Joel Osteen writes in his book a true story about a famous golfer who was invited by the king of Saudi Arabia to play in a golf tournament. He accepted the invitation, and the king flew his private jet over to the United States to pick up the pro. They played golf for several days, and enjoyed a good time. As the golfer was getting on the plane to return to the U.S., the king stopped him and said, “I want to give you a gift for coming all this way and making this time so special. Anything you want. What could I get you?
Ever the gentleman, the golfer replied, “Oh, please; don’t get me anything. You’ve been a gracious host. I’ve had a wonderful time. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
The king was adamant. He said, No, I insist on giving you something so you will always remember your journey to our country.
When the golfer realized that the king was resolute, he said, Okay, fine. I collect golf clubs. Why don’t you give me a golf club?
He boarded the plane, and on his flight back home, he couldn’t help wondering what kind of golf club the king might give him. He imagined that it might be a solid gold putter with his name engraved on it. Or maybe it would be a sand wedge studded with diamonds and jewels. After all, this would be a gift from the oil-rich king of Saudi Arabia.
When the golfer got home, he watched the mail and the delivery services every day, to see if his golf club had come yet. Finally, several weeks later, he received a certified letter from the king of Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Professional thought that rather strange. Where’s my golf club? He wondered. He opened the envelope, and to his surprise, inside he discovered a deed to a FIVE-HUNDRED-ACRE GOLF COURSE in America.
Sometimes kings think differently than you and I think. When the king and the golfer thought about the gift, the golfer could not grasp the kind of gift the king had in mind. Their minds were both on different levels. It is the same with our thinking on what it means to be a citizen in America and a citizen of Heaven. I believe as citizens of heaven, it is time to switch gears from doing things from an earthly perspective to a heavenly perspective.
THESIS: Christians must understand their roles as citizens of Heaven here on earth so that they can maximize their full potential as one who brings praise to God. I am not sure if the Church really understands what it means to be a citizen of heaven, but I believe the apostle Peter gives us a glimpse in one of his letters, of what our roles are and how we are suppose to respond as citizens of heaven.
Living As Citizens Of Heaven On Earth!
PASSAGE: 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
Peter was writing to an audience who were mostly Gentile Christian and who were dispersed through out the provinces of Rome. During this time, Rome was emerging and growing rapidly. Rome would send large numbers of colonists to new territories to settle and begin Roman colonies. A commentator by the name of Karen Jobes stated, “It was said that a sizable number of Christians went, either voluntarily or by force, to help populate (The Empire) Claudius,’ newly established colonies in Asia Minor“ (39). Claudius was polytheistic, which meant he believed in many Gods, so when Jewish people came to settle in his colonies. It would not bother him because to him it just meant one more god. Also, at the time this letter was written, Christianity was just considered a branch of Judaism. Claudius was labeled Pro Jewish, but he had some stipulations that the Jews & Christians had to abide by or they would become the target of persecution.
This book was written to people who were being persecuted, left and right for the Christians faith. Try to understand that persecution was not just physical, but also psychological due to the fact that they were living among many pagan religions. They were experiencing tension and inconsistencies with their Christian fellowship, which probably added to the level of persecution they were going through.
A commentator states that the readers were experiencing various kinds of trails that were causing them varying degrees of grief and suffering. The bottom line is that they were going through it. And “because of Peter’s association with Rome, he writes to them after they were dispersed throughout the colonies to encourage them in the faith and to instruct them how to live as Christians in their new and trying situations“ (Jobes 39).
In the passage I selected, Peter was reminding Christians who were under persecution of their roles and responsibilities that they are suppose to demonstrate in their lives as one who is a citizen of heaven, which also applies to us.
I. (I want to talk about the) Roles as a citizen of Heaven:
a. You are a chosen people! (v. 2:9a) Before the foundations of the world God choose you. He handpicked each person in this room.
Recently, I was listening to a teacher by the name of Rob Bell and he spoke on the selecting process that Rabbis would use to choose their disciples. At the Age of 6, children would begin to learn the Torah, this training was called Bat cipher, from 8 to 10 they would have the torah by heart, memorized, (Gen – Deu) by the end of bat-cipher, most kids would go and learn their family trade, but the best of the best would advance to the next level, the ones with the most natural ability would then memorize (Gen to Mal), after this the best of the best of the best would then apply to a rabbi to become his disciple.
