On this day when we celebrate a young man’s baptism, it may seem odd that we are about to take a look at a passage on dealing with persecution. But there is a connection between these things – allow me to explain.
            For many people throughout history and around the world today, their baptism is a moment that invites persecution from their friends and family. When people convert to Christianity out of some other religion, their baptism is often seen as the moment when they are making their break from their former religion official. They have trusted in Christ prior to that, of course, but their friends and family might be willing to tolerate their faith as just some quirky opinions. But when these brothers and sisters are baptized, they often find themselves facing the brunt of hostility from their friends and family.
            The attitude that one expresses in baptism – this desire to be known as a follower of Christ – is an attitude that will bring persecution to each one of us at some point in time. It may be the loss of a friendship, or it may be insults and slander, but as the Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
            We all must be prepared, then, to face persecution. In 1 Peter 4:12-19, we find a condensed version of Peter’s teaching in this book about how to handle persecution. In this passage, we can break down his plan into four phases.
 
Phase 1—Expect persecution (v. 12)
            This is not to say that we need to live in constant fear or dread, but we just need to keep ahold of the realization that at some point, someone is not going to like a decision that you make on the basis of your faith, and they’re going to let you know about it—perhaps in subtle ways, like avoiding you, or perhaps in obvious ways, like insulting you or making life hard for you. Notice what Peter writes in v. 12 [READ v. 12].
            The point is that we simply need to remember that persecution will come our way in this world that is in rebellion against God. If we don’t remember that, then we might be caught off guard by it and be ill-prepared to handle it. But by keeping the possibility in mind, we won’t be taken by surprise.
 
Phase 2—Rejoice during persecution (vv. 13-14)
            This commandment always seems at least a little bit counterintuitive, but Peter gives us three solid reasons as to why we should rejoice when we face persecution.
 
1. You’re being associated with Christ
            [READ v. 13a] That’s a very interesting way for Peter to word this thought. Obviously, you and I are the ones who are here physically on earth enduring the suffering, but notice how Peter states that the sufferings really belong to Christ. When people persecute you, even though they don’t understand this, their real target is not you but Christ who is in you.
            Jesus takes it personally when we are persecuted for being known by his name. When he appeared to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, the first thing that the Lord said was, “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Now, Saul hadn’t been chasing Jesus all over the countryside because Jesus was no longer on the earth – he had already returned to heaven. But as Saul persecuted Christians, Jesus took it so personally that he could say, “Why are you persecuting me?”
            So when you are persecuted, not only are your persecutors associating you with Christ, but Christ himself is as well! He identifies with you; he is on your side and in your corner.
 
2. You will be rewarded for facing persecution
            Let’s finish verse 13 now [READ v. 13]. Our rejoicing at the revelation of Christ’s glory is not only from the fact that we will see Christ, but also because we will receive the rewards that he has promised to those who are faithful despite persecution.
            As Peter penned these words, I have to think that he had Matthew 5:11-12 in his mind: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
            If God chooses to let you face persecution in this life, He will more than make up for it in the life to come. Because you have been associated with Christ in persecution, you will also be associated with him in his glorious reign, and you will be given a position of honor and authority in his future Millennial Kingdom on Earth.
 
3. It is confirmation of the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life
            Jesus noted in Matthew 5 that if you are persecuted, you are just like the Old Testament prophets – men through whom the Holy Spirit spoke. If you are persecuted today, it is confirmation that the Holy Spirit is upon you as well [READ v. 14].
            And so, as strange as it might sound, we can rejoice in persecution for these reasons. The whole experience reminds us that we are in good company – the company of none other than Jesus Christ himself – and we will be his trusted companions in his future kingdom as well.
 
