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. 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. (1 Pet. 2:9-10)

We are continuing to look at who we are in Christ and using Peter’s text above as a launching pad.  The Psalmist declares, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. “ Another way of expressing that thought is, “a man lives up (or down) to his view of himself.”  Knowing who you are matters.

Peter says by the inspiration of the Spirit that we are a holy nation.  Those who are in Christ make up a nation whose primary quality is holiness. Holiness comes from the Greek word hagios and is the word from which “saints” or “holy ones” comes in the New Testament.  Although it carries the idea of moral purity it also speaks of something set apart for service unto God.  God has always longed for a people he could call his own who had a heart for him.  He used the same language as he was calling Israel out of Egypt.

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.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Ex.19:5-6)

God communicated his heart for his people with the phrase, “treasured possession.” What we discover from the Old Testament is that a covenant based on law rather than grace is not sufficient to establish the kind of relationship God has always longed for.  God always knew that.  He just wanted us to know that. And so, he called you and me and every Jewish believer into that relationship through a covenant of grace based on the blood of Jesus.

What he wants each of us to know is that we are holy in his eyes. We have been chosen out of the world and set apart for a very special relationship with the Father.  He wants you to know that in his mind, you are very separate from the people of the world who have not accepted Jesus.  It’s not that God doesn’t love those individuals but he chose you and you responded to his call so that you are in a unique relationship with the Father by covenant.  You are his treasured possession. You are viewed by the Father as his personal and very special treasure.  Treasure is interesting.  We seek it, value it, and protect it.  That is what God has done for you.  But we also put treasure on display.   That is also what God does with you.

God’s word says that you are the light of the world. You are a city set on a hill.  You are the salt of the earth. You are a star shining in a dark sky. You are the apple of God’s eye.  We don’t always want to be put on display because we are not sure we want to be seen or inspected by the world.  But…that’s who you are. That’s why we have been encouraged to live a life worthy of the calling we have received.  We are to reflect the Father’s glory to those who see us and he will enable us to do so if that is our heart’s desire.

Let me be a little transparent with you.  I used to think that we, as believers, were loves and treasured as a group rather than as individuals.  I saw myself as just a face in the crowd like fans at an NFL football game when the head coach stepped to the microphone and said, “We love you guys!” Well, I never received that personally and I often thought God loved me in the same way… as a fairly anonymous face in the nation or the church that he loved.  But, a verse in Hebrews 12 changed my mind.

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. (Heb.12:22-23).

In this verse I discovered that “firstborn” is plural.  It could be interpreted “the church of the first born ones.” What the Lord showed me was that each of us has the standing of being a firstborn to the Father. In a sense, each one of us is his favorite.  He knows us, delights in us, and plans great things for us, as any Jewish father would do for his firstborn son.  That’s why we are told that we are co-heirs with Christ. We are not a face in the crowd but we are each a well-worn photo in our Father’s billfold that has been shown to others time after time.  In Isaiah 49, Jehovah tells Zion, his people, that they are “inscribed on the palms of his hands” and that he “delights in his people” (Ps.149:4).

So, then, this is who you are.  You are holy and set apart from the entire world in a covenant relationship with a heavenly Father who views you as his treasured possession.  You are loved as a firstborn son by one who writes your name on the palms of his hands.  You are pursued, valued, protected and often put on display because he delights in you.  You wonder how he could delight in you?  Because he sees the end from the beginning and knows who you will be when he has finished crafting you for you are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus (Eph.2:10). So rejoice today because your Father in heaven is rejoicing over you.