A disciple does not just want to know what his Rabbi knows, but he wants to be like his rabbi, and do what his rabbi does. Different rabbis had different sets of interpretations, which were called a Rabbis’ yoke. So you would then apply to the rabbi, the rabbi would grill you, the rabbi wanted to know if this kid can do what I can do, can he spread my yoke, but after the rabbi grills you, he might say you love god and knows the torah, but he is not good, then he would say go learn your family business, but if the rabbi thought this kid has what it takes, he is the best of the best of the best, the rabbi would then say come follow me, you would then leave your family, friends and your synagogue and village and you would devote your entire life to being like your rabbi, learning to do what your rabbi does, this is what it means to be a disciple.
All this has huge implications to Jesus. In the gospels, we see Jesus calling Peter and Andrew to come and follow him. If they are fishermen then they are not following another rabbi. That means that they are not the best of the best. The Bible says, they dropped their nets and followed after Jesus. Of course they would have done that because in those days rabbis were the most honored and respected people. Picture this, Jesus, a Rabbi, is walking along the beach and says come and follow me. What He is really saying, you can do what I can do, you can be like me, then the story continues, with the men fishing with their fathers That means they are learning there families business and that means they did not make the cut, they were not considered the best of the best to any other rabbis.
But Jesus tells them that He chooses them and they did not choose Him (john 15). A rabbi chooses his disciples on the basis that they have the potential to be like him. God believes in us, you know. The question is what about Jesus’ faith in us, He must have faith in us because he tells us to go and make more disciples, what if He actually believes that we can be like Him and live like Him. Jesus has faith that you can follow him and be like him, he believes it and that is what the foundation of our calling should be based on. May you believe in God and may you come to see that God believes in you. That is, why He chose you!
b. You are a royal priesthood! (v. 2:9b)
Here, Peter is implying that believers are now ordained with the role of a royal priesthood, mediating God in Christ to many nations. This book is the only letter that gives this title to the members of the Christian community in the New Testament.
I learned that “an ancient priesthood was to be sanctified and set apart from the people at large for their ministry to the deity, to whom they had special access.” This means that we are set apart for Christ and have access to God, and this access is not for ourselves, but for others, as well.
The fact of the matter is that God sees you and me as royalty. The question is do we view others and ourselves like that? Why should we live any less than how God sees us?
I agree with Joel Osteen, when he says, “that it is a tragedy to go through life as a child of the King in God’s eyes, yet as a lowly pauper in our own eyes.”
There is a story in the Bible about a man named, Mephibosheth (Mike). He was the grandson of King Saul and the son of Jonathan. Saul’s son, Jonathan, and David were best friends. They actually entered into a covenant relationship, similar to the ancient covenant of being blood brothers. This means that whatever one had it belonged to the other. So, in the covenant relationship, if something were to happen to one of these two men, the remaining “brother” would be obligated to take care of the other’s family.
One day when Saul and Jonathan were in battle, word got back to their palace. And a servant grabbed Mike, which is Jonathan’s son and took off running. In the course of the escape the servant tripped and fell. The child became crippled as a result of the fall. The servant brought Mike all the way to a place called Lodebar, which is one of the most poverty stricken, desolate cities in that entire region. This is where Mike lived almost his entire life.
Think about it, he was the grandson of the king and he was living in poverty. That is exactly how we are living, if we do not hold each other higher and treat each other better.
David succeeded Saul, as King and years later David said to one of his servants, Is there anyone left from the house of Saul that I could show kindness to for Jonathan’s sake? David remembered his covenant with Jonathan and summons any of his kin, in which they found one. David said, get him and bring him back to the palace.
When Mike arrived he must have been fearful because he knew that his grandfather had chased David around trying to kill him. So Mike might have thought that David was going to kill him.
David said do not be afraid. I am going to show kindness to you because of who you are; you are the son of Jonathan. David then gave him all the land back that was Saul’s and said that from this day forward you are to eat at my table as though you are one of my sons. “David treated Mike as ROYALTY!” HE WENT FROM A ZERO, TO A HERO! When in all reality he was a hero all the time.
His life was changed drastically, but think about all the years that he lived in those poverty-stricken conditions because he did not want to own to his inheritance. He knew he was royalty, he even probably knew about the covenant relationship his father and David established and the rights that he had, but why didn’t he just march right to King David and demand his inheritance that was due to him.