Phase 3—Evaluate the cause of your troubles (vv. 15-18)
            Sometimes we might face anger and rejection from other people simply because we’ve brought it on ourselves – not because they’re lashing out at the Spirit of Christ within us. For example, when the members of the Westboro Baptist Church face insults and anger for displaying their hateful signs, I really don’t think they could call that persecution. It seems that they themselves are acting in hatred, so when they face hatred and return, they are simply reaping what they themselves have sown.
            So we should consider whether we have brought this trouble upon ourselves through our own behavior. Look at verses 15 and 16 [READ vv. 15-16]. This is one of the only times in the New Testament where we find this word “Christian.” That title has an interesting origin, because it was actually coined by unbelievers who used it as an insult toward followers of Christ. Eventually, that title became a badge of honor to our brothers and sisters for the reasons we just mentioned – it reminded them that they were being lumped together with Christ! So today, it has become the most common title that we use to identify ourselves as followers of Jesus.
            So if you can look at your trouble with others and say that it truly is coming because of your Christian faith, then you can conclude that it is part of the testing and assessing that God is putting us through. Peter reminds us of this process in the first part of verse 17 [READ v. 17a].
            When you hear the word judgment here, don’t think of the words “condemnation” or “punishment.” Remember, a judgment is only a bad thing if you’re on the wrong side of it! In verse 12, Peter reminded us that these fiery trials come upon us to test us, and all the way back in chapter 1, Peter argued that the tested genuineness of our faith is even more precious than pure gold, and it will bring us praise, glory, and honor when Christ returns.
            So God allows us to face persecution to test us so that he might reward us later on. And so his testing and assessing of us has a positive motivation – to make us fit to win the prize of future rewards. But for those who do not believe, God’s judgment of them will have a much different outcome [READ vv. 17-18].
            Verse 18 is not meant to make us question our salvation or something like that. Rather, it’s an argument that if we are saved in spite of what we actually deserve, what will become of those who actually get what they deserve because they refused to accept salvation through Christ. It is a very sobering thought!
 
Phase 4—Entrust yourself to God and do good (v. 19)
            I’ve said before that verse 19 could be seen as Peter’s entire message in a nutshell [READ v. 19]. It is sometimes God’s plan for us to face persecution, because when we respond to it well, we end up with something that is even more valuable than pure gold – a refined faith, for which we will be rewarded.
            So when we find ourselves in those moments, we can remember that God has it all under control. He knows what he’s up to, and he is seeking to give us something that is more valuable than we will probably even realize in this lifetime. So we don’t have to take matters into our own hands when we are persecuted. We can entrust ourselves to him and simply focus on continuing to do good – even to those who are doing evil to us!
            We can entrust ourselves to God in this way because he is exactly as this verse describes him. First of all, he is faithful. He will always keep his word, so if he says he will reward us for facing persecution, you can take it to the bank! If he says that tested faith is more valuable than pure gold, you can believe that and safely act that way.
            Second, he is the Creator. Among other things, this fact means that he is in charge. He is in charge of my life and of your life and of the lives of those who may persecute us. Even if they seem to have some power to make life miserable for us, they still are not in control. God is in control, so he is the one whom we must respect and obey more than any man.
 
            God is so kind to give us all that we need to know in order to handle persecution. He has warned us about it ahead of time so that we are not caught off-guard by it. He has told us what he seeks to accomplish through it, so we know that it is part of his plan. He has told us that he will reward us for enduring it faithfully, so we have that incentive among others to drive us toward obedience in those moments. And he reminds us in so many ways that he is in control over all. So let us entrust all of this to him, and on our part, let us simply continue to focus on doing what is good.
​

​            What comes to your mind when you think about the idea of being blessed? What sort of events or circumstances might make you think, “Wow! I really feel blessed!” I wanted to get a bit of a sense of what our culture thinks about this idea, so I decided to go to the most accurate source of information about our culture – which is Facebook, of course. I did a search on posts that used the hashtag “blessed,” and by and large, the posts confirmed my suspicion that in our culture, we tend to think of ourselves as being blessed when we have nice stuff.
            On one post, I found a world-class athlete posting that he felt blessed as he was traveling in his private jet. I also found a celebrity who used that hashtag for a selfie as she was laying on a beautiful beach somewhere. But the post that really took the cake was a picture of a man literally lying in a pile of cash!
            But what does it mean to be blessed according to the Bible? How do we pursue a blessed life? In our study of 1 Peter today, the Apostle is going to turn our culture’s idea of being blessed on its head and show us that as Christians, we should measure the blessed life by very different standards, and we pursue it by pursuing godliness at all times and in all situations.
 
