when he called Abraham and made a unilateral covenant with him:

• before the Law
• before Egypt and Pharaoh

God called Abraham and gave him a promise; entered into a covenant with him:

Genesis 12:1–3 CSB

¹ The Lord said to Abram:

Go from your land,

your relatives,

and your father’s house

to the land that I will show you.

² I will make you into a great nation,

I will bless you,

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

³ I will bless those who bless you,

I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,

and all the peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.

We understand now that this blessing came through Jesus – that people could know God personally and be restored back to him. That was the calling to Abraham. Functionally, you and I, the church, now stands in the place of Israel. We are to bring a blessing ot the nations – and that blessing is the favor of God.

Jesus passed that same call on to his disciples:

Matthew 5:14–16 CSB

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

As we live out our new positions, as we live up to our titles, you and I will be lights to the nations.

You might be thinking…

I am not worthy.

We are NOT worthy. That is the cool thing. God bestowed honor upon us because of Jesus. There were no merit in it on our behalf other than that we accepted Jesus.

We are not worthy. Jesus is worthy. God designed it this way. So, we cannot use that excuse. We are worthy and able because God says we are and enables us to be. There is no good reason for Go to choose to use us, except that he wants to.

Some people refer to Christians as sheep, and even comment about how sheep are dumb. I find that a bit degrading. Actually, we are about as smart as rocks.😯 😂

We are made into “living stones” from last week’s passage, and this week we are reminded:

Matthew 3:9 “And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.”

And that is what God did! He raised up new children of Abraham – from that which was dead. Children born of faith. We are made “living stones”, spiritual descendants of Abraham because of accepting Jesus. And as such, we are to be fulfilling the work that Abraham and his descendants were called to do.

I don’t know how.

Start with prayer.

• Do you know someone that does not know Jesus yet? Pray for them!
• Pray for opportunities to share your faith in God – to be an “evangelist”

You might think that being an “evangelist” is not for you. But all of us are called to “declare” or evangelize. That is what that word means.

• what has God done for you?
• why are you a follower of Jesus?
• how has your faith in Jesus changed your life?
• who is God, and who is Jesus?

We all have a story of God’s great grace if we have been redeemed. Simply sharing the goodness of God with others is what Peter is talking about:

1 Peter 2:9 CSB

… so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

You don’t have to have all of the answers, you just have to have Jesus and be willing to share him.

God has made the church, you and me:

• a chosen race
• a royal priesthood
• a holy nation
• a people for his possession

SO THAT

• we can tell others of the great things he has done for us and them.

While it is amazing to think of the benefits we have as individuals, these honors were not given to us solely for our own benefit, but so that more people might come to Jesus as their cornerstone, their Redeemer, by placing their faith in Him. We need to share what we have with others so that they can be part of the chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation and God’s people.

What a tremendous honor, to be invited to partner with God in his work of redemption!