Why did Mike settle for mediocrity? Why do Christians settle for mediocrity when we are children of the King of Kings? Just like Mike, if we do not own to our inheritance, we will not find purpose and vision for our lives. We will live a life in a self-imposed state of poverty, instead of the spiritual kingdom of God, which Jesus has set up for us, here on earth.
Fulfilling the role of a royal priest is not easy to do. But God will never command us to do something that we cannot have victory in. Participating in the role of a royal priest literally means to do “acts of praise, deeds of kindness, sharing of goods, acceptable conduct, and proclamation of the gospel,” but I promise you it will pay off a great deal. I want you to think of ways that you can be a royal priest, here in Teen Challenge and perform these acts to one another and watch God move like never before.
God has given us a high calling with the same authority that Jesus had on earth. Actually since Jesus has gone to the Father, He says that we will do greater and mightier things then He did when he was on the earth. To put this in perspective, like I just said, we are like princes and we go around feeling like paupers. I believe that we have to treat one another in such a way that this inheritance of being a royal priesthood becomes the standard of how Christians treat one another in the body of Christ. I challenge you to do just that here in TC.
c. You are a holy nation!
This phrase refers back to God’s covenant at Mt. Sinai (Ten Commandments), which made ancient Israel into a holy nation by the blood of a sacrifice. Now God has established a new covenant with Christ, which His sacrifice has paved the way for all believers to be classified as holy before God.
In chapter 1: 15, Peter says, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you.” Firstly, the word "be" in Greek is an imperative verb, which means that it is a command verb. Peter is not inviting us to be holy; he is absolutely commanding us to be holy. But to be holy, we have to rely on Christ’s holiness.
When God sees us, He sees us through Christ. Be holy! Peter does not say, do this, do this, and then this, and oh ya do that, and you will be holy. No, he commands us to be holy as Christ is only; he is the one who called you because he believes in you. He is the one who has to worry about your holiness, not you. Be Holy!!
Collectively, we are a holy nation, just as Israel was in the past. As it is with all these roles when Peter wrote them down, he had the body of believers in mind. This is a team effort. As we speak, God is building, the greatest nation the world will ever know, and it is not America, it is you and I, a holy nation unto God.
I want to say something about teamwork. There is a story in Nehemiah 3, which most of you probably are not familiar with. In this passage, 46 different people are mentioned who took the lead to build a section of the wall of Jerusalem that was destroyed when Israel was taken into exile. Each group worked together with their family and friends to do a small part. But together, those 46 groups did an amazing thing. Imagine how long it would have taken for Nehemiah to try to build the wall on his own. He probably would have never succeeded. “We can do much more for God’s Kingdom when we work together, than we could ever do alone.” Also, probably all of those that helped did not master in wall building. The Bible says that they were priests, they were goldsmiths, some were rulers, and some were residents of different cities, Levites, city folks, and country folks, merchants, some were daughters, and plenty of regular folks. I did not see one person who was a professional wall builder. As believers who work together, we can do much more for the kingdom of God, as a servant, than someone who does there own thing (Dr. McNaughton).
d. You are God’s special possession!
This is found in both Exodus and Isaiah where God makes the point that out of all the nations He chose Israel for Himself. “Although the whole earth and everything in it belongs to God (Exodus 19:5), the ancient nation of Israel was to be God’s special possession” (Jobes 162). This is the same way God sees believers, they are His special possession, chosen by Him, for Him, and to bring praise to Him.
We experience this in our father son relationship. God could have picked anybody else in the whole world to have a relationship with and he chose you and me. That defines, what it means to be a special possession. The Bible clearly says that God owns us. We are His property (1 Corinthians 6:20)!
Joel Osteen says, "We have to see ourselves as God sees us." God believes in you and thinks you are special, but do you feel the same way about yourself? Are we living like we are God’s special possession?
Just think about it, if we are God’s special possession. That statement alone, should triumph any negative words that people use about us because if we are not careful we will believe the critics, then we will live life from other people’s point of view and not God’s.
You have to base your self-image on what God’s word says about you, rather than false standards that society promotes, like, you are never suppose to make a mistake, if that is true then Jesus’ whole life and ministry would be useless.
