"Who Are You?" Sermon: I Peter 2:9-10

"Who Are You?"
[I Peter 2:9-10]
July 15, 2007 Second Reformed Church

Who are you?

Last week, we saw Peter explain to us and the Christians on the run from Nero's army that we are the Church. We are built upon the Foundation and the Cornerstone of Jesus Christ. Upon His Deity and His Salvation Alone, we find our security, our strength, our purpose, our life together. There is no other foundation but the Foundation of Jesus Christ Who is laid down for all of His people, to support and carry and sustain us.

And Peter explained that those Who reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ Alone, those who will not have Him for their Foundation and Cornerstone, these stumble and fall and are even crushed under Him, just as they were destined to do. There are some who will never believe, and that is part of God's Plan, and they shall be lost under the weight of the Glory of Jesus Christ, and they shall suffer eternally because of their sin.

"But." Peter calls on the Christians -- on you and me -- to remember who we are: we are the Church. We have received Jesus Alone as our Salvation, as our Cornerstone, as our Foundation. We are being built into that holy temple of God. He is the Head of our Body and we are being made in all things into Jesus.

"Remember who you are." Peter tells Christians that they way we respond and live is different from the way the rest of the world responds and reacts. Do you know who you are this morning, and does it make a difference?

First, Peter said that we, Christians, are a chosen people. We are the eklecton -- the elect. God chose out of all humanity, some who would believe in Him as His people, a people that He chose for Himself. Not all people are saved; God has chosen to save some out of all of Adam's race. We saw last week that the Gospel is not fair, in this sense: if the Gospel were fair, then we would all perish in our sins, but God has chosen, instead, to save some. God decided to show His Greatness by saving some from His Wrath, instead, giving up His Own Son to suffer for our sins and crediting us with His Son's Perfect Obedience.

And we ask, "Can we know that we are members of the elect? Can we know that we are some of those that God has chosen to be His people?" In Peter's second letter, he tells his readers -- and all Christians -- "therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure" (II Peter 1:10a). Yes, we can be sure, and we ought to have a surety among us based on the Word of God. So what shall we look for? Have you made a sincere confession of belief in Jesus Christ Alone for your salvation? Have you confessed your sins to Him and asked for forgiveness? Have you received forgiveness, the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, and the crediting of Jesus' Life to your account? Do you receive the sacraments? Do you strive to obey God's Word? Do you love your fellow Christians? Do you strive after sanctification -- do you strive for holiness? If these things are true of you, you are a Christian. You are a member of the elect, God's chosen people.

Second, we are a royal priesthood. We are not simply a class of people set apart for life-long work in the temple, but we are a people who are, ourselves, the Temple of God, and we have been set apart to carry out God's Will in any and every area of our lives. No matter what you or I do, we are called to be priests, people who come before God on our own behalf and on the behalf of others, to pray and offer up sacrifices. Of course, we don't offer up blood sacrifices any more. Jesus once and forever sealed the ritual of blood sacrifices when He sacrificed Himself on the cross. We, then, offer up the sacrifices of selflessness -- being willing to go and do anything that God calls us to do, and also, we offer up the sacrifice of thanksgiving -- at all times and in all places, lifting hands and heart and mind and voice, praising God for Who He is and what He has done.

Third, we are a holy nation. We are not merely members of a biological nation that God has called. We are not merely elect persons, who individually make up the people of God, but we are a nation, throughout many nations. We are a people who, together, strive for holiness, work together for holiness, rely on each other for strength, encouragement, and discipline. And together, we strive for unity. And let us understand that Peter is not saying that we should throw away everything that we disagree on. Peter would not say to the modern church, just give up denominations, settle for the lowest common denominator. No, Jesus said, "[Father,] The glory that you have given me I have given to them, they might be one even as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world" (Matthew 24:20-24).

Does Jesus mean -- does Peter say -- that we are one in music, in denomination, in liturgy, in hymnal, in translation of the Bible, etc.? No, Jesus and Peter say we are to be one in this: we are to be one in the knowledge of the Glory of Jesus and one in seeing Him in His Glory -- and, of course, in the response of giving Him glory.

