A Royal Priesthood

I Peter 2:1-10

To be specially chosen is an honor that makes someone feel good about themselves.  A young woman may dream about being the chosen one at a beauty pageant.  A young man hopes to be chosen for the basketball or football team.  People hope to be chosen for the job promotion.  It feels terrible to be left out, and never chosen for anything special.  In his letter to believers in the early Church, the Apostle Peter tells us that we are chosen, not by a sports coach or our boss, but by the Lord God, and that we are chosen for a special purpose.  Let’s see what we can learn from our Scripture today.

Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are God’s chosen.  We are chosen to be His priests, and His holy nation, His people (vs. 9).  As chosen ones, we aren’t chosen to just sit back, take it easy, and relax.  We, as God’s chosen ones, have a task to do.  We are to represent Him to a lost and dying world.

One position that we were chosen to take, is that of a priest.  Traditionally, in many religions, including the Jewish faith of the Old Testament, the people could not approach God directly on their own.  A priest was the intermediary between God and man.  However, since Jesus’ death upon the cross, believers can now come directly to God (Hebrews 4:16).  Every believer has the privilege and responsibility of direct access to God.  We are now His priests.  We are chosen by God as His very own, and are called to represent Him to others.  We are to bring others to a saving knowledge of Him, too (II Corinthians 5:18-21).

Another duty of a priest was to offer sacrifices to God, often for forgiveness of a person’s sins.  Jesus’ death upon the cross paid the price for our sins, and made further animal sacrifices unnecessary.  The one sacrifice that God does want from us is that of giving our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him (Romans 12:1-2).  We are to give a sacrifice of praise to Him (Hebrews 13:15).  We are to give a sacrifice of our substance (Romans 12:13), and a sacrifice of our service to Him (Hebrews 13:6).  Priests also are supposed to pray for the people.  As ones chosen by God to be His priests, we are to pray on behalf of others (Colossians 4:12).

In addition to being chosen to be priests, God has said that we are royalty (vs. 9).  We are a royal priesthood.  We are princes and princesses.  That is something special.  Princes are admitted into select society when common people must stand afar off.  A child of God has access into the courts of heaven, directly into His presence.  We have access to the wealth, honor, and power of God.  As Peter tells us, we were chosen, chosen to be part of His heavenly royal family.

Peter had some other lessons he wished to pass on to the believers in this passage.  One of these spiritual truths is that of growing up in Christ, and becoming mature believers.  When we are saved, we become spiritual newborns.  As we all know, a newborn should not stay that way forever.  They should grow and mature, both physically and mentally.  As Christians, if we are spiritually healthy, like a healthy baby, we will grow and mature (vs. 1-2).  That can only be done through study of the Word of God.  Just as a newborn desires milk, so a Christian should desire the Word of God.  In order to grow as believers, we need to be reading and following the Scriptures.  We must also rid ourselves of anything that hinders our walk with the Lord.  Christians cannot grow unless sins are renounced.

Another spiritual truth that Peter taught in our passage is that of making sure our foundation stones are good and sure (vs. 4-8).  Just as a building will lean or fall completely if the foundation is off, just like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so will one's faith if it does not have a good foundation.  Jesus is the only sure foundation.  He is our Foundation, but He is also a stumbling block to unbelievers.  These people stumble over Jesus because they reject Him and refuse to believe that He is the Messiah and Savior.  They stumble over the One Person who can save them.

In closing, we need to remember that as children of God, His called and chosen ones, we no longer live in darkness, but have been called into the glorious light and love of Jesus Christ.  We need to take our rightful place as sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father.  Remember who you are in Christ!  When we remember who we are, then we can call others out of darkness and into the light of Jesus.