“Majestic” Series: A Majestic Consecration
1st Peter 2:9
Introduction:
By God’s grace we’re continuing with the “Majestic” series this morning. It’s a series that talks about the majestic life you have in Christ. And it focuses on the calling, the commitment, the consecration, and the completeness, of the life God has brought you into via the New Birth.
The series is based on 1st Peter 2:9…and prayerfully, it’ll help you understand more fully what you are saved to be.
Why don’t you stand with me, and let’s read that text aloud together now.
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.
Let’s pray together now…that our hearts will be open to what we’re going to hear in the next few minutes.
The religious system of the Old Testament was a formal, ritualistic religion.
Now, I recognize that when Pentecostals hear a statement like that, your minds might immediately form negative, disparaging thoughts about religious formality and ritual…but that would be unfair. That would be unfair for a least a couple of reasons:
First, the formality and ritual of Old Testament religion didn’t automatically exclude the sense of a profound, powerful…and often deeply personal…spiritual relationship with God. The Old Testament itself bears witness to this in the Psalms and the Prophets.
Second, the formality and ritual of Old Testament religion provided a structure that served to teach the People of Israel important lessons about the nature of God and His work in the world.
So, for example; once a year the sacrificial liturgy took the High Priest behind the veil to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on that mysterious piece of furniture called the Ark of the Covenant. The central spot on top of the Ark…between the gold figures of the cherubim…was called the “mercy seat.” And this taught the Israelites that God was ultimately a merciful God.
Then, the strict, systematic process of sacrifice and cleansing that the priest had to follow in his approach to the presence of God taught the Israelites that God was first and foremost holy…and that holiness in worship & life mattered very much to God.
That both of these existed together in the same ritual taught the Israelites that mercy and holiness were not contradictory impulses. They learned that mercy and holiness were both reflective of the nature & character of God. And they learned that being merciful did not preclude the love of holiness.
There’s a particular aspect of Old Testament religion that I’ve always found very interesting…even inspiring. And it’s that all the physical elements used in the rituals were made of earthly materials.
So, Tabernacle furniture was made from wood, bronze, and gold. Sacrificial utensils were bronze. Incense was crafted from herbs and resins. The Tabernacle itself was constructed of hides and cloth…and the Temple that came later was built of stone and wood.
Sacrifices were animals, a cup of wine poured out, or even a handful of flour. The priests cleansed themselves with water. The priests’ garments were linen…and the priests themselves were men…just men.
Nothing used in the rituals was alien, strange, or foreign to the Israelites. Nothing used had fallen from the sky to earth…nothing was gifted from the heavenly realm. All of it was earthly, and much of it was quite ordinary.
Yet in Old Testament worship, these earthly, ordinary elements somehow gained an extraordinary significance. Through their use, sins were remitted. Through their use, the will of God was revealed.
Through their use, fire would fall from heaven. Through their use, victory was achieved. Through their use, the most holy and omnipotent God made His presence known in the Sanctuary and showed that He dwelled among His people.
So, what was it? What was it that granted ordinary wood & metal, hides & linen, herbs & resins…and even men…such extraordinary significance? What made such earthly materials sufficient for divine service? What ennobled such base things and made them instruments of ministry?
Consecration. It was consecration.
By God’s grace, that’s what I want to talk to you about for the next few minutes; consecration. My prayer is that before our gathering ends and the benediction is pronounced, that you will be aware of the hand of God drawing you to a deeper sort of life than you’re living now…that you’ll hear His voice speaking to you about living a life of consecration.
Let’s pray again right now…
I. What Consecration Is
You know, an awful lot of the time we churchy people use a particular vocabulary…a vocabulary we’ve learned and adopted through our years of being part of the church world…and we use it without necessarily thinking about what the words mean. And, we often use it without regard for those who don’t know that vocabulary.
That’s why in this series I’ve tried to be careful to help you understand terms like “salvation” and “commitment”. It’s important that believers really understand what these things mean, and it’s important that those who aren’t familiar with our religious vocabulary are able to follow what’s being said.
So, it’s also important that I take a few moments to be sure that all of us understand what “consecration” means. We can’t really appreciate the significance of the idea without a basic knowledge of the word itself. And while the idea of consecration is profound, the meaning of the word itself is simple.
“Consecration” is simply the process by which an object, a place, or a person, is set apart for sacred use. In ancient times, this most always involved some sort of ritual through which people publicly recognized that a once ordinary object, a once ordinary place, a once ordinary person, was no longer ordinary…no longer ordinary, but separated for sacred use. What had been consecrated was holy.
All of the ancient cultures that lived around the People of Israel understood this concept. Pagan as they were, they all understood “consecration” this way; ordinary things, ordinary places, and ordinary people could be set aside for sacred use. And once that consecration had been made, no longer could ordinary thing be used in an ordinary way; it was for the sacred, and it was holy.
For the People of Israel, this process of consecration generally involved the object or person being anointed with a very rare and costly oil…blended specifically for this purpose and this purpose alone. All objects used in Tabernacle worship had to be anointed with this oil, and once they were, they could be used for nothing else than worship.
But…but…it’s important to realize that the oil itself contained no magical properties. The ritual of anointing didn’t change the basic nature of the thing anointed. An anointed bronze shovel was still a bronze shovel. An anointed silver bowl was still a silver bowl. Anointed bread was still bread. And an anointed man was still a human being.
