Chosen/Royal/Holy/Special

Chosen/Royal/Holy/Special

1Peter 2:9 says four specific things about the Church: it is chosen, it is a royal priesthood, it is a holy nation, and it is God’s own special people.

Those are some powerful thoughts that we need to ponder as believers. All of them have to do with the fact that Christians are in fact part of Christ. Therefore the Father sees us in His Son, which means He honors us as He honors Son.

When a sinner believes in Christ, Colossians 1:13 states, we have been “delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” 1 Corinthians 12:13a also says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” That body spoken of is seen in 1Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” We, who were once condemned and without hope now have the greatest hope of all, membership in the family of God.
We are chosen because Jesus was chosen.
We are a royal priesthood because Christ is the author of eternal salvation, having offered His own blood as an atoning sacrifice for us, rather than the blood of bulls and goats (Hebrews 5:9, 10:4).
We are a holy nation for we have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ (1Corinthians 12:13).
Finally, we are His own special people because we are family. As John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Why has God done these things? It is clear in part b of 1Peter 2:9, “that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” We who were once not all these things, are now the people of God. We are to proclaim his praises and to glorify Him doing it.
This is why Paul says to give thanks for everything, in 1Thessalonians 5:15, because though we might not like the thing we are giving thanks for, we know that all things work together for the good to those who love God, (Romans 8:28). So we glorify him in weakness, in strength, in fullness and in emptiness. We honor Him even when our feelings don’t want to, and we come back to Him though we may be far away. Why? It is because we are the Church, the body of Christ. We are a chosen, royal, holy, special bunch of misfits that fit perfectly together when placed by God where we belong, and have every reason to give Him all the glory.