Strangers in the World: 1v1-2

Sanctifying in this context means the Holy Spirit sets us apart.

He marks us out as those who will belong to God.

In fact, the Holy Spirit's work, his primary work,

is to make our belonging to God a reality in our lives.

A few years ago, Kirsty and I had to write a will.

And in that will it states that should anything ever happen to us,

all that we own, all our belongings, will go to our children.

Which means a mortgage, by the way.

They will receive ownership of all that we have.

Now for that to happen, we need a guarantor

who will enact what the will says to ensure that they receive

everything that has been willed to them.

Now in the same way, as we've just seen,

in eternity past, the Father has willed,

he has chosen us to be his children.

And the Holy Spirit acts as the guarantor.

He sets us apart, making sure that we will become God's children

and that we will belong to him.

He makes the will of God a reality in our lives.

You see, as a Christian,

we might be outsiders in this world.

We might feel alone and abandoned and that nobody understands.

We may experience a form of isolation.

But because of the Spirit's work in our lives,

we have been set apart by God

and called to be God's children.

We're not loners,

wandering around without purpose and without meaning.

We've been set apart,

marked out by the Holy Spirit

to live as God's people in this world.

Don't let the world

make your identity.

Let God shape your identity.

So we've been chosen by the Father,

set apart by the Spirit,

and now belong to Jesus.

Let's read again,

chapter 1, verse 1,

to God's elect.

Verse 2,

who've been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,

through the setting apart work of the Spirit,

for obedience to Jesus Christ,

and sprinkling by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Now, to help us understand this,

we need to go back to a very important occasion

in the Old Testament.

So keep your finger in 1 Peter.

Let's go back to Exodus, chapter 24.

Exodus 24 · chapter mention

Exodus, chapter 24.

Exodus 24 · chapter mention

And here we get an understanding

of what that little phrase,

for obedience to Jesus,

and sprinkling by the blood of Jesus,

what that means.

So in Exodus 24,

what's happened is,

the people of Israel,

remember,

were taken into slavery in Egypt,

and God comes,

and he rescues them from Egypt,

and he delivers them across,

and promises to bring them to a new land and a new place.

And towards that land,

on their journey,

God calls all the people together

at Mount Sinai.

And at this mountain,

God enters into relationship

with these people.

It's where God makes a covenant.

He makes a promise

to belong to these people.

And that's where we come to

in Exodus, chapter 24,

Exodus 24:7

verse 7.

So here they are,

gathered at the mountain.

God is speaking

through Moses,

their leader.

Verse 7.

Then he,

that's Moses,

took the book of the covenant

and read it to the people.

And they responded,

we will do everything

the Lord has said.

We will obey.

So everything that God says,

we're going to do what God says.

We're going to obey him.

Verse 8.

Moses then took the blood

of an animal

that had been sacrificed

and sprinkled it on the people

and said,

this is the blood of the covenant

that the Lord has made with you

in accordance

with all these words.

So on the one side,

the people,

as they come into relationship

with God,

he says,

the people say,

we're going to obey God.

We promise to obey God.

And then God,

on the other side,

through the symbol

of the sprinkling of the blood,

promises to be committed

to these people.

It's God's way of saying,

you belong to me

and I belong to you.

I am going to be your God

and you're going to be my people.

But why would he start

sprinkling blood?

It sounds really gross,

doesn't it?

You could imagine

just blood being thrown around

all on top of you just now.

Why that?

Well, the blood underlined

the seriousness of this relationship,

this commitment,

one to each other.

In other words,

God is saying,

I will give my life for you.

I will be prepared

to shed my blood for you.

I will be ready to die for you

so that you belong to me.

Of course, as the story unfolds,

the problem is

the people keep on breaking

their side of the promise.

They continually disobey.

They continually walk away from God

and the relationship to God

is completely broken.

But now,

as we see in 1 Peter,

through Jesus,

our belonging to him

is now made permanent.

It can never be broken

because Jesus has come

and he has stepped in for us.

First of all,

Jesus gives us

his perfect obedience

so that we always stand

before God

as right

and as pure

and as blameless

because Jesus has clothed us

with his perfection.

But not only that,

second,

Jesus has taken the blame

for all of our disobedience.

And as Jesus died

on the cross,

all my disobedience

was placed on him.

He suffers the punishment

that I deserve.

He gives his life for me.

He sheds his blood for me.

He dies in place of me

so that I,

a rebel,

can belong to him

for all eternity.

By faith

in the death of Jesus,

it's just as if

we've been sprinkled

with the blood of Jesus,

a sign of God's

eternal commitment,

telling us time and time again,

saying,

I have died for you.

You belong to me

and I belong to you

and I am your God

and you will be my people.

We have been set apart

by the Spirit

for obedience to Jesus

and the sprinkling

of his blood.

You see,

if we are Christians,

we don't belong

in this world.

But the point is,

we do belong

to Jesus.

We cannot get better

or greater than that.

If God has chosen you

from before time began,

if he has set you apart

by his Holy Spirit,

if he sent his Son

to die for you,

then you do belong.

You are God's

chosen people

to live for him

in this world.

In a moment,

we are all going to

walk through

that door.

And if you are

a follower of Jesus,

you will walk out

through there

as an exile.

It is like we will be

scattered to different places.

We will go to our places

of work tomorrow morning.

We will go into college

or school.

We will be mixing

with our friends

in our neighbourhoods.

We will be going back

home to our families.

And it is not going

to be easy.

It will be hostile.

It will be difficult.

People will not always

want to be your friend.

They won't agree

with what you have to say.

They will shut you out

and push you out.

But our sense of identity

is not shaped

by this world.

It is shaped

by God.

Remember,

we are elect

exiles.

Yes,

we are strangers

in this world,

but chosen

by God

to live for him.

And as we go,

let us go

with this

great promise.

Look at the end

of verse 2.

Chapter 1,

verse 2.

Grace

and peace

be yours

in abundance.

As God's loved

and treasured

and chosen child,

he will not leave you

alone and isolated.

He is not about

to give up on you

and say,

just live this life

on your own

and get on with it.

God will give you

his peace

and his grace

in abundance.

It's going to be

like an overflowing

fountain

pouring down

upon you

on your life.

What you need

to live

as a stranger

in this world

will be much

more than you need.

All the resources

that you need

to live for God

will be poured

out upon your life.

In your weakness,

you will have

his grace.

When you struggle

to keep going

as a Christian

and the pressure

seems too much

and you just want

to give in

and give up

and conform

to everybody else,

his grace

will be sufficient

for you.

in fear,

you will have

his peace.

When you worry

about what people

think of you,

when what you believe

costs you

your friends,

his peace

will be your comfort.

He will fill you.

He will be with you.

Do not let the world

shape your identity.

Live

as the chosen

people of God,

loved by the Father

in eternity past,

set apart

by the Holy Spirit

to belong to him,

belonging to Jesus,

the one who died

for you

to give you meaning

and purpose.

So let's go

with confidence.

Let's go

as God's

elect

exiles

to serve him

and to live

for him

in this hostile

world.

Let's pray

together.

Let's pray

together.

Father,

we recognize

that at times

we do feel

alone

and we wonder

where home

actually is.

We struggle