Sunday, May 7, 2023
Sermon Notes: 1 Peter 2:9-12
Introduction
In our study of 1 Peter, we believers are seeing our new identity with Jesus. When Christ won, we won. Because Christ is the Son of God and we are in Christ, we are members of the same family (1:22-2:3). We experience the same birth. We express the same love. We enjoy the same nourishment in the Word of God. We are stones in the same building (2:4-8). We are priests in the same temple (2:5, 9). We are citizens of the same nation (2:9-10).
Key Study Theme:
Though believers are sojourners and exiles in this foreign land, we are not without an identity and a purpose.
Therefore, we are admonished to let our special place as the treasured people of God fill us with courage to renounce the passions of our flesh and to walk in the light of our special calling.
What is the place and purpose of Christians in this world?
I. The place: Live as the Special People of God (2:9a, 10).
• Identity Marker #1 – You are a chosen race.
Isaiah 43:20-21 “The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”
- The word race is “genos”. It refers to a people that make up a family. Biological families bear some outward resemblances to one another.
- What are some of the family resemblances we should share with brothers and sisters in Christ?
- How has (is) God shaped (shaping) you to bear His resemblance in your character and behavior?
• Identity Marker #2 – You are a royal priesthood.
Exodus 19:5-6 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’”
- When it comes to the believer’s privilege of having access to God, how do you think family relationship and nearness play into that access?
- How near are you to the Lord? How are you presenting your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1)?
• Identity Marker #3 – You are a holy nation.
- Being that believers are members of a holy nation, what is our relationship to be like with the governing authorities of this world?
- As citizens of Christ’s Kingdom, what do you think the believer’s appropriate and honorable engagement with politics might be like in this world’s kingdom?
• Identity Marker #4 – You are a treasured people.
- Take time to review what Christ accomplished for you by saving your soul. What feelings of worship and thanks spring up in you when you consider that you are counted among God’s treasured people?
• Why did God extend these identifying markers beyond the physical nation of Israel to all the believers from every Gentile nation (10)?
- Read Hosea 1:6-10 and 2:14, 21-23. Consider how Israel had forsaken the compassion of God. Then read Romans 9-11. Consider how Gentile nations are now being grafted into the promises of God through salvation. What is your response to the compassion of God that is offered to you through Christ?
II. The purpose: Live out our Special Calling for God (9b, 11-12).
“The world takes its notions of God, most of all, from the people who say that they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus Christ”
Alexander McClaren, 19th Century Scottish Preacher
• Special calling #1 – Proclaim Christ in Word (9b).
- Read Isaiah 42:16 and Acts 26:18. When the local church gathers to worship together, what kind of impact/witness does our gathering have on the community and the world?
- How important do you believe that it is for you personally to prioritize those gatherings as part of your witness to the world?
• Special calling #2 – Proclaim Christ in Conduct (11-12).
• The battlefront for the soul (11).
- Consider Galatians 5:16-25 in relationship to killing the flesh and living in the Spirit. What fruit of the Spirit is showing up in your character?
- How do you wage war against the passions of your flesh? What are you allowing into your heart and mind that you need to kill so that Christ lives more fully in you?
• The battlefront for our conduct (12).
- How closely does your conduct at home, church, workplace, and community reflect the character of Jesus?
- How might your conduct stir others with a desire to know Christ as their Savior?
Conclusion:
Is your life marked as a treasured possession of Jesus Christ today? When did you become His treasured possession? Be ready to share your testimony with someone this week.
How might you starve out the passions of your flesh this week while feeding the Spirit who lives in you? How is your witness for Christ – in your community, your workplace, your home, your school, your church?