You Are A Chosen Race

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. (1 Peter 2: 9-10)

Two verses so full of awesome information that many blog posts could be written about any one of them! If we are not careful we will think we are reading the Old Testament and the nation of Israel will come to mind... and I think that is God's intention. He knows that we have knowledge of His selection of the Abraham's descendants as His chosen people to tell the world about Him and so he uses our understanding of that to communicate His relationship with us. 

The Christian "race" is different than the world view. The world view is about the color of the skin and the nation of one's origin. God's view is about the nation that we belong to after we make Jesus our king. Is the Christian race black? Sure! Is it white? Absolutely! Yellow? You bet! Red? No doubt! Now you are thinking back to VBS and the songs you sang as a child. Amazing isn't it? Truth was being poured out into your life and you didn't even know it. Red and yellow, black and white... they are precious in His sight! (right here is a great time to read 2 Cor 5: 11-21)

When we come to Him, we renounce our former citizenship and we are granted membership in a new nation, a holy nation, a nation set apart for His possession. That sounds pretty special! (great place to read Col 1:13) The Christian is no longer an American or a Canadian... now they are part of the Kingdom of His dear Son. That's what I want on my passport!

Citizenship brings responsibility. If you are a citizen of the United States, you are expected to obey the laws of the land and pay your taxes. (at a minimum) As citizens of God's kingdom, you have responsibilities as well. Peter tells us that we are to be busy proclaiming the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We are to tell others about this wonderful new place we live and about our amazing King. Why? Because once we were not a people. Once we had not received mercy. But now in His kingdom, we are a people and we have received mercy. He made us His nation, His people and He has granted us forgiveness.

That is something to talk about! Americans spend a lot of time telling the rest of the world about what a great nation we live in. What if Christians started doing the same? What if we told everyone about Him? What if we told everyone that we are part of a nation that belongs to Him? What if we told everyone that our citizenship last forever, that our nation will never fall? That's worth telling!

...that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light...

The second chapter of 1 Peter is filled with great news for the Christian. Try to find a few minutes to read and meditate on the truths that the apostle Peter, through the Holy Spirit has given to us. I spent  a few minutes reading and thinking on these things before I went to sleep last night and woke us refreshed and ready to work in His kingdom. That is what His word will do for you. (great place to read Hebrews 4:12) Have a blessed day and remember your "re-birth" certificate has His nation as your place of citizenship.