Your Life Reveals the Goodness of God
Theme Verse
“Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.” Philippians 1:27
Gospel Story: Washing of the disciple’s feet John 13:1-18 “Do you understand what I was doing?”
Read: 1 Peter 2:9-12
“Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.” (Ex. 30:30)
9 But you are …
A. A Chosen People (9)
Eklektos
Selected, picked out, chosen by God.
A personal deliberate heart-preference
For special service toward a definite outcome. (See later)
B. A Royal Priesthood (9)
You carry the royal dignity of the kingdom that is above all kingdoms.
Relaxing at the cottage on a warm summer day or fighting a blizzard.
At a warm family gathering or staring down a criminal in a dark alley.
Your world is royal. You have a kingly ancestry, and your world is subject to the crowned “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” (Rev. 19:16b)
Having been washed with the blood of Christ, filled with his power, and adopted into his royal household, you are well-suited for the king’s service.
God’s empire, which has its source in the highest heaven, the dwelling-place of God and the seat of things eternal and perfect, is fully active in your world.
C. A Holy Nation (9)
God’s holiness is a condition you live in.
Holy Understanding: you can make sense of life, navigate its disarray, see purpose in all things, and realise how events work together.
Holy Ambitions (Motives): your desire to achieve, passion to succeed, and desire for action is sanctified, fueled by the zeal of the Lord, and motivated by your love for people.
Holy Inclinations
If people are nice to you, you can know the joy of kindness; if they are mean to you, you can give thanks that you can bear it.
When treated sweetly, you can revel in the pleasantness you have received; when wronged, you can still honor the offender.
When loved, you can delight in the endearment you have been shown; when hurt, you can return healing and mercy.
Holy Desires: God’s holy presence is your impulse. He is your longing and craving. He satisfies your desire to fly and fulfills your passion to love and be loved. He is your longing and hope. You will love what happens in you when you serve him!
Holy Resolution: holy make-up = holy determinations = appropriate action.
D. God’s Special Possession (9)
You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. (Lev. 20:26)
You are pure and separated from all sin, purchased, and purged by the holiest sacrifice. Sin has no hold, common ground, or place to latch onto.
The claims, rights and privileges of Satan’s empire have been renounced. All intruders and evil contenders are forbidden, and all previous authorities have been expelled and permanently barred.
You belong to the Lord. No other person, power or entity has claims, rights, or jurisdiction over you. You are separate "unto" God: in him, owned by him, and held by him. You have been set apart for his pleasure and purposes.
In society, you remain distinct in spirit, motivation, and attitude. You resemble only him; His mark is on you, and his holy nature is in you.
Purpose: “that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (9)
Contrast: “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (10)
Injunction: “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” (11)
A Holy Influence
12 Live such good lives among the pagans (éthnos from ethō, "forming a custom, culture") that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
You carry his holy dynamically positive influence into every situation. Every event is holy because holiness is the place you live out of. Every building you enter becomes God’s holy dwelling.
Your station is holy, and everyone there is impacted with God’s presence.
The Lord has established your house as holy and rules it by his holy law.
Influences ordering the way you think or behave are under His holy agency.
All that is yours is holy, to be used for him and by him. Everything is a holy occasion, to be lived out in God’s blessing. It is therefore my privilege to …
Drive kids home after an event because your car belongs to the Lord.
Shovel your neighbor’s driveway because your shovel is the Lord’s.
Return home and play UNO with your little girl because she is the Lord’s.