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Weekly Message | January 27th, 2008
Passage: 1Peter 2:1-12
Key Verse(s): 1Peter 2:9
Last week we study about loving God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength. To love God is to love Jesus Christ. This year’s theme of Toledo UBF is, “Follow Christ Daily”. One person offered this prayer: “Lord, please let Buddhists know Jesus Christ.” Then, he prayed for people of Moslem and Hindu faiths and even for all unbelievers. Then, finally he prayed, “Lord, help Christian people to know Jesus Christ.”
Peter wrote this letter to the Christians scattered in many parts of the world. Their lives were hard. They were uprooted from their native countries. They are now strangers in the foreign lands. In this passage his main teaching is to help these Christians to know Jesus Christ. By knowing Jesus Christ we know who we are and what we do in this world. By not knowing Jesus Christ we don’t know who we are. We have very little idea how we should live in this world.
First, “the scattered Christians were rejected by men… aliens and strangers in the world” (1-8, 11-12). Peter wrote this letter around AD 60 when the Roman Emperor Nero ruled. At this time the Christian population was rapidly increasing and at the same time the persecutions against them were intensifying. The troubles they were experiencing were both internal and external.
What were their internal issues? First, they were spiritually young. They were just like new born babies. The Bible materials were not quite available for them. They accepted Jesus Christ and tasted God’s goodness (3). However, they were not yet mature. Look at verses 1-3: “1Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” They displayed the hints of their immaturity—all malice (i.e., all evil intention to do wrong to others), all deceit (i.e., all deliberate distortions of truth), hypocrisy (i.e., pretence of what one is not), envy (i.e., unhappy attitude toward of others’ progress and achievement), and slander of every kind (i.e., false accusation against others in every way). They were born again but they were not saints yet (1:1-3).
Look at verse 11: “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” They were also struggling with sinful desires within. These sinful desires war against their souls. Their souls became huge battlefields where internal conflicts rip them apart to pieces. They wanted to love God; but they were so burdened in loving God. They wanted to be good but they enjoyed what is not good, too.
Their problems did not end here. Their external environment was quite constraining. They were suffering from persecutions from the Jewish authorities and the Roman Empire. The Jewish authorities hated them for loving Jesus instead of keeping all their traditions. The Roman Empire persecuted these early Christians because they did not worship Jupiter, which was known as the god of the Roman Empire. Because of persecutions, they had to leave their homes and scatter all over the world to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1:1) to save their lives. They were aliens and strangers in the world. They were familiar with rejections (4,7). Their employment prospect of life in this world was not so good. People were suspicious of them. They were falsely accused of wrongdoings. With struggles within and persecutions without, they were in real troubles.
What is Peter’s message to them? He urged them to know Jesus Christ. Look at verses 4-6: “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Come to Jesus Christ. Love him and trust him. That is his message. Jesus Christ is the living Stone—not the dead figure in history but the solid Rock they could depend on. Trust Jesus Christ. Hold on to the promise that the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. His message is clear: come to Jesus Christ. Stand on him. Be built in him. Trust him and never be afraid about the future. Your future will not be in shame and humiliation.
This year I would introduce one great Christian each week. The focus is not how great they were. Rather, it is about how they trust and love Christ with their human constraints. This week is about William Carey, the father of modern missions (1761-1834). He was an English missionary to India and later to Bangladesh. He was born on In 1791 he preached a message in his small church (no more than 50 members including children) using Isaiah 54:2-3 as his text. In his message he urged people to have a missionary vision and used this important phrase, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God. At this time, Christian leaders had little concern for foreign mission. During the first ten years in India and Begali, William Carey and his other co-workers managed the indigo plant for self-support. He completed the first revision of his Bengali New Testament and began mission communities and trained a few native leaders. He also became an accomplished scholar in linguistics, received a doctoral degree from the Brown University, USA and later became a professor of Bengali. His pioneering mission work was an inspiration to millions of missionaries coming after them. These are stories about his achievements? Then what were his human constraints? Out of his great passion for God, he uprooted his family too quickly from England. His wife Dorothy failed to make the adjustments in the new mission environment. She had emotional and mental breakdown. For many years she was forcefully confined to her room. Without his wife’s help William Carey simply did not know what to do with them—mere neglected them. His life was in such a paradox—a man with great achievements with real internal struggles with his family matters. Even so, his life went on. He remarried after the death of his wife Dorothy and continued his work.
The underlying tension in this life is everywhere. Both the early Christians to whom Apostle Peter wrote and the people that William Carey tried to serve, including his family members, faced enormous challenges. As we read between the lines in 1Peter 2, the extent of struggles of Christian people was real and the needs for God’s grace were absolutely essential. Without Jesus Christ they could have been wiped out. But in all things they came to Jesus Christ. In the similar manner, in spite of all things we trust in Jesus Christ. Then, we are built up in him—Jesus the Livingstone.
Second, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a people belonging to God”(9-10). Look at verses 9 and 10: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” This is a huge revelation from God. Here, Peter plants God-given identity to these struggling Christian people. All these words--“a chosen people”, “a royal priesthood”, “a holy nation” and “a people belonging to God” describe the people of Israel in the Old Testament. Peter declares that Christians endure sufferings and enjoy privileges because of Jesus Christ.
A Chosen people. God called his people of Israel as his chosen people (Is 43:10, 20, 44:1-2). In other words, The words "chosen people" have a long historical background. It starts from Abraham. God chose an old man, Abraham for his purpose. He was a 75-year-old man. God said in Genesis 12:1, "Leave your county, your people and your father's house hold and go to the land I will show you." God also said, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." A chosen people live to be a blessing in this world. God chose his people to bless the world.
It is not easy for us to be a chosen people all the time. Many UBF staff shepherds and missionaries take care of sheep in obedience to Jesus' command. Many left their homes, secure jobs and family members and moved to far away lands. Our missionaries in the Middle East and Asia experience tremendous challenges in order to raise their children in Moslem countries and under hard native circumstances. Sometimes we regret that God chose us. We don’t want to live as a blessing. We just want to live for ourselves. Jesus said to his disciples, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last"(John 15:16). Why a chosen people? From among so many people, God chose us to be a blessing through Jesus Christ.
A royal priesthood. God also regarded his people as priests (Is 61:6), a holy nation (Ex 19:5-6;), and people belong to God (Ex 19:5-6l; Deut 4;2). This is about the practical role of God’s people in this world. God's people are prayer servants and they carry out the labor of love. Jesus came to this world and became our High Priest. When He died on the cross, heaven cried. At that moment, the curtain in the temple was torn into two parts (Mk 15:38). Hebrews 4:14 says, "Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess." Jesus as High Priest lead his people to God through His once-and-for all sacrifice. In the Old Testament, there was the High Priest in the temple. He was privileged to enter the Most Holy Place once a year.
Christians are priests. Christians are a royal priesthood. We declare the grace of God, the promises of God and the love of God to the people in this world. We offer prayers for people—their healing, their forgiveness and all their needs that are beyond our strengths but are within God’s power.
A holy nation. A chosen people are not a few mere individuals. They are a holy nation for God (Deut 28:9). Peter's quotation came from Exodus 19:5-6:"Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."(Ex 19:5-6). God's hope is indeed great. His people had been a slave people for 430 years in the Egyptian Empire. They only knew how to eat and how to complain. But God had a great hope to make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
In this short American history of more than 220 years, God raised up 1,000,000 missionaries and sent them out all over the world. The great growth of Christians in many parts of the world can be partly attributed to these missionaries. China is now reaping the fruits of their labor. In the past, God used different nations such as Israel, Italy, England, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, America and Korea. In the future, God may use other nations—China, Ghana, Nigeria and Mexico. God finds His chosen people as his nations in this world.
A people belonging to God. This is about being God’s treasured possession (Ex 19:5-6). God’s people are precious to God. This is about value, protection and security and of his people. God regards his people as his treasures. The most precious possession in his sight! If we have anything precious, we value them highly and keep in most secure places. In the same way, God protects his people. God keeps his people secure and solid. Isaiah spoke about God’s protection in this way: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”(Is 43:1-2). I frequently share these words of God’s promises to those who undergo hardships that they cannot handle on their own.
Peter also trusted God’s protection when he said, “3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” Christians are God’s treasured possession--kept and shield by God’s power.
Through Christ Jesus our Lord God has made us as his chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood and people belonging to God. Christians live with contradictions. They are rejected by men but chosen by God. They are strangers and aliens in this world but a holy nation before God. They may look seemingly worthless stones in this world but amazingly precious treasures before God. Their prayers are not helpless cries of weak people but powerful and effective intercession for people as royal priests. This is the grace of God. This is the glory of God. Therefore, in spite of ourselves, trust Christ and declare the praises of God’s saving grace. Crave pure spiritual milk daily and grow up. Keep on living in this world because of Jesus Christ.
January 27, 2008. Toledo UBF.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
