10-23-2021 West Palm Beach 7th Day BAPTIST Pastor Harold “Identify Yourself in Christ Jesus” I Peter 2;9-10, Deuteronomy 14;2
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Who are you and how do you identify yourself? How do you measure yourself from the perspective of others? Jesus looked beyond our racial, ethnic lines or boundaries. He looked beyond our socio-economic backgrounds, our cultural, educational backgrounds and our sinful, destructive ways along with our rebellious, poverty stricken spiritual standings. Jesus has chosen us, elected us and made us to sit in heavenly places with Him in the kingdom of God. We are chosen, not forsaken. We are who Jesus says we are. We are who we say we are; we have been chosen by Jesus Christ.
Questions – who are we? How valuable do we think we are? How do we measure ourselves from the perspective of others? In our text we find a number of reasons and pointers on how we should identify our positions in Christ Jesus. It tells how to find our true value and not from other people’s perspective but from Christ’s perspective. When we try to measure ourselves from other’s perspectives we will never measure up. When we try to look like that lady who has a bottle shape, we are going to get confused. Some people get sick because they starve themselves to be like that model they have seen. She looks good to them. You can’t be like them and as long as you live, you can’t be that person.
In Christ’s eyes we are perfect. Christ has made us, God has made us the way He wanted to make us. So you don’t have to think about yourself, about who you are in other people’s perspective. There are people who deliberately put others down. They will tell you what you look like and embarrass you. But Jesus never does that. To find your true value, you have to find it in Christ, from His perspective. So let us read our text in I Peter chapter 2 verses 9 to 10. We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people and the people of God who now have obtained the mercy of God. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Where did Peter get these wonderful ideas? Peter got these ideas from Deuteronomy 14;2 where God stated this to His chosen people. God said they were the children of God and that they should not cut themselves or make any baldness for the dead. Doesn’t this remind of what just happened in Jamaica where they were offering human sacrifices? God said they are a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord has chosen you to be a peculiar people unto Himself. As a Jew, Peter understood what God meant when He spoke to the Israelite people. Peter was able to translate this to the new Christians who were primarily Gentiles and this includes us. We were lost and God had Peter translate these words to us as the people of God.
In I Peter 2 verse 7 it says to those that believe, He Christ Jesus, is precious. Precious. When something is precious to you, you value it and you don’t just leave it outside in front of your door. You take it inside and you treasure it. You keep it somewhere where it is protected and safe. So we, who believe, are precious before God. But unto them that which are disobedient, the stone which was rejected becomes the head of the cornerstone. This is Jesus who was rejected of men. A man of sorrow and afflicted with grief. The cornerstone is a special stone in the building that without that stone placed in its position, the building is not complete. Jesus Christ is a special cornerstone that was rejected. Without Him, as a people, we would be incomplete.
In verse 9 Peter stated four very important things about our position in Christ:
1 We Are a Chosen Generation
To be chosen means to be marked for favor and special privileges. Isn’t it wonderful that you, we have been chosen for special privileges in Christ Jesus? Jesus chose us before the foundation of the world to get His favor and He knew what we would be named too. Beyond this there is a new name we will be given when we go to be with Jesus. These special privileges we get include:
-We are joint heirs with Christ.
-We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of God.
-We get 24 hour protection from God for our soul and body.
-We have Not received a spirit of fear but instead God has given us the spirit of power, love and sound mind. Because of issues in life, we would have become crazy, lost our minds and been devoured by satan. We would have been weakened and slain a long time ago. But every time we want to wander away, the Holy Spirit reminds us that we have been chosen. The Holy Spirit lives in us and we are a child of God.
2 We Are a Royal Priesthood
*Royal means to be of kingly ancestry, related to the Crown. We are royal because we have been adopted into the Royal Family of God through Jesus Christ, who sits on the throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If we are royal and God is our father, who are we? We are princes and princesses. So we are not ordinary but we are extraordinary in the eyes of Jesus. Hallelujah! When Jesus looks at us, He doesn’t see us for what we ought to be, but He sees us as righteous people. This is because each of us has been given a robe of righteousness that was given to us by Jesus. We are royal because it was Jesus’s blood that washed us when we repented of our sins and gave our hearts to Him. The royal blood of Jesus keeps washing us every day, every time God cleanses and forgives us from all our sins. John says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
*Priesthood of believers. Jesus is not only King but He is also the Chief High Priest of his flock, the Church. He has established a priesthood made up of ordinary believers, ordinary people like you and me. Each of us is a priest made by Jesus Christ. In Israelite times, the High Priests were men appointed by God who made offerings to God for the sins of the people and for themselves. It was different with Jesus. Because as High Priest He didn’t offer animals to be sacrificed. Jesus offered Himself to be sacrificed for our sins. Jesus was both priest and also the offering that was offered up. Because Jesus was sinless, He only needed to offer a sacrifice for our sins by shedding His blood. Jesus only had to offer Himself once and for all on the cross. He redeemed and saved us who know Him. We can go, as priests, directly to God through Jesus Christ and offer ourselves as living sacrifices.
