Mar. 08, 2026

“BE HOPEFUL”

“WHO AM I?”

1 PETER 2:9-10

“Who Am I?” And “Why Am I Here?”

Peter in 1 Peter 2 will answer these two questions for us.

Back in the Bible times a phrase was used for a person who didn’t know the answer:

Matthew 15:16 “So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding?”

Now Let’s Look At Peter’s Answer To These Two Questions:

1.  “Who Am I?”- 1 Peter 2:9

1 Peter 2:9 “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.”

We see according to verse nine the believer in Jesus Christ is Special in Four Different Ways:

• “A Chosen Generation” vs.9

1 Peter 2:4 “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.”

vs.9 “chosen generation”- generation in this context is talking about an “offspring,” “kindred,” of the same kind, generated from the same source.

Regeneration- being born again.

We have a common birth:

1 Peter 1:23 “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”

If you are born again, act like it because you are a “chosen generation.”

• “A Royal Priesthood” vs.9

1 Peter 2:5 “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.”

Holy Priesthood- “holy”-means being set apart. “Royal”-means it pertains to the King.

Genesis 14 talks about Melchizedek- which means king of righteousness.

Hebrews 7:1,2 “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,”

“Salem”-Jerusalem, it also means peace.

We are priests:

Hebrews 7:17 “For He testifies: “You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.” 

Revelation 1:5-6 “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Revelation 5:10 “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

Jesus has given us all power:

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

As priest we have access to God:

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

vs.5 “…a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Romans 12:1-2- We are offer our bodies as living sacrifices.

Hebrews 13:15 “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

A sacrifice of praise all the time.

Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”

A sacrifice of a broken spirit and contrite heart.

Philippians 4:18 “Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.”

How do you rate as a priest? Have you been off duty this past week? What sacrifices will you offer to God today?

• “Holy Nation” vs.9

“Holy”- set apart to God “Nations” 

Matthew 28:18-20- “Go and teach all nations” in the Greek “Ethnah” for ethnic- you share a unique nature. Ethnic groups set apart for God.

2 Peter 1:4 “by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

What nature have you been showing this week?

Holiness is what you are, what are you doing about it?

• “Special People” vs.9

God has put His fence around you and you are a “special or private property” to Him. He owns you!!

2.  “Why Are You Here?”- 1 Peter 2:9-10 

1 Peter 2:9-10 “…that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

We are here for “only one purpose.”

vs.9 “……that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

“Proclaim” or shew forth the praises of Him or manifest or reveal the praise of God.

Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Paul testifies of this:

Acts 26:13,18

2 Corinthians 4:1-6

Only one purpose to be here. We are the proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:10 “who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

Romans 9:25-26 “As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” 26“And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

Hosea 1:9-10 “Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God. 10“Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’
There it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.”

Hosea 2:23 “Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’ ”

We have obtained mercy, are you showing mercy? We have been given light, are you shewing forth light? What are you doing? How are you doing it? What will you do?