A Majestic Consecration Series

“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.