"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).
"Privileged" is a word that people shy away from and won't ascribe to themselves amid the ongoing social and racial unrest. People do not want to assert any form of privilege over a society that is presently torn on the issue of equality. However, true followers of Jesus, those who have been born again by the Spirit of the living God have indeed received a divine privilege. We are a privileged people! From the words of the apostle Peter, we are a 1) chosen race, 2) a royal priesthood, 3) a holy nation and a people of His own possession. Other translations use the words "chosen generation"; the root word for generation is the word "gene". This means that we have the spiritual "genes" of the Father because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We are a royal priesthood because we are in His Majesty's royal service, given the task of reconciling man to God through the proclamation of the gospel and to lift them up through intercessory prayer. We are a holy nation, which means we have been "set apart" - we are not to be identified with the world. We may be IN the world, but Jesus said we are not OF the world. We have a heavenly citizenship that is way superior than any nation of this world, the race we belong to is far greater than any ethnicity that we are born into. Our true identity comes from the King of kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. He purchased us at the highest price - His blood shed on the cross - and by that we have become His redeemed people, His cherished possession. This awareness of who we are in Christ should not make us act with worldly superiority and try to dominate others. Rather, our identity in Christ should drive a right response to the current social divide and compel us to build bridges instead of walls. Our purpose as God's privileged people, His own cherished possession is "to proclaim the praises of Him Who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light". We have been accepted by God and even called His privileged people. We do not seek the approval of men; the mere fact that God has accepted us through His Son Jesus is enough. In fact, God's approval is what really matters. Be richly blessed, the privileged people of God!
Pastor Ramon