What changed was awareness…and this is a truth you need to grasp. What had been ordinary just moments before was now set aside only for the sacred, and everyone was aware of that consecration. They were aware that “these are sacred things…this is a sacred place…and this is a sacred person.” The great power of consecration was in the mind and heart.
This is a great truth of consecration; its power lies in an altered awareness.
Another great truth of consecration is about purpose & use. There is purpose to consecration that involves how the thing consecrated is used. In the tradition of ancient Israel consecrated things were never merely decorative; they were always consecrated for a particular function, a particular use.
So, consecrated bread was to be eaten by the priests. Consecrated trumpets were to be played in worship. Consecrated lamps burned to give light. Consecration wasn’t for nothing. Consecration wasn’t to set a thing on a shelf and admire it. A person, place, or thing that was consecrated was set apart for sacred service.
This is a great truth of consecration; that consecration is about purpose & use.
II. A Consecrated People
But consecration isn’t an idea that’s only relevant to Old Testament worship; the New Testament makes clear that the Church is a consecrated people. We are a people that are set aside for the sacred…and that’s what the Apostle Peter is driving at in our reading today.
In fact, in a matter of three verses Peter presents both truths of consecration; the truth of awareness and the truth of purpose. In verse 13 he writes;
“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
That’s about awareness; it’s about you being aware that you are consecrated.
Then in verse 15 he writes;
“…but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,”
And that’s about purpose; it’s about you doing the work of the consecrated.
Our text for this series teaches us that we are a consecrated people. In 1st Peter 2:9 we’re told;
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession…”
That’s about awareness; it’s about you being aware that you are consecrated. And Peter continues…
“…that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
And that’s about purpose; it’s about you doing the work of the consecrated.
The Apostle Paul teaches us that we are a consecrated people in 1st Corinthians 6:19-20.
“…do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.”
That’s about awareness; it’s about you being aware that you are consecrated. And Paul finishes by saying…
“So glorify God in your body.”
And that’s about purpose; it’s about you doing the work of the consecrated.
III. The Consecrated Life
We know that “consecration” is being set aside for sacred use. And we know the great truths of consecration…that the power of consecration is in altered awareness. And that consecration is practical; it’s about purpose and use.
And we’ve just learned that consecration wasn’t only part of the Old Testament world; we, the Church…with the name of Christ upon us and the Spirit of Christ within us…are a consecrated people.
But we’ve got to know how this is worked out in us. Well, it starts with the way we think, and flows into the way we live. Consecrated people think differently and live differently.
They think about sin differently. The Consecrated shun sin. That doesn’t mean that the Consecrated shun sinners…no, not at all! How can you do Christ’s work in the world if you shun people? You can’t. I mean that the Consecrated shun the works of sin in their own lives.
To the Consecrated, sin is shunned…not because it’ll take them to hell…but because sin is corrupting. Sin is shunned because it brings impurity. Sin is shunned because it twists and distorts. Sin is shunned because it breaks the consecration. The Consecrated shun sin because they know that God…in His great grace…has set them aside for sacred use. And when sin has its way, it will destroy that.
So, the Consecrated strive to not only avoid the practice of sin in life, they seek to avoid the very appearance of evil. They want…they desire…to live in a way that reveals the holy nature of the One Who has called them.
So, the Consecrated ask themselves different questions than others do. They don’t just ask themselves, “Is this sin?” Instead they ask themselves, “Will this allow the nature of God to be revealed through my life?”
The Consecrated think about salvation differently. For them, salvation isn’t about not going to hell. For the Consecrated, salvation is about being delivered from darkness to live in the light. For them, salvation is about living in the Kingdom of God. For them, salvation is about doing the work of the Kingdom in the world.
The Consecrated think differently about their education, their jobs, their careers. For the Consecrated, it’s no longer just about how all of this will advance their goals, fulfill their dreams, or prosper their lives. No, for the Consecrated all of this comes to be about God’s work.
So they ask themselves, “Will this education, this job, this career, help fulfill the plan and purpose of God? Is all this in alignment with the values of the Kingdom of God? Will all this help me engage in the sacred work of the Kingdom that God has set me aside to do?”
And having determined the answers, they carefully choose their path in life in concert with their consecration.
I think by now that you start to get the picture; that for the Consecrated, there is no aspect of life that is not influenced by the awareness that God has set them apart.
There is no aspect of life that is outside the practical expression of that consecration. Everything from activities to relationships…everything…is considered in light of their consecration. Why? Because God has set them aside for sacred use.
Closing:
So I ask you, “What is the state of your consecration?” Do you live with the awareness of one who has been set apart for sacred use? Do you make your choices in life to reflect sacred purpose? Or have you been living as if your life was your own, to do with as you choose…as you see fit?
You see, one of the beautiful, wonderful things about this New Covenant era…this era of grace…is that if we know that we’ve not been living the life we’ve been called to, we can reconsecrate ourselves. We can rededicate ourselves to God’s sacred use, to God’s plan and purpose.
Today, you’re going to have that opportunity.
I close now with this reading from Isaiah 52…
The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion.
Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the LORD.
This is the Word of the Lord! And let all the people say, “Amen!”