1. Cultivate a culture of blessedness in the Church through connected hearts
            In the first part of our passage for today, Peter once again addresses the entire congregation of the churches who received this letter. He had just given some individual instruction to servants, wives, and husbands, but now he addresses all believers once again in v. 8, where he gives us a summary of how to cultivate a family atmosphere within the Church—which is especially important in light of the opposition to our faith that we encounter from society at large [READ v. 8].
            Please note that when Peter calls us to have “unity of mind,” he’s not talking so much about our opinions – as in, we all have to have the same opinions about absolutely everything – but rather, he’s talking more so about our attitude toward one another. When another believer is involved, my default attitude should be one of pursuing unity. Our common faith in Christ places us on very significant common ground, and so I should seek to live in unity and harmony with my fellow believers.
            Notice also the emphasis that Peter places upon our internal faculties in this verse. We see words like “mind,” “heart,” and “mind” again, and of course sympathy and brotherly love involve our affections and emotions. We might say that Peter is calling for heartfelt connections with each other that form deep bonds.
            It’s not very difficult in a church setting to learn how to exchange small talk with each other or even pal around with each other and share a few laughs when we’re together. But Peter is clearly calling for our bonds to go much deeper. We should have an emotional connection with each other that unites us and leads us to feel each other’s joys and sorrows.
            One key for building these kinds of bonds is to remember that our love for each other really and truly is brotherly (or, we could say sisterly as well!). We really are spiritual siblings because of our shared adoption in the family of God. We are more than just neighbors, more than even just friends. We have a true family bond through Christ, and remembering that is one key for building relationships that touch our hearts.
 
2. Seek blessedness with others by acting in godly ways at all times
            In verse nine, Peter seems to turn his attention from the church toward society at large. What he’s about to say certainly applies to our relationships with other believers, but it seems that his focus is on our relationships with unbelievers. He gives us the basic command to bless them – even if they don’t do the same to us! [READ v. 9a, through “called”].
 
            a. “Bless others…” (v. 9a)
            In this verse, we see again the basic principle of Christian ethics that I am not supposed to allow your behavior toward me to dictate my behavior toward you. Peter states that even if someone does evil to us or insults us, we are not supposed to respond in kind. Rather, we are supposed to bless others, and Peter reminds us that God has called us to have this kind of response. It is not just Peter’s own opinion; rather, it is a calling from God.
            Now, what does it mean to bless someone else? In verse 11, will see that it certainly does involve our actions, but the term “bless” itself focuses on what we say. When someone does evil to you or insults you, you can easily cause that conflict to escalate by what you choose to say in response. Peter tells us not to respond with insults of our own, but with language that is still respectful and kind – language that reflects goodwill toward that person rather than hatred or evil.
            As Peter reminded us back in chapter 2, that is exactly how Jesus responded. Verses 22-23 say, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” Since we are called to imitate Jesus, we should choose to respond like he did when we are insulted or slandered.
 
            b. “…that you may obtain a blessing” (v. 9b-13)
            Notice that part of the purpose behind this kind of response is mentioned here in the last part of verse nine: “that you may obtain a blessing.” Apparently, this kind of response sets us up to receive a blessing. And what is that blessing? We get a sense of it in this quotation from Psalm 34 that Peter includes in the next few verses [READ vv. 10-13].
            What is the blessing according to these verses? It is a lovable (or pleasant or enjoyable) life that is characterized by a sense of approval from God and peaceful living with others. Peter sums up this blessing with his rhetorical question in verse 13: “who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?”             Generally speaking, people will respond well if you pursue peace with them through the way that you act. This principle seems to be especially true in your personal relationships, like your relationships with your neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family members. Again, generally speaking, you can enjoy the blessing of a living at peace with others if you will treat them in godly ways. Peter may have had a verse like Proverbs 16:7 in the back of his mind here: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
            Obviously, if you treat people in evil ways, you are just asking for trouble – you are bringing it upon yourself. And that’s not just because other people will turn against you, but because the Lord himself will be against your behavior, as it says at the end of verse 12. It’s important for us to remember that just because we are children of God through our faith in Jesus Christ, we don’t get some kind of free pass on sin.
            As with your own children, their tantrums are not somehow less offensive to you just because they’re coming from your own children. In fact, they’re probably more upsetting and embarrassing to you because they are coming from your own children! In the same way that you would oppose that kind of behavior in your kids, God opposes evil behavior in us when we choose to go that route.
            So once again, in general, when we treat other people in godly ways, they will likely respond well to that. At the very least, our behavior is laying the foundation on which peaceful relationships can be built, and those relationships obviously lead to a more lovable or enjoyable life and days that are characterized by good rather than evil coming at us from every side.
 