3 We Are Holy People
Some people are afraid to say they are holy. There is only one kind of holiness that comes from God. We cannot be holy by ourselves. The Bible says to keep the Sabbath Day holy. If you are not holy, you cannot do this. The Sabbath Day is holy unto the Lord. We sing the song Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty. We are saying Lord we want to be like you. Yes you are holy because the Bible says we are holy. That’s what God expects of us all. God said to the people of Israel, Be ye holy because I am holy. So can you be holy in this world? Yes! Even when we struggle with temptation and sin it is still Yes. If God says so then it is so. Peter says that as He who called us is holy, we too should be holy in all our conduct. Holy means to be dedicated and to be separated from the world. To be sanctified and separated from the worldliness of the world. This makes us holy.
People have attributed to cows and to mackerel fish the word holy. They say holy cow and holy mackerel. Cows and mackerel fish cannot be holy. These are things that are decayed and temporary. They are not holy. We Christians, have been declared as the righteousness and holiness of Christ. It is possible for us to be holy. Jesus can keep us holy in this murky, sinful world. There is nothing too hard for God. It is not too hard for God to keep Harold Smith holy. Without holiness we cannot see God. We have to be holy in this present world and that is why Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to keep our hearts from sin. He also gave us His Word to help us not sin against God.
4 We Are a Peculiar People
From God’s perspective we are distinguished people because we are holy. Being a peculiar people means that we are a people for God’s own possession. In Genesis we read that God called Abraham from the idolatrous country of Mesopotamia to go to a new land. Because of his obedience, Abraham became God’s own possession. God chose Abraham and said of his descendants that the people of Israel would be His peculiar people, His personal possession. Abraham was called the friend of God. We too are friends of God and a peculiar people of God, the Church. God’s own possession in Jesus Christ. This is because we are spiritual descendants of Abraham. God told Abraham that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. This promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ because He gave His life for the entire world. God blessed all nations of the earth thru Christ Jesus and that is why we are special. God recognizes each of us today. When we were still in the womb, God chose us and gave us recognition.
The reason Christ saved us and placed us into these four positions is in the ending of verse 9 of our text. We are to proclaim the excellences of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. So we were not saved and put down here to sit on our “blessed assurance”. We were saved for a special reason: to show forth, to proclaim, to tell people what God has meant to us. We are not to keep what has been given to us private, a secret. Peter said we should proclaim it. The excellences, the greatness and the wonders of God we should proclaim.
AMEN
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Who are you and how do you identify yourself? How do you measure yourself from the perspective of others? Jesus looked beyond our racial, ethnic lines or boundaries. He looked beyond our socio-economic backgrounds, our cultural, educational backgrounds and our sinful, destructive ways along with our rebellious, poverty stricken spiritual standings. Jesus has chosen us, elected us and made us to sit in heavenly places with Him in the kingdom of God. We are chosen, not forsaken. We are who Jesus says we are. We are who we say we are; we have been chosen by Jesus Christ.
Questions – who are we? How valuable do we think we are? How do we measure ourselves from the perspective of others? In our text we find a number of reasons and pointers on how we should identify our positions in Christ Jesus. It tells how to find our true value and not from other people’s perspective but from Christ’s perspective. When we try to measure ourselves from other’s perspectives we will never measure up. When we try to look like that lady who has a bottle shape, we are going to get confused. Some people get sick because they starve themselves to be like that model they have seen. She looks good to them. You can’t be like them and as long as you live, you can’t be that person.
In Christ’s eyes we are perfect. Christ has made us, God has made us the way He wanted to make us. So you don’t have to think about yourself, about who you are in other people’s perspective. There are people who deliberately put others down. They will tell you what you look like and embarrass you. But Jesus never does that. To find your true value, you have to find it in Christ, from His perspective. So let us read our text in I Peter chapter 2 verses 9 to 10. We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people and the people of God who now have obtained the mercy of God. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Where did Peter get these wonderful ideas? Peter got these ideas from Deuteronomy 14;2 where God stated this to His chosen people. God said they were the children of God and that they should not cut themselves or make any baldness for the dead. Doesn’t this remind of what just happened in Jamaica where they were offering human sacrifices? God said they are a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord has chosen you to be a peculiar people unto Himself. As a Jew, Peter understood what God meant when He spoke to the Israelite people. Peter was able to translate this to the new Christians who were primarily Gentiles and this includes us. We were lost and God had Peter translate these words to us as the people of God.
In I Peter 2 verse 7 it says to those that believe, He Christ Jesus, is precious. Precious. When something is precious to you, you value it and you don’t just leave it outside in front of your door. You take it inside and you treasure it. You keep it somewhere where it is protected and safe. So we, who believe, are precious before God. But unto them that which are disobedient, the stone which was rejected becomes the head of the cornerstone. This is Jesus who was rejected of men. A man of sorrow and afflicted with grief. The cornerstone is a special stone in the building that without that stone placed in its position, the building is not complete. Jesus Christ is a special cornerstone that was rejected. Without Him, as a people, we would be incomplete.
