But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
In these two incredible verses Peter tells us so much about who we are in Jesus Christ. He says that we are a chosen people. We are chosen by God to be His people! We are a royal priesthood. That means that we belong to the King and that we have access to God at any time. We are a holy nation. That means that we have been set apart by God as a people for Him. We are a people belonging to God. God owns us now. We have been bought by the blood of Christ. Peter then tells us why all of this has happened to us. He says that this was all done so that we might declare the praises of God! This God who has brought us out of the darkness and allowed us into His incredible light! Peter says that there was a time when we were not the people of God, but now we are. He says that there was a time when we had not received the mercy of God, but now we have. How amazing that God has done all of this for us. God has made all of the difference. He has allowed us into His presence as His people. He has done this not so that we could go to Heaven when we die, but that we would declare His praises while we live. God saved us and made us His children so that we would praise Him and glorify Him. That is different than what we usually think of. We are so focused on us and on how things benefit us that we assume God saved us so we could go to Heaven. But His primary purpose in it all was so that we would glorify Him. He is more concerned about Himself being glorified than anything else.
We have defined worship as a response to who God is and what He has done, Peter spells out for us what God has done and he tells us that it was all done so that we would praise God for it. God wants us to praise Him and glorify Him in our lives. He has showered His mercy down on us so that we would glorify Him, so that we would praise Him. God has done so much for us. He wants us to praise Him for it. He wants us to point our eyes and our hearts to Him. He is the one who brought us out of the darkness and into His light! He is more than worthy of all of our praise and all of our heart. The Lord has done great things for us!
- Have you ever stopped to think about all that God has done for you?
- Do you praise God for what He has done in your life?
- Do you look at Jesus’ death as your chance to go to Heaven or as your reason to praise God?
Today, think on the things God has done in your life. Praise the Lord for pouring out His mercy into your life, for calling you to be His child.
A Pastor's Thoughts 