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.
1 Peter 2:9 NIV
I really thought I’d be past the being made fun of by others part of life by now. I am 41 after all. But no, this weekend, while finishing up a mountain bike ride, a fellow female rider. One I do not know.
And it hurt! But in a new way.
The most interesting part of the whole situation was it felt like all the times I’d been made fun of in elementary, middle, and high school all came rushing back. I could feel the pain of all of these situations, but at the same time I could see them all with fresh eyes. Eyes filled with truth about what God says about who I am and where my value comes from. Her rejection no longer wrecked me, even if I could feel the sting of unkind words.
But this has been a long journey of allowing God’s truth to speak louder than my peers.
For over thirty years I let others tell me my value. I lived for their approval and allowed their disapproval to steal from the valuation of myself. But not anymore. And it’s because not only have I learned what God says about me, I have affirmed it over and over retraining my brain to believe it. I have believed I have a new name.
One of my favorite Bible based affirmations is what Peter says in 1 Peter. He is speaking to people who were being severely persecuted for their faith. They were in danger of attack and some of them were even dying.
Let’s read what he says: 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. 1 Peter 2:9 NIV.
But more so, let’s break this sentence down because it is chock full of amazing truth about who we are, where our value comes from, and the purpose for which we are here.
But you are a chosen people… In the opening of Peter’s letter he tells them that they are chosen according the the foreknowledge of God (1 Peter 1:2). In other words, the all-knowing, all-powerful, ruler of the universe chose you before He created the world to be one of His people through Jesus’s work on the cross. Apostle Paul says nearly the same thing in Ephesians 1:4 -For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
So how can anyone reject us? They cant. The God of the universe chose us. He chose to create us and make us one of His people.
A royal priesthood… You were not just chosen by God, but also chosen on purpose for a purpose. And that purpose is to be a part of His royal priesthood. Now I know this is a strange concept to Westerners living in the 21st century who think of catholic priests in robes when they hear the word priest. But a priest in Bible terms simply means someone who brings God to the people and the people to God. I We do this in our everyday living as we follow God. In our work places, home places, and public places the more we know God and transform in His love, the more we radiate God to others around us.
A holy nation, God’s special possession …these two powerful declarations of who we are to God go back to the old testament, where God makes Himself a people of the Israelites. In Exodus 19, which Peter is for sure referring to in this letter, God says to the Israelites, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:5-6. Now we all know that they could not keep His covenant, and neither can we, but God took care of that. He gave us Jesus as the one sacrifice that covers them all, and then He gave us the Holy Spirit who is transforming us from the inside out to become holy – God’s special possession.
That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light…And what do we do to earn this? Nothing. We simply believe, let Him take us out of the darkness, such as living for other approval so we can walk in His wonderful light. But what we do with it can change the world. We declare His praises. And honestly, why wouldn’t we? The freedom that comes from breaking free from others approval of us and believing we are chosen by God is something worth shouting from the rooftops.
Listen to how Eugene Peterson paraphrased this verse in the Message Bible:
But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you-from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. 1 Peter 2:9 MSG.
Oh how I love that last line. It is so fitting for my life. From nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. No matter how many people have rejected us, we are chosen by God. Chosen before we were ever rejected. Chosen before the foundation of the world. Once we believe that, it does not matter what other people try and name us, we already have a name.
Live it Out:
We must believe this truth. And remember faith is something hoped for that is not yet seen. So we must act on this faith before we fully believe it.
For me that looked like speaking God’s truth over myself every day. So many untruths had been spoken over me that I had to retrain my brain to believe that I was valuable. Below are some of my favorites, but I also urge you to memorize 1 Peter 2:9. I have found that being chosen on purpose by God for an important purpose has so much more oomph than other affirmations.
But I am a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that I may declare the praises of him who called me out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)
I am no longer a slave, but a daughter, and if a daughter, then an heir through Me (Galatians 4:7).
I am God’s masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus to do the good works He has planned for me long ago (Eph 2:10).
I am marvelously made, knit together by the master craftsman (Psalm 139:14)
Let’s Pray:
Father,
You are the creator of all the universe. You put the stars in their place, and set the planets in motion. And yet, you chose me to be a part of your royal family before you even created these things. That is almost to wonderful to believe and yet your word says it is true again and again. So I choose to trust you. I will live this truth out glorifying your name in all the places I go even before I fully believe it. Help be believe as I repeat these words to my heart. Thank you so much for the work you did so I could be your special possession. In Jesus name, Amen.
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