Who are we? {Part 3}

Yikes.  Sorry it's taken me so long to post again.  I really need some prayers concerning time management!  Lord, help me to seek You first!  Thank You for Your grace and for speaking through me as I type out this post.  On to Part 3.  :o)

In Part 1 of this series on 1 Peter 2:9, we learned that we are a chosen race.

In Part 2, we learned that we are a royal priesthood.

Today, we'll focus on the fact that we are a holy nation.  What does that mean for our identity as Christians?

This "holy nation" idea was by no means a new idea when Peter wrote this verse.  If you read Exodus 19:3-6, God Himself called Moses and the Israelites a holy nation.  He calls them this right before He gives Moses the Ten Commandments and other parts of the Law. 

You've probably heard that "holy" means "set apart," usually for some special purpose.  By calling His people "holy," God was setting them apart from all the other peoples of the earth.  He gave them the Law so they would know that their holiness could only come through Him, and also so they would know how to walk that holiness out.  That meant being different from everyone else, from the food that they ate to the way they bathed, and from the holidays they celebrated to the pastimes from which they abstained.  It meant performing multiple sacrifices a year, whether for giving thanks, commemorating an event, or confessing a sin.  And it meant being united under Him; that's where the "nation" part comes in.  While they were to be separate from everyone else, God called His people to also be united in a single purpose:  to obey His voice and keep His covenant (see verse 5 of Exodus 19).  In other words, to bring Him glory. 

God set the bar high for His holy nation given the depth and complexities of His Law (just keep reading past Exodus 19 and you'll see what I mean!), and in His sovereignty He knew that there was no way imperfect humans could ever fulfill the Law within their own power.  As hard as they tried, the Israelites fell short of His glory time and time again, and we do the same today (see Romans 3:23).  That's where Jesus comes in.  He served as the ultimate sacrifice, cleansing everyone's sin once and for all, and ushering in a new covenant that focuses more on forgiveness than performance.

Although we live under this new covenant and are free from much of the confines of the Law from the old covenant, we are still called to be a "holy nation" today.  What does that mean for us?  It means being different and set apart from everyone else by walking in God's will and reflecting His glory.  Others may call you "strange," "radical," or "boring" based on how you live out this purpose.  It may mean giving up certain things in order to focus more attention on God and others.  In everything, however, "set apart" simply means living by God's standards instead of the world's standards. 

Let's not forget the "nation" part.  We are also called to be united in our mission to be set apart.  Kind of a paradox, isn't it?  What else would you expect from a God who strikes to heal (Isaiah 19:22), or whose Son left the riches and glory of Heaven to be born in a lowly stable and live the simple life of a carpenter before beginning His ministry?  God often works within the paradox and the least expected.  Just another example of how His thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9)!  Though we're called to be set apart, we're also called to work together.  Though we were created to be different, we're called to be "perfectly united in mind and thought" (1 Corinthians 1:10).  That means that we Christians were not set apart in order to look out for our own interests, but to serve and to fellowship with other Christians as a unique and "holy nation."

This part of our identity can be difficult to carry out in the world we live in today.  The anonymity of online social networking, the distractions of a more hurried pace in life, and the existence of numerous denominations within the Christian faith can potentially compromise our ability (and really, our desire) to enjoy united fellowship with other believers and to truly live our lives as set apart for Christ.  We were meant to be holy, and we were meant to be a nation.  Set apart, yet united together for Him.  What does that mean for your identity, and for your life?  Please pray that God will begin to reveal to you your place in His holy nation.  Come to Him with open hands for whatever He wishes to give you, or to take away.  And ask Him for His help in living out your identity in Him.