blood of jesus – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

Who we are. Who we are called to be.

I don’t always take so much time looking at the greeting section of these letters in the New Testament. But as much as any letter in the New Testament, and perhaps more, this greeting connects to everything else that is written in this letter.

Peter starts by identifying himself and who he is writing to, saying

Peter, and apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. (1 Peter 1:1)

Here we see two things about who we are and who we are called to be in this one verse.

Peter calls us, “God’s elect.” Not that we are somehow in ourselves more “elect” or special than others. But that God in his grace chose to save us and make us his own. Not because of who we are, but because of who he is.

He also calls us “strangers in the world.” That can also be translated, “exiles of the Dispersion.”

The “Dispersion” usually referred to the Jews who were scattered throughout the world, far away from their homeland.

But here Peter uses the word figuratively of all Christians. We are all citizens of a heavenly country, and yet we are scattered all over this world, like strangers in a foreign land. And this is a theme that comes up more than once in this letter.

Peter then says of us that we have been

…chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood. (2)

Here again, we see how God in love chose us and through Christ’s blood purified us from all sin. But not only has he chosen us and purified us, he is constantly working in us. Day by day he is sanctifying us, and making us more like his Son.

And we were chosen not to live for ourselves, but for obedience to Jesus Christ. He is to be the Lord and King of our hearts, and we his servants.

That’s who we are and who we are called to be. And if you want to understand the rest of this letter, you need to understand these things.

But so often we don’t. Even many Christians fail to grasp this. They think of their Christianity as an upgrade to their lives in this world.

What they don’t understand is that God is not interested in upgrading our lives. He is interested in making us entirely new people. People who reflect his Son. People who no longer live as if this world is their home, but who remember that their true citizenship is in heaven.

And for this purpose, he sent his Son into the world to suffer and die to take the punishment for our sins. And for this purpose, Jesus sent his Spirit into the hearts of all who believe in him to transform us into his likeness.

How about you? Do you understand who you are and who you are called to be?

Or do you still live as a citizen of this world, acting as if you truly belong here?

If you’re a Christian, you don’t belong to this world.

You were created by God and for him. You were chosen by him and sanctified by the Holy Spirit for obedience to Christ. And until you understand that and live that way, you will never truly understand who you are and who you are called to be.

Do you understand this?

Setting apart our hearts for God

In these two chapters, God gives the people instructions for when they return to the land.

A lot of this (as well as the things in chapters 43–44) are repetitions of instructions God had originally given Moses.

But as I look at this, two verses struck me.

God told the people,

When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district…the entire area will be holy…

In the sacred district…will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. (Ezekiel 45:1, 3)

One of the first things the people were to do when they returned to the land and divided it among the tribes was to set apart a certain part of it to the Lord for his sanctuary.

God was basically saying to the people, “When you return to the land I’ve given you, set apart space for me. Remember that I’m dwelling among you and that I am your Lord.”

It reminds me of what Peter said,

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. (1 Peter 3:15)

What does that mean?

Part of it is making sure he has the throne of your heart. That you set apart the throne of your heart for him, and him alone.

But God gave other instructions to the people. To the princes, he said,

You have gone far enough, O princes of Israel!

Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. (Ezekiel 45:9)

God tells us the same. In setting apart Christ as Lord, we are to give up our evil practices and do what is right before God.

He then told the priests to sacrifice a bull and use its blood to purify the sanctuary. This was not a one-time thing, either. It was done every year.

We too are to make sure that we keep a pure sanctuary, and we do that by confession. Praying for forgiveness for our sins and asking that the blood of Jesus cleanse us.

God told the priests to make atonement for people who sinned unintentionally or through ignorance.

We may not have meant to sin, but even so, all of our sins must be atoned for and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. And so as David prayed, so should we:

Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:12–13)

The people were also to remember the Passover, their deliverance from the land of Egypt.

We too should remember our deliverance from sin and Satan’