In verse 9 Peter stated four very important things about our position in Christ:
1 We Are a Chosen Generation
To be chosen means to be marked for favor and special privileges. Isn’t it wonderful that you, we have been chosen for special privileges in Christ Jesus? Jesus chose us before the foundation of the world to get His favor and He knew what we would be named too. Beyond this there is a new name we will be given when we go to be with Jesus. These special privileges we get include:
-We are joint heirs with Christ.
-We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of God.
-We get 24 hour protection from God for our soul and body.
-We have Not received a spirit of fear but instead God has given us the spirit of power, love and sound mind. Because of issues in life, we would have become crazy, lost our minds and been devoured by satan. We would have been weakened and slain a long time ago. But every time we want to wander away, the Holy Spirit reminds us that we have been chosen. The Holy Spirit lives in us and we are a child of God.
2 We Are a Royal Priesthood
*Royal means to be of kingly ancestry, related to the Crown. We are royal because we have been adopted into the Royal Family of God through Jesus Christ, who sits on the throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If we are royal and God is our father, who are we? We are princes and princesses. So we are not ordinary but we are extraordinary in the eyes of Jesus. Hallelujah! When Jesus looks at us, He doesn’t see us for what we ought to be, but He sees us as righteous people. This is because each of us has been given a robe of righteousness that was given to us by Jesus. We are royal because it was Jesus’s blood that washed us when we repented of our sins and gave our hearts to Him. The royal blood of Jesus keeps washing us every day, every time God cleanses and forgives us from all our sins. John says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
*Priesthood of believers. Jesus is not only King but He is also the Chief High Priest of his flock, the Church. He has established a priesthood made up of ordinary believers, ordinary people like you and me. Each of us is a priest made by Jesus Christ. In Israelite times, the High Priests were men appointed by God who made offerings to God for the sins of the people and for themselves. It was different with Jesus. Because as High Priest He didn’t offer animals to be sacrificed. Jesus offered Himself to be sacrificed for our sins. Jesus was both priest and also the offering that was offered up. Because Jesus was sinless, He only needed to offer a sacrifice for our sins by shedding His blood. Jesus only had to offer Himself once and for all on the cross. He redeemed and saved us who know Him. We can go, as priests, directly to God through Jesus Christ and offer ourselves as living sacrifices.
3 We Are Holy People
Some people are afraid to say they are holy. There is only one kind of holiness that comes from God. We cannot be holy by ourselves. The Bible says to keep the Sabbath Day holy. If you are not holy, you cannot do this. The Sabbath Day is holy unto the Lord. We sing the song Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty. We are saying Lord we want to be like you. Yes you are holy because the Bible says we are holy. That’s what God expects of us all. God said to the people of Israel, Be ye holy because I am holy. So can you be holy in this world? Yes! Even when we struggle with temptation and sin it is still Yes. If God says so then it is so. Peter says that as He who called us is holy, we too should be holy in all our conduct. Holy means to be dedicated and to be separated from the world. To be sanctified and separated from the worldliness of the world. This makes us holy.
People have attributed to cows and to mackerel fish the word holy. They say holy cow and holy mackerel. Cows and mackerel fish cannot be holy. These are things that are decayed and temporary. They are not holy. We Christians, have been declared as the righteousness and holiness of Christ. It is possible for us to be holy. Jesus can keep us holy in this murky, sinful world. There is nothing too hard for God. It is not too hard for God to keep Harold Smith holy. Without holiness we cannot see God. We have to be holy in this present world and that is why Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to keep our hearts from sin. He also gave us His Word to help us not sin against God.
4 We Are a Peculiar People
From God’s perspective we are distinguished people because we are holy. Being a peculiar people means that we are a people for God’s own possession. In Genesis we read that God called Abraham from the idolatrous country of Mesopotamia to go to a new land. Because of his obedience, Abraham became God’s own possession. God chose Abraham and said of his descendants that the people of Israel would be His peculiar people, His personal possession. Abraham was called the friend of God. We too are friends of God and a peculiar people of God, the Church. God’s own possession in Jesus Christ. This is because we are spiritual descendants of Abraham. God told Abraham that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. This promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ because He gave His life for the entire world. God blessed all nations of the earth thru Christ Jesus and that is why we are special. God recognizes each of us today. When we were still in the womb, God chose us and gave us recognition.
The reason Christ saved us and placed us into these four positions is in the ending of verse 9 of our text. We are to proclaim the excellences of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. So we were not saved and put down here to sit on our “blessed assurance”. We were saved for a special reason: to show forth, to proclaim, to tell people what God has meant to us. We are not to keep what has been given to us private, a secret. Peter said we should proclaim it. The excellences, the greatness and the wonders of God we should proclaim.
AMEN
