06-21-09 A Royal Priesthood

Our study of 1^st Peter

has brought us to one of the most thrilling descriptions of the Christian

found anywhere in the New Testament.

We are studying 1^st Peter chapter 2,

and our study has brought us to 2:9-10,

but to fully appreciate what’s happening here

we need to back up just a little

to see this passage in context.

For the past several weeks

we’ve been listening to Peter’s description

of both Christ and us as “living stones”.

Peter went into some detail

picturing Christ as the living stone, 1PE 2:4...rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God...

He then offered a short parenthesis

in which he told us that we, too, are living stones,

serving the same role in the lives those around us

that Christ serves in our life.

Then, in verses 6-8 of the 2^nd chapter

he comes back again to Christ,

assuring us that all those who place their hope and trust in Him

will not be disappointed,

and then contrasts this to those who reject Him as the foundation for their life,

telling us that their rejection

will result ultimately in their doom.

1PE 2:7-8 This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, "The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone," and, "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

By the way,

all Peter is doing here

is expanding on a statement made by Christ Himself

when He was describing Himself as the chief cornerstone of the human race.

We looked at this statement just briefly last week,

but I didn’t point out the last phrase in Jesus’ words.

The passage is found in Matthew 21:42-44 where Jesus says to His attackers,

"Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."

OK, most of what Jesus says

is simply a quotation of a prophetic statement about Himself from the 118^th Psalm.

But then Jesus goes on to add His own prophetic commentary

on the statement He’s just quoted.

He says, And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.

And in that statement

the Lord is offering the human race

the only two options available to us.

He is the chief cornerstone.

He is the ROCK,

the only sure and certain foundation in life.

We live in a strange, foggy, brief time of illusion right now,

a time in which we actually believe

that we control whether or not this Jesus is involved in our lives.

We think we can include Him at whatever level we choose,

or utterly reject Him from our life.

And if we choose to reject Him

we tell ourselves that’s the end of it -

because we have told Him to go away

He will submissively comply with our demands

and slink away into the darkness, never to be heard from again.

The human race is like a two year old child

playing hide and seek with his daddy.

Because he closes his eyes

and turns his back to his daddy,

because he cannot see his daddy

he assumes his daddy can no longer see him.

As long as his eyes are closed tight

surely he must be invisible to his dad.

And we close our eyes tight

in our determination to keep ourselves

from having to deal with the devastation of His intrusion into our world.

We crank up the noise of life

so as to drown out the sound of His voice

and keep our eyes focused intently

on all the places where we are certain He will not be found.

We laugh too much,

and drink too much,

and work too much,

and search eagerly and embrace quickly

any answers, any so-called truth, any philosophy that excludes submission to Him.

See how happy I am,

see how fulfilled my life is!

See what great things I’ve done,

and how meaningful my contribution has been.

And all because we know already within our spirits

that there are only two options available to each of us

and neither one of them is acceptable in our eyes.

And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.

For you see, those are the only two options on the table

and eventually one or the other will become a reality

in every person’s life.

The first gives us Jesus’ description

of what it really means for a person to come to Him.

And he who falls on this stone...

What a powerful visual image,

and what a contrast to what we are so often handed by man-made religious systems.

Religion calls us to some sort of pledge of faithfulness

to a belief system,

or an organization,

or a set of doctrines,

or some charismatic personality.

But what our Lord is describing here

is far different -

it’s very personal, very real,

and very much centered on what’s taking place between us

and a very real God.

And he who falls on this stone...

That’s what He’s offering us -

the freedom to literally cast our life, our future, ourselves onto Him.

And look at what He offers us in return.

Look at how this God of love

responds to our great terrifying step of faith and trust in Him.

And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces...

He’s talking with us

about what happens to our carefully protected, controlled life

when we turn the Lordship over to Him.

He breaks it in pieces.

He messes up everything.

He will change our priorities in life.

He’ll alter the way we approach our relationships,

our money,

our understanding of the role of authority in our lives,

both our daily and long-term goals.

He’ll change the things that feed our spirits

and the things that bring us a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in life.

The last true prophet of God to speak to Israel

before John The Baptist appeared on the scene announcing the arrival of Christ

was the Old Testament Prophet Malachi.

He spoke his final prophecy

more than 400 years before the births of John and Jesus.

Do you know what his final words were,

the words with which the Old Testament comes to an end,

the final words of preparation for the coming Messiah?

MAL 4:5-6 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."

I love that passage so much

because it gives us an accurate glimpse

of the type of upheaval the Messiah always brings

when He truly enters a person’s life.

I’ve seen lots of people who claim submission to the King

who become very religious, very full of knowledge,

very full of doctrine and duties and rules.

And when I see that

I have to tell you that I am not impressed

unless I see an equally dramatic change in their relationships.

Because, you see,

when the true work of God is taking place within a life

He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers...

You think that’s a small thing?

He’s talking about the most profound restructuring of priorities

that can ever take place in a man’s life.

But it’s more than just that, isn’t it.

It isn’t just a duty-driven restructuring of priorities,

it’s God opening a man’s heart

to what is both his highest calling and greatest potential source of fulfillment in life - his family.

And it is a work that,

when God accomplishes it within a person,

it messes everything up,

breaking apart the carefully chosen structure of life.

And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces...

That’s what He’s offering all of us who turn to Him

and fall on Him as the foundation of our lives.

He’s not offering us a higher calling,

or chance to rebuild our life for Him.

He’s offering us Himself

and His willingness to do within us

what we are powerless to do for Him.

But He wants us to know

that His intrusion into our lives

will be disruptive.

It cannot be otherwise,

and if it is not

then we may just be playing at religion - careful, controlled.