Now Peter is also a realist, so he recognizes that there may be times when people do evil to you despite the fact that you are living in a godly way. So he goes on now to deal with that reality and remind us that even in that situation, we can and will find blessing.
 
            c. “even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed” (vv. 14-17)
            In the first part of verse 14, Peter writes [READ v. 14a]. As Peter wrote this, I imagine that he had the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount ringing in his ears: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:11-12).”
            Notice in this scenario of suffering for righteousness’ sake that the fullness of the blessing only comes in the future. Jesus said, “your reward is great in heaven.” The persecution itself might be very unpleasant and difficult, and even though you could find satisfaction in your soul from knowing that God was pleased with you, the fullness of the blessing in store for you would come later.
            Peter himself had already experienced persecution for his faith, and in Acts chapters 4-5, he gives us an example of the kind of response he now calls for here – not to be afraid in those moments, but to view them as an opportunity to share your faith in Christ.
            [READ v. 14b-15a] What Peter means here is that in our hearts and minds, we have to continue to keep Jesus in a class by himself. In our thinking, we have to keep Jesus exalted above those who are persecuting us so that we won’t allow fear of our persecutors to lead us to be unfaithful to Christ. So, for example, we have to remember that disappointing Jesus is far worse than disappointing other people. If they want us to walk away from our faith in Christ, we have to remember that such betrayal would be far worse than letting them down.
            Also, we have to remember that Jesus is still truly the one in charge of our lives even if our persecutors may seem to be in control of the situation. So we can’t let any fear of other people force our opinion of them to grow out of proportion. Christ is still the Lord over all, and we must honor him as such with our obedience.
            When we keep Jesus in a class by himself, then we are prepared to respond as Peter calls us to in the rest of verse 15 [READ v. 15b]. We should look at these moments as opportunities to share our faith! When people treat you poorly and cause you to suffer, it can be shocking to them when you don’t respond the same way. When you respond to them with kindness and love and confidence in your faith, it can lead them to say, “Why are you doing this?”
            Notice that Peter calls us to explain our hope in Christ “with gentleness and respect.” Apparently we’re not supposed to say, “I’m doing this because one of these days, God is going to crush you under his feet, you filthy pagan!” No – rather we should speak with kindness, even with compassion for this person who obviously needs to hear and understand the gospel.
            Even the next part of Peter’s instructions is not motivated by a sense of personal triumph, but the notion that guilt and shame might bring our persecutors to repentance and faith in God [READ v. 16]. Like the Philippian jailer or the thief on the cross, godly behavior in the midst of suffering can be a powerful tool that God can use to bring people under the conviction of the Holy Spirit to lead them to repent of their sins. That should be our desire even for those who cause us to suffer for our godly behavior! If God was merciful and gracious enough to forgive us, how can we not forgive those who do us wrong and show them compassion by sharing the Gospel with them so they can find the same hope in Christ that we have?
            Peter sums up his teaching in verse 17 by saying [READ v. 17]. If we are going to suffer because of our own personal conduct, it’s far better than our conduct was good rather than evil. If we suffer because of evil that we had done, we’ve brought that suffering on ourselves. There won’t be a blessing that comes from it, and it certainly won’t create an opportunity for us to have a powerful testimony to other people. But if we suffer for doing good, we will be blessed by God, and what’s more, we could be used by God in a mighty way to bring other people to faith in him.
            So no matter our situation, we can obtain a blessing through godly behavior. Most of the time, that blessing will be the peace that we enjoy with other people in the pleasant enjoyment that comes from a life that’s characterized by peace rather than turmoil. And even if it should come about that our godly behavior leads to persecution, we can gain the blessing of a reward from God in Heaven, and the opportunity to shine as a bright light for Christ in the midst of darkness.

            Rejection is never a fun experience, no matter what the circumstances are. Perhaps you apply for a job and don’t get it; perhaps your friends decide that they don’t want to be your friends anymore; perhaps you express your feelings for a member of the opposite sex but your affection is not mutual; perhaps you audition for something or perform or submit something for evaluation and you don’t get the part or the score you are hoping for.
            Rejection is never pleasant, but when we face it, we need to remember to consider the source. Just who is it who has rejected me? How important is their opinion really, and is it even correct? In times of rejection, we have to remember to assign the most importance to those who have an opinion that truly makes a difference in the grand scheme of things.
            As we’ve been studying the letter of 1 Peter, we’ve been listening in on one side of a conversation between the Apostle Peter and some Jewish believers in Christ who were facing rejection because of their faith. In our passage for today, Peter is going to remind these believers that the reality about them was precisely the opposite of what other people might have been saying about them. It was also precisely the opposite of the way that these believers themselves may have been feeling about their status and role in this world.
            Though they were objects for rejection in the eyes of some people, they were objects for honor the eyes of God. Let’s see how Peter develops this thought today in a way that would’ve been particularly special for these Jewish believers – by appealing to numerous passages from the Old Testament.
 
