July 24 - 1 Peter 2:9

July 24
1 Peter 2:9

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

This is one of those verses that many Christians haven't dissected enough until they have come to a deeper understanding of how special Gentiles believers in Christ are as a chosen generation to God. Let's look a little deeper.

We are a chosen generation:  In the Book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul wrote to a Gentile (meaning unbelieving pagan) audience who had become believers in Christ, telling them that God chose them before the foundation of the world, and how God desires for them, as Gentile believers, to become holy and without blame before God.  God, long before the foundation of the earth, knew His chosen people, the Jews, would one day reject his Son Christ, so God then chose the Gentile race of people to become believers in Christ as a covenant people to become part of His family for this dispensation (period) of time. 

• That's great news for us who are not Jewish.
• This choosing now applies to anyone who wants to come to Christ as God chose the Gentiles before the foundation of the world, knowing the Jews would one day reject His Son.
• For any Gentile, or anyone who comes to believe in Christ, is now in covenant relationship with Christ and are a part of this chosen generation, known as Christians.
• Not only are we God's chosen generation of people, we are in the last of the last days before Christ comes to rapture His chosen generation before God's attention is placed back on the Jewish people in the time of the Tribulation Period. 

Because God chose the Gentile people, does that mean He did not choose you individually and personally? No, of course not. God not only chose you as a people, but as a person. Before you were born, God chose you! Then God had a plan and purpose for you. God loves you that much.

We must understand that the Church did not replace Israel. The Bible tells us that this time of the Gentiles will be fulfilled very soon (Romans 11:25) and will end. God will then again turn His heart back toward the Jewish people as a fulfillment to the promise given to Abraham and as a last-ditch effort to reach the Jewish people for eternal salvation. 

A royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people:  God's requirement for a tabernacle/temple, high priest/priests and sacrifices for the Jews ended when they refused to accept Jesus as God's Son, turning on Him and had Him crucified. Within a few short years, everything was destroyed. God turned His back on the Jews and turned His heart toward the Gentile people, offering salvation to them - anyone who would come to believe, accept, and follow after Christ. As believers in Christ, our bodies have become temples of the Holy Spirit because God now lives within our hearts (1 Cor 6:19). As such, we are all members of a holy nation together unto God. Christ is our high priest, and we as His believers and followers are a priesthood under Christ. We are His own special people. God loves us that much!

That we may be able to proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light:  God called Gentiles, who at one time were all unbelievers, out of the darkness of sin into God's marvelous light of salvation. As God's special people, being temples of the Holy Spirit, living holy lives, we are so privileges to be able to proclaim the praised of Christ who loved us that much to where Jesus shed His blood on the cross of Calvary for us and God's love resurrected Him back to life and is now able to rule and reign in our hearts.

Then to add even more praises, we, as the Church, will one day co-rule and co-reign with Christ for 1000 years. We are that special to God.

I hope this verse has brought a deeper meaning of how special you are in the eyes of God in that He would do such great things in you. If so, can you proclaim the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light? 

Blessings,