But Jesus’ wording here is fascinating - talking about us being broken to pieces

because pieces, once broken, can be put back together again

and that’s exactly what He does,

only when He reassembles the pieces of our lives

He puts them back together

the way He designed them to fit in the first place.

That’s option number one,

the one reserved for those who choose to cast themselves on Him and His mercy...And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces...

And how about those who do not.

How about those who resist Him at all costs,

who are determined

that this Jesus will not rule over them?

...but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust...

The ultimate supremacy and authority and Lordship of Jesus Christ

is never an option.

1CO 15:27 For He has put all things in subjection under His feet...

PHI 2:9-11 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Submission to His Lordship is not an option.

The only option is whether we choose His Lordship

through His offer of forgiveness and compassion and love,

or whether we are ultimately confronted with His Lordship

and forced into submission because there is no other option.

But I find it fascinating

to see the radically different mental image of those two groups

given to us in Jesus’ words.

The one group is broken in pieces,

the other is scattered like dust.

And of course the dust cannot be reassembled ever again.

Well, let me get us back to Peter

because even though he, too, presents the contrast

between those of us who choose submission to the King

and those who refuse it,

his concluding words in this section

make it clear that his primary purpose for writing

is to give the people of God

both correct knowledge about themselves

and strong encouragement about their place and their identity

in God’s design for the human race.

And so, immediately after his brief comment about the ultimate end

of those who reject the Chief Cornerstone he says,

1PE 2:9-10 But you...

And with those two words

he brings us right back to the truth for which he wrote the letter,

the truth he knows we need,

the truth he very much wants us to have.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

...a chosen race...

...a royal priesthood...

...a holy nation...

a people for God’s own possession...

I’ll bet those were not the words

that any of you used as you thought about yourself

in the process of getting ready for this day.

When you looked in the mirror

did you find yourself thinking, “I’m a select member of a chosen race,

a royal priest of God most High here on the earth,

a part of a holy nation,

a person chosen by God Himself as His own possession.”

I don’t think so.

Probably what you saw

was some perceived flaw in your appearance.

How different our God’s perspective on us

is from our own perspective on ourselves.

Even before we look more closely at what he’s saying

it’s obvious that there is a majesty,

a tremendous dignity in those words.

Peter is describing a group of people

who hold an utterly unique position of extreme value and significance in the world.

If I were to try to capture in just two words

the heart of what I hear Peter saying

as he describes God’s attitude toward us

I think I would begin with respect and value.

It certainly appears as though God’s relationship with us is based upon respect and value.

This is just a little bit off track here,

but do you have anyone in your life

who relates to you on that basis - someone who deeply respects you

and clearly values your presence in their life?

I hope so.

And I’d like to take this one step farther.

If you want to reach the spirit of another person

in a way that allows you to accomplish great good in their life,

and especially if you want to reach the spirit of another Christian

I would strongly recommend that you approach them on that basis.

And of course I know what happens when I say that.

Immediately we think of those

that, in our opinion, are worthy of respect and value,

those whose performance meets our mental measure

that entitles them to respect and value.

And if you do that

the power of what I’m suggesting will be lost.

If you make performance rather than true identity

the determining factor in how you relate to another person

you will never touch the spirit of another life.

How about in the family structure.

If you’re a parent

certainly you hope for and perhaps even demand

that your children show you respect,

but do you show your children respect in return?

The human spirit is such a fascinating thing.

Because each one of us bear within us the image of God Himself,

and because we know we are absolutely unique creations of God,

and because w know we are eternal beings,

even though every day of our lives

there are places where our performance falls short of what we want

or what others demand from us,

still we know deep inside that we have tremendous value and dignity.

We have grown so accustomed to having everyone around us

relate to us and value us on the basis of their assessment of our performance,

seeing honor and praise going only to those who produce at the highest possible levels,

that most of us rarely expect or receive a measure of respect from those around us.

But something remarkable happens within us

when another person shows us that respect.

When we choose to relate to another person

with an attitude and tone of voice and actions

that communicate to them a true sense of respect and dignity and value,

even if they are only 5 years old, or 10, or 12, or 14,

when we do that

our approach to them

lines up exactly with what they know about themselves at the spirit level.

And when that happens,

if they will receive what we’re offering them,

it will give us access to them at a level that nothing else could ever do.

Far too many times throughout the years

I have seen well-meaning parents

crush the spirits of their children

by daily feeding them the message that they always fall short of what is expected.

I’m certainly not suggesting that parents should relinquish their leadership role in the home,

but I do know that children who are shown true respect by their parents,

children who are treated with the dignity a unique creation of God deserves,

those children find it far easier to hear and trust the voice of their God,

and drink from the spirits of their parents throughout the parenting process.

My daughter is an absolute master at this.

We were involved in a phone conversation with her a short while ago

when we could hear our granddaughter, Anabelle, announcing in the background that she had to go potty.

Anabelle had just recently caught on to this whole toilet thing

and timing in these matters is always critical.

Anabelle was wearing overalls at the time

and we could her voice proclaiming, “I can take them off!”

Then I heard Joni say, “I’ve seen you do many things very well, Anabelle,

but mommy wants to help you with these right now.”

Respect...dignity for a two-year-old.

Does that sound strange?

Then how much more strange does it sound

when we hear our God relating to US with respect and dignity, telling us

that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Why in the world would our Creator

speak to us with such a tone of respect...and value...and dignity?

Can’t He see what a fumbling mess we seem to make of our lives on a daily basis?

Of course He can,

and yet there it is - our God respecting and valuing us,

treating us with dignity,

and He does it because He knows both who we are at the spirit level,

and what our lives will look like

if we ever gain even a tiny glimpse

of the truth about our true identity.