1. God sees you as an object of honor and part of a new work He is doing in the world (vv. 4-8)
            Let’s read through these verses first in order to get the full context before we take a bit of a closer look at these word pictures [READ vv. 4-8].
            The main word picture in these verses is that of God building a temple. Temples, both in ancient times and today, are considered to be the dwelling place of a god – or, at the very least, the place where human beings can have some access to the deity who is worshiped in that temple. So the idea is that we as Christians collectively are the dwelling place for the living God.
            According to the text, the cornerstone for this spiritual temple is none other than Jesus himself. Now when we read the word “cornerstone” here, we shouldn’t think of what we sometimes call a cornerstone today, which is usually little more than just a piece of decoration for a building. Modern cornerstones typically make no difference whatsoever for the shape or the stability of the structure, and they may actually be the last feature of the building that’s put in place.
            But in ancient times, a cornerstone was precisely the opposite – it was the very first stone that was laid, so the rest of the building was literally built around that stone. That stone would dictate the shape of the rest of the building, so it had to be a stone that was quarried well to ensure that it set the proper angle for the walls that would be built around it.
            So Jesus is the first and most significant stone in this spiritual temple. Now, to us, that’s no surprise, but according to the text this fact is a bit ironic because Jesus had already been rejected for precisely that role by some other people. Historically, the religious leaders of the Jewish people in the first century – like the Pharisees and Sadducees – were the first ones to reject Jesus, but since that time everyone who has rejected him would fall into this category of those who do not believe, those who have stumbled and have disobeyed the word.
            Now before we go on to look at a twist in this word picture in verse five, let’s step back and make sure we understand what Peter is doing. He is setting up a contrast between two different groups of people – those who believe in Jesus and those who do not. What he’s emphasizing is that the true reality of life is exactly the opposite of what the unbelievers thought it was. They had rejected Jesus; they had considered him unworthy to be the cornerstone for their lives, and so, they had rejected not only Jesus but they were also rejecting those who followed him.
            But in the eyes of God the Father, Jesus was certainly not an object to be rejected because he was chosen and precious. And since Jesus is a person worthy of honor in the sight of God, those who believe in him are likewise considered to be worthy of honor. We are destined for honor according to verse seven, and we will not be put to shame according to verse six.
            So Peter’s basic message to his audience was, “Look – those who have rejected you because of your faith have gotten it all wrong! They think you deserve shame and disgrace, but in the eyes of God – the one whose opinion truly counts – you are honorable and will not receive shame from him, but praise.”
            One application of this message for us is to make sure that we always allow God’s opinion of us to define the way that we think about ourselves, not the opinions of others. Here’s the truth for you to hang onto throughout your life – other people may lie about you, but God never does. So if his word says that whoever believes in Jesus will not be put to shame, that’s the truth! You are not destined for shame, then, but for honor! If other people call you a fool because you embrace Christ, that’s a lie, because God the father embraces him and calls him chosen and precious. Other people may lie about you, but God never does! Everything he says about you in his word is true.
            We need a healthy dose of this today because of the increasing rejection we are facing in our country for following Christ and upholding Christian values. Christian ethics about the family and sexuality are being openly mocked and rejected today, so much so that the narrative in the media and in our wider culture is that you are obviously a hateful bigot if you still live by and promote such values and standards. This situation seems likely to only increase, so we need this reminder today that those who reject us because of our faith and its teachings have gotten it all wrong! Their opinion could not be more wrong, because God, who defines right and wrong and has made reality, considers us objects for honor because of our faith in Christ. We are not and will not be rejected by the One whose opinion truly matters, so even if we have to deal with rejection from others for a little while, we have to remember that their rejection of us is based on a lie, not the truth.
            Now, a moment ago, I mentioned that verse five presents us with a bit of a twist in this whole word picture of a spiritual temple. The twist is this – not only are we the spiritual temple, but we are the priests of that temple as well, able to offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. I bet that comment was very significant to the Jewish believers who first received this letter, and they probably appreciated it more than we might – at least initially.
            Within Judaism, most of those Jewish people could not have been priests because the priesthood was open only to members of the tribe of Levi. Only the Levites had that honor – it was not available to anyone else. But within Christianity, every Christian is called a priest, and in this verse, we have that position because we are each able to offer the sacrifices of the New Covenant to our God.
            According to the New Testament, we could say that the sacrifices we offer are the acts of obedience that we perform for God. We do not simply offer animals, but rather we offer our lives themselves as sacrifices, with all of our goals and dreams and aspirations and hopes. We place all of these things in the hands of the Lord and dedicate them to his glory.
            Now why did Peter add this little twist into his word picture? Why did he also point out that we are not only the temple of God but the priests of that temple as well? I think perhaps he did it to show that Christianity is not in any way deficient compared to other religions.
            Christianity was very different from all of the religious activity that surrounded these Christians in the Roman Empire. It was very different from both Judaism and the worship that was practiced for the Greek and Roman gods because – outwardly at least – it lacked the three main elements of worship in all of those religious systems – namely, a temple, priests, and sacrifices. Christianity has no temple, no central place where we must go in order to have access to God. It has no priesthood, at least in the sense of some believers having unique access to God that isn’t available to all believers. And we offer no animal sacrifices.
            Now I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the people who rejected these Christians to whom Peter was writing made fun of the believers for these things. They probably thought that Christianity was deeply flawed because it didn’t have the external trappings of the other religions in the Roman Empire. But according to Peter, Christianity was not lacking in any way compared to these other religions. We do have a temple, a priesthood, and sacrifices, they are just different and in fact superior to the elements of those other religions. Our temple is not limited to just one place; it can be found everywhere! Our priesthood is not just a small group within our fellowship – it is the whole group! Our sacrifices are not offered once and then gone forever – they can be offered again and again, and they have much more power to actually bring about change in the world.
            So despite what these believers may have heard from those who rejected them, neither they nor their religion were deficient in any way. They were objects of honor in the sight of God, and they worshiped in a manner that was far superior to that of everyone else around them.
 
