Where We Belong

 ¹ Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ² as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.   
⁴ Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

      “ Behold, I lay in Zion
      A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
      And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

⁷ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,

“ The stone which the builders rejected
      Has become the chief cornerstone,”

 ⁸ and

      “ A stone of stumbling
      And a rock of offense.”

   They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

⁹ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2:1-10, New King James Version)

Because we are born again through the precious, incorruptible blood of Jesus and the eternal word of God, we now need to lay aside all of those things that are not suited to our new nature.  Malice, or ill intent, has no place in our new life.  We must reject every form of deceit and dishonesty, and hypocrisy which is that tendency to say one thing and do another, to pretend that we something other than what we are.  We need to stop envying each other for their possessions, their talents, gifts, relationships, whatever, because this is often the source of malice and hypocrisy.  We must continue to be careful not to speak evil of others.  We must stop making excuses for all these things and make a choice to lay them aside, rejecting them as behavior not suitable for a new creation in Christ.

We need to feed on God's word and not resist the things it says, but rather  let it do its work to change us and cause growth.

Indeed our Lord is gracious and precious to us who yielded our lives to Him.  He is the solid Rock on which we stand and base our lives, but to hearts bent on rebellion He is a stone which trips them.  Having been offered a free pardon and then choosing to reject it, they heap more condemnation on themselves.

But those of us who know Jesus as our Savior and our Lord are chosen.  We are a royal priesthood.  Royal because we are children of the King of Kings, and a priesthood because we are God's servants and ministers.  We are His hands and feet, going and reaching out to those around us, a light in the darkness that so heavily hangs over this world of ours.

We are a holy nation, we no longer claim citizenship in this world, but our citizenship is in heaven, and we are strangers and visitors here on earth.  We are God's chosen and special people, set apart to proclaim the praises of  God bring glory to the One who called out of the thick choking darkness we once walked in and into His marvelous light.

Once we were not a people, once we did not belong, we had no place or people to which we truly belonged, but now we belong to God Himself, we are His people, on which He has chosen to show His incredible love and mercy.

Lord, I thank you for your mercy.  I thank you that now I truly have a place I belong, in Your loving arms.  I praise You, Lord, for choosing me.  I don't understand why you did, there was nothing in me to warrant or be worthy of  Your choosing, yet You chose me as a vessel to display Your mercy.  I can only respond with humble thanks.  I ask Lord, that You will help me to lay aside everything that would hinder my usefulness to You, anything that would stop other people from seeing Your glory.  Praise You LORD.

Mysteries Even Angels Wish to See

⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸ whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, ¹¹ searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. ¹² To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:6-12, New King James Version)

We rejoice that Jesus holds us and keeps us, knowing that any trials or tests we face will pale in comparison to the glory we will have at the revelation of Jesus Christ in the last day.

We have not seen this day, and we have not seen Christ, but we love Him without seeing Him because His Spirit dwells in us who have received salvation by God's grace.

It is interesting to note the prophets who in the past proclaimed this grace that was to come did so through the same Spirit, that is, the Spirit of Christ (vs 11). These prophets did not fully understand what they prophesied in the messianic prophesies, but they put their faith and trust in God based on what had been revealed, even though that revelation was as yet far from complete. It was okay that they didn't understand it all, because the things they prophesied and wrote were not really for their benefit, but for ours. They were part of a bigger picture they could not even imagine, a piece of God's plan.

We put our faith in Him based on so much more revelation than they had. We (the church) have mysteries revealed to us that even angels desire to know and understand. Mysteries which God did not reveal directly to His angels, but instead revealed to His church, and through His church revealed them to the powers and principalities in heavenly places. (See Ephesians 3:9-11)

So much more has been given to us than to the prophets of old, our revelation is so much more complete. It is a wonder we do not explode for joy over the knowledge of God that has been given to us!

We have even been given so much more than the angels in heaven, have been given, for Christ did not die to save fallen angels, but did die to save fallen human beings.

We should always be rejoicing at the sheer miracle of the gospel, both what Christ actually did for us, and that we have had it revealed to us so completely.

There are things that still have not been fully revealed to us, (1 Corinthians 13:12) and will not be fully revealed to us until Christ returns and we become like Him, but surely if the prophets could walk in such faith with the little that was revealed to them, we can do so with the abundance of revelation and grace given to us.

Lord, I praise You for Your Mysteries that have bee revealed through Your word, thank You that you have chosen to reveal to Your church things that previously You did not even reveal to the angels in heaven. I praise You also Lord for the glory that will be revealed in the last day, for the day when we will behold You face to face, and know You in ways we cannot fathom now.
Praise You Jesus!