Who Am I? - Pt 4

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 ESV).

We go back to the beginning of our reading today to see the third descriptor of our identity. Peter says: We “… are a people for God's own possession" (v. 9); and, again we were “… once were not a people, but now you are the people of God" (v. 10a). We saw in the last two days that we are chosen by God; we are pitied by God; and the effect of that pity, that mercy, is that God takes us to be his own possession. Perhaps beginning at the beginning is helpful at the point of our examining this truth. First, we must recognize that God owns everything. Obviously he created all things. Just as I might write a particular devotional, or sermon, it is mine. I created it. Actually, I am writing a new work now. It is a work of fiction. It has some Christian themes throughout, but it is not intended to be anything more than an entertaining work of fiction. I can write that kind of book because I have the power to do so. And, it is mine. I possess it. I can do whatever I desire with the work. Hopefully it will be published and distributed for others to derive the same joy from reading it that I have in creating it. So, with God it is similar. He has created each of us. We are thoroughly unique. We are special in his eyes. However, God has not created us for the pleasure of others. He has created us, chosen us, and redeemed us, so that we might be His inheritance. We are the ones he will spend eternity with. When God says, "I will be their God and they will be my people [my possession]," what he means is that "I will dwell in them and walk among them." (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:16). We are chosen; we are pitied; we are God's possession. We are the ones he will walk among and reveal himself to in a personal relation forever. That thought should change everything in our life. Knowing this we have an unshakable hope. It ought not to surprise us that the Apostle Paul takes this thought and says, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39 ESV).