But not only does God see us as priests to serve Him…
 
2. God sees you as a messenger of His glory (vv. 9-10)
            I think verses 9-10 would have been deeply moving for these Jewish believers because they are so rich with allusions to the Old Testament. Each of the titles we find here had been used of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament [READ vv. 9-10].
            Peter’s point in these verses is quite clear—as members of the Church, this new spiritual temple, they were living out the role that had been given to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Remember—these Christians were apparently from a Jewish background. Many of their family members had perhaps been telling them that they had betrayed the people of God by following Christ. But as we saw before, their opinion could not have been further from the truth. They were God’s people precisely because they had embraced Jesus by faith. They were now living as the people whom Israel was supposed to be all along.
            Now lest we think that a passage like this means that God is finished with the nation of Israel, as though He has cast them aside completely, we need to understand that other passages in both the Old and New Testaments teach us that this is not the case. God still has big plans for the nation of Israel, but when their leaders rejected Christ, the nation could not be used by God in that condition. So God has ceased to carry out His work through them for a time, but He will once again use them in a great way in the future.
            Perhaps a sports analogy will help clarify their status and their relationship to the Church of today. Every sports team has its starters, the players whom the coach wants to have on the court or the field for the majority of the game. But if the starters aren’t following the game plan or they’re not performing well, the coach will take them out for a while and put in the subs.
            You can think of Israel as being kind of like the starters. God’s desire for them was that they would follow his game plan, his commandments, and that they would accept the Savior whom he was sending to them. Unfortunately, they chose to reject him, though God in his foresight and wisdom used even that rejection to bring about good, since it brought about the death and resurrection of Christ.
            But since the people of Israel did not follow God’s game plan, He has put them on the bench for a while, so to speak. Today he is accomplishing his work through people who are defined not by a single ethnic identity but by faith in Jesus Christ. We are presently carrying out the role that was meant for Israel, but just as every coach wants to get his starters back in the game, God has plans to carry out his work through Israel once again.
            So we are not permanent replacements for the nation of Israel, but for now we have been given this great task that is laid out at the end of verse nine – to proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. This is why God has called you and me and put us into the game, so to speak. This is his intention for his great work of salvation in us – that he might also do a great work through us.
            These privileges we have of being destined for honor and of being a special people in the eyes of the Lord have not been given to us just for our own benefit and enjoyment. With these treasures comes a tremendous task – the task of being God’s messengers and ambassadors in this world. How keenly are we aware of the excellencies that God has put on display by calling us out of darkness into light – traits like his goodness, justice, holiness, mercy, grace, and love.
            Christian, never forget – other people may lie about you, but God never does! They may reject you for your faith and thus communicate ideas about you that are not true. So do not walk in that rejection; do not let it define the way that you think about yourself. Rather, walk in redemption. Live as a child whom God treasures and wants to use to do a great work in this world. Look at yourself at all times in that light, and then live to proclaim the excellencies of the one who has called you into that light from out of the darkness.
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