1 Peter 2:9 - Chosen to Declare Praise

You Are God's Special Possession

Chapter two verse nine of First Peter says, "You are a chosen people. You're the people of God. You're a royal priesthood. You're a holy nation, God's special possession." This means that the minute you put your faith and trust in Christ, you become his, and he loves you, made you, and formed you.

Peter's Letter

Peter's letter, First Peter, is written with the help of Silas, making it the most elegant Greek letter in the New Testament. Peter wanted to craft a message for the church, emphasizing their identity in Christ and their purpose.

Knowing Who You Are

Peter wants believers to know who they are: God's people. He then shifts to their purpose: to declare the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His wonderful light. Peter wants to fan the flame of what has been put inside of believers, so the light of Christ inside them can move through them, impacting others and leading them to Christ.

Abstaining from Sinful Desires

Verse 11 urges believers as foreigners and exiles to abstain from sinful desires, which war against their soul. Peter is concerned about communal sins that affect the community of God. He calls for tackling desires that keep believers from making the impact they were made for, impacting those who don't know Christ. He encourages living such good lives among the pagans (those who worship other things than Jesus) that they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits.

Three Specific Desires to Wage War Against

Peter wants believers to live radiantly and identifies three specific desires that can shipwreck their impact:

1. The desire to control

2. The desire to drift

3. The desire to curse

The Desire to Control

Examples of control issues include rearranging the dishwasher, straightening pillows in someone else's house, being a "thermostat Nazi," and having imaginary fights after the fight. Peter leans in and says submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority.

Personal Journey with Control

A personal story illustrates the problem of control. I experienced constant sadness and sought counsel. My wife identified that I was always hard on myself. During a counseling session, while reading Matthew 6, I had a vision of being on a ship with loved ones. I saw rocks ahead, but the captain didn't. Frustration and anger wrecked relationships with everyone on board. God revealed that I go into control mode when I worry, which unravels relationships.

Worrying leads to hemorrhaging authority. I was trying to control my older son's life as he headed off to college without a strong faith. The more I tried to control, the more he resisted. God showed me that I would either have authority or control, but not both. I had to take my hands off control and let God do what only He can do.

I apologized to my son, acknowledging my faithlessness and my attempts to control his path. I committed to trusting God with his life. To battle against the desire to control, you have to open your hands and release your grip, trusting God. He will either give you authority or control.

The Desire to Drift

The second desire to war against is the desire to drift. Drift is the deviation of an object from its intended course due to currents or winds. In the Greco-Roman world, there were many competing value systems, unlike the gospel.

Success messages about building businesses and brands mixed with the gospel. People got distracted from their intent to declare the praises of God. People started mixing the Gospel with their own self-help plan.

The only way to avoid drifting is to fix your eyes on Jesus. This clarified the character of God. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. How does Jesus feel about poor people? How does he care? What does he think about slavery? Every abolitionist movement came from looking at Jesus. How does he treat women? What does he think about life and how does he value things? Is he vengeful or gracious?

Peter addressed people to the political leaders above them, and those who were slaves. They had slave masters that didn't know Christ in something. There had a burning passion in them for their masters to know Christ, I'll do anything for him to know Christ. If you read this as a social commentary about Jesus how Jesus feels about social status, that's not what this is for. This is for a group of people that said, here's where I am, here's where God places me, and I want them to know Christ.

Verse 21 says, to this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example. He committed no sin. He didn't bad mouth people. He didn't tear people down. There were Moravian missionaries selling themselves into slavery to lead others to Christ.

Wives are called to submit to their husbands so that if they don't believe the word, they can be won over by their behavior, purity, and reverence. Beauty should come from the inner self, a gentle and quiet spirit. Husbands are called to be considerate and treat their wives with respect as the weaker partner and co-heirs of the gracious gift of life. This is not a social commentary but an elicitation in men, don't demand she show up or demand she read or demand she change. Your job is to not do that. Your job is to look a Jesus, is to honor people, and give her a place at the table. Peter elicits that men protect and honor their wives, giving them voice and purpose.

The Desire to Curse

The third desire to war against is the desire to curse. Curses come when Christians make others the enemy. It's easy to get overwhelmed by darkness and tear down others. But Peter says, don't miss out on the fact that some of them are people, And they don't know me. So he says, be like minded, because Christ loves them. Be sympathetic and love each other. Don't repay evil with evil; repay evil with blessing.

He says, you want you want to taste that? Stop making enemies of people, man. Bless them. Open up your hands to God, I trust you. Don't get blessing box verses on the wall. It's when we see people, we love people, and we act like Jesus to them. People don't change because of facts. People change because they're loved. Be a blessing that every room is better because you were in there.

The last thing Jesus did before he left this planet was to bless people. He just wants to bless people and let them know who they are.

Conclusion

He loves you. And he is called you that you would declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into radiant glorious light.

The Roman Empire was rocked by the extravagant love, sacrifice, kindness, and faithfulness of the cross.