“How you see yourself and how you feel about yourself will have a tremendous impact on how far you will go in life” (Osteen 56). Believe only what God says about you and nothing else.
God sees His people from a heavenly perspective, calling them to the roles of being a chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, and a special possession. Living life from His point of view will bring transformation for our benefit and to those around us.
II. (Secondly) Responding to your Heavenly citizenship will bring praise to God!
a. Through Lifestyle Changes!
Peter wanted his audience to understand and own to these roles as children of God, and in doing this, he states, we will bring praise to God. Because of who God called you to be in Christ, He can bring you from the darkest darkness to the brightest light.
Peter implies that his audience is a nation unto God, so they are to be productive citizens in that regard, no matter what external circumstances they find themselves in and the same goes for us. We are called to be good citizens to the glory of God’s kingdom. This will then bring praise to God for what He has done. God deserves our praise for bringing us out of the darkness and into the wonderful light so that we can bring the good news to others who think they are stuck in the darkness and are waiting for you to pull them out by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony. That is the best duo on the face of this earth, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippin do not have anything on that combo!
II. (Also) Responding to your Heavenly citizenship will bring praise to God!
b. Through Lifestyle Evangelism!
Because we have been called to belong to God’s kingdom, He transformed our lives by externally freeing us from our sinful lifestyles to serve Him with all our hearts.
Since Peter’s audience was under close watch due to the laws against pushing religious practices on the colonists. Peter had to think up of a more laid back style to witnessing. Lifestyle Evangelism!
Peter said, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).
Notice Peter did not say, get in their face and preach the whole bible every chance you get, but he said to wait for them to come to you and when they do be ready to present the gospel.
Letting your life speak will ring loud to the un-saved because a lot of people believe in the philosophy that “actions speak louder than words.” I remember when I returned home from Teen Challenge, my transformed life spoke louder than all the scriptures I could quote or how long I can do my devotions for, to my family and friends.
And you know what; because of the change I made in my life I got to pray the sinner’s prayer with one of best friends. Then this summer I got a chance to speak to the guys in the Newark, New Jersey Teen Challenge, and guess who was in the front seat, clean from drugs, and filled with the Holy Spirit, my best friend.
Lifestyle Evangelism is a powerful tool that all of us have in our arsenal of weapons to win souls for the Kingdom of God. One of my favorite quotes, I first heard in Teen Challenge was from Francis of Assisi, he said, “Preach the gospel, and if you have to use words.” Make sure your words line up with your actions and you will be dangerous in the hand of God because your lifestyle will attract others to Him who will also bring praise to God and on and on this process will take place.
In conclusion, this passage reveals to us, how God identifies and distinguishes believers from the rest of the world. God sees believers as the vehicle that is going to bring His gospel to the ends of the earth. That is a huge job, but God believes in us, so much that he has called us royalty. Now, if we were to live as God sees us, we would be able to reach higher heights in our spirituality. We know that we have to believe in God, but the awesome thing is that God believes in us. Also, believing that we have faith in Christ is mandatory, but how about Christ’s faith in us. That is were are praise should be birth from because if it is any other way, we are then saying that we are praising God for what we are doing in our walk of faith, not what God is doing because he has faith in us.
Each one of you are special and significant and of great worth to God. We should all hold our heads up higher because God has chosen us, and this is not because of the faith He knows we will have in Him, but it is because God believes in you before you believed in yourself. God has crowned us with royalty. Let’s face it; we are children of the king of kings, which makes us all princes of the kingdom of God. Royalty does not settle for mediocrity, but only the best. View others like that and watch the change in the way their view will be of you. A call to be holy sounds hard, but all depends on God’s promises and your obedience. Try to be holy in all you do, and Jesus will do the rest. View yourself as God sees you, and you will feel better about yourself and go farther in life than you could have ever imagined.
Living as citizens of heaven, here on earth will bring praise and glory to God in every breath that we take. Everything about our lives has the ability to bring praise to God. Living like this will be a powerful witness that will overcome the world’s darkness for the kingdom of God. Also, if for some reason, when you graduate the program and are witnessing to someone and you cannot remember any of the scriptures you learned here, just quote to them, that scripture called life and watch God use your life to bring people to Him.
I want to close with one of my favorite quotes I heard at VFCC. Our old youth specialist, PD, said it. He said, “Set yourself on fire, so that people will come from miles around to see you burn.”