A Jewish friend of mine and I were talking about Jesus, and he said he had no problem with Jesus. He was another rabbi, trying to understand and apply God's Word. And we continued to talk, he stopped me and said, "You don't really believe that Jesus is God, do you?" And I said, "Yes, that's Christianity!" Amongst all the variety of Christians, we are united in this: Our God Jesus is Glorious and deserves all glory. Our unity is based on Jesus and His Glory, nothing more, nothing less. We can and should work together in other areas, but Jesus Alone makes us a holy nation.

Fourth, He has made us a people for His own possession. As Bob Dylan sings, we're the "Property of Jesus." You and I were created, bought, redeemed, ransomed -- by Jesus Christ. And we ought, therefore, to be a people who are focused on Jesus. We ought to be Christ-centered, doing all to His Glory, as Paul wrote, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31). We ought to stand out as a people who are not living for ourselves and our things, but for Jesus and His Gospel. Our first and last thought should be, "How will this reflect on Jesus and His Salvation?" Non-Christians ought to be able to look to us and see a people of honesty, integrity, love, and peace, because our life, our death, our past, our future, and our present, are all the Lord's -- by Christ, for Christ, to the glory of Jesus Christ. It's not enough to stand out because you're strange or because you're talented; you should stand out because you are who you are and do what you do for Jesus.

Fifth, we have been called out of the darkness and into his marvelous light. Let us understand, every single human being since Adam, with the exception of Jesus, was, is, and will be born dead, in darkness, a slave to sin. Every single person since Adam, with the exception of Jesus, was, is, and will be born in need of Salvation -- every one needs Jesus. And we are born dead -- remember what Paul said, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of the world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience -- among whom we all once lived in the passions of the flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind" (Ephesians 2:1-3).

But God has called us -- His people -- out of that darkness, through Jesus Christ, into His Glorious Light. Paul wrote, "be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:9b-14).

God, through Jesus, forgave our sins, raised us from the dead, gave us His inheritance, and is strengthening us in holiness!

So, sixth, we are God's people. What can that mean to us knowing all these things, but that we are thankful and lead lives of thankfulness? Everything we have and everything we are is from God, a gift, and the only appropriate response is to be thankful, and to treat others as we have been treated, first and foremost, desiring that they hear and know and believe this Gospel of Jesus Christ Alone. Is that your desire? Are you thankful? Are you thankful enough to want others to know this Jesus and become His people as well? Are you thankful enough to live in a way that reflects His Glory -- in a way that seeks His Glory first?

Peter reminds us again, seventh, that we have received mercy. We deserved justice, but God gave us mercy. Mercy is a gift. God owed us nothing but wrath, and He gave us mercy. His Son stood in our place, that we might stand with Him before His Father.

We have been freed from hell and slavery to sin. We have been made the people of God, receiving mercy and all good gifts. We are priests, a nation, holy. We are His. And out of His great generosity, He has given us all of this and more --

Why? That we might widely report His Excellencies.

Peter tells us that at least one reason God has done all of this for us is so we will tell others about what He has done. God wants us to praise Him and glorify Him before others. He wants us to let others know that our life and future is in Jesus, by Jesus, and for Jesus. He wants us to give all glory to Him in all things at all times.

We live in an age and a country where the average person is sure that he deserves better than this. Are you ready and willing and able to let him know that we certainly don't deserve this -- this is not justice -- this is mercy? Are you ready, willing, and able to explain that our deliverance to a better life than this is only through our Glorious Savior, Jesus?

This week, when you meet up with your friends and acquaintances, and they tell you that this is wrong and that is wrong, let them know what is right with you. Let them know that you always have a reason to give thanks -- that you serve a God Who is always worthy of being Glorified. Invite them to come to worship with you next week. Let them know that we are not perfect and we didn’t save ourselves, but our Jesus is Perfect, and He Alone is our Salvation. He is the One Who makes us who we are. Jesus gives us Christians our identity. Tell them to come -- not for you, not for the people, not for the building, not for the choir, or the preaching -- tell them to come to meet Jesus.

Let us pray:
Almighty God and Savior, we thank You for Peter's letters, for the knowledge that, even on the run and at the risk of their lives, Christians stood for You and confessed You, because You Alone are Salvation and worthy of glory. Let us understand that our identity is to be found in You, and draw others into Your sanctuary because You are Glorious and Worthy. And may our joy be full in You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.