His People
Key Thought: Our assertion is that the accomplishment of “His Purpose” in our lives will only prosper if it is rooted in an understanding of our identity as “His People”.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
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.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
PRAYER: God has a very special mission for each and everyone of us-from the greatest to the least. That purpose is that we might live a life of significance and purpose, that we might display HIS glory in every dimension in which we enter into. But we cannot demonstrate HIS glory if we do not know who we are.
Introduction: Our Collective Identity as the People of God
Many times when we talk about Christian identity we talk about it in the singular sense. We develop a sense of our identity around who we are and what Christ has done for us. This is powerful and great but it is insufficient because much of what God communicates to us regarding our identity takes place within the context of community.
Much of the NT was written to communities not to individuals.
The thread of community identity runs throughout bible. Eg the community identity
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Our assertion is that the accomplishment of “His Purpose” in our lives will only prosper if it is rooted in an understanding of our identity as “His People”.
But just who Are “His People?”
Characteristic #1 His People are an Ancient People
When Peter makes the declaration that his readers are a royal priesthood and a Holy Nation he is in essence making the declaration that we form part of an ancient people. He presents a version of the tripartite formula, connecting the church in his day with ancient promises of God. But what is the tripartite formula?
So once again when Peter says 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. He is echoing and rephrasing these ancient promises of scripture.
He is connecting you and I with these ancient promises of God. He is saying that you and I have a place in the promise to Abraham and in God’s ancient family.
Paul makes the same statement and says that we have become part of the one new man in Christ and partakers in the promises of God that he has made throughout history. Thus according to Ephesians we are citizens of an ancient kingdom and we are together being built together into a dwelling place for the Spirit.
This is no accident. We have not been included in God’s promises as an after-thought. This is in essence the mystery of the Gospel cf. Ephesians 3:6, that God’s promises that many associated with a particular ethnic group-the Jews-have now been extended to you and I. It was God’s intention right from the very beginning.
What does this mean??
We should thus celebrate the Lord for our biblical heritage. Therefore you and I have a place in the presence of God. We are not second class citizens in God’s presence. Our spiritual flight is not economy class! We are in first class! We belong in God’s presence. There is no distinction. Those that are Jewish do not have a higher standing in God’s presence than those that are Ngoni! It is by faith for both Jew and Gentile.
Be encouraged! It doesn’t matter how unspiritual you may sometimes feel God has provided a place for you in his presence. It doesn’t matter what your standing in society is. What family background you come from or your economic. You are part of an ancient community of saints. You are a recipient of the ancient promises of God.
Characteristic #2 God’s People are a Prophetic People
Peter cites promises in history that are thousands of years old in making his declaration but Revelation 21 paints a portrait of a future time when we live in the heavenly city when God’s intention as expressed in the tripartite formula will be realized. So the Apostle John says:
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Rev 21:2-4
They will truly be His people, he will truly be their God and he will truly dwell in the midst of them. This in essence represents the point in time when God’s mission is realized. So as we, His People, allow ourselves to be collectively built up for a dwelling place of the Spirit we practically experience a state of being that finds perfect fulfillment in eternity to come. In other words we take an experience from a future age and we experience it in some measure in the here and now.
Another way to put this is that we prophetically model and demonstrate what it really looks like with God is in the midst of his people. It is prophetic not just because we are experiencing the future but because that experience speaks to the world. There are two dimensions to this prophetic experience. The first is that as a prophetic people we are called to:
- Model a Prophetic Lifestyle vs 11-12
The Apostle Peter says that as people who do not belong here vs 11 (sojourners and exiles DEPORTEES, REFUGEES, OUTCASTS) we are to behave differently from the locals. We are to stand our ground against the passions of the flesh that wage war against God’s purpose for us and display a manner of life that will cause non-believers to glorify God. In other words people may want to look for something bad to say about you and I but they simply cannot find anything, and they thus declare that God is at work. Make it hard for someone to say something bad about you! This is a prophetic lifestyle; it speaks to others about God. I want to make to clear that we live this prophetic lifestyle by walking in the Spirit and by the blood of the lamb. Not in our own strength. Therefore do not let past sins hold you down, confess the sin invite his blood into your life. The people of God are called to model a prophetic lifestyle. See to it. A prophetic lifestyle is not a suit, its not an IG account. It is a life that speaks by faith.
- Make a Prophetic Declaration vs 9
We are to proclaim his excellencies! We are to proclaim his praises! How do we do this? We testify to his goodness. We speak about what God has done in delivering us from darkness. Everyone of us has a testimony to share. One of the key characteristics of his people is that they praise him they recount his goodness that they have experienced. They recount his Goodness to God himself and to the world. They worship him they praise him Revelation 22:3 says that in that heavenly city No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
So when we gather together in a church service and we declare His praises we bring together the normal way of life of the future, the practices of the ancient people of God of the past and we demonstrate it in the here and now. When we do this God makes His presence evident Psalm 22:3. GOD BECOMES ENTHRONED AND IS ABLE TO MINISTER TO THE NEEDS OF HIS PEOPLE. We must speak His praises.
Conclusion: Respond to the Revelation of the Word that we are Part of His Precious People
As His prophetic people we are called to know him. Therefore let us remove from our lives anything that separates us from him.
As His prophetic People we are called to Worship him. Therefore let us open our hearts and mouths and declare his Goodness.
As His prophetic people we will experience him. Therefore let us always enter God’s presence with expectation that he will be enthroned or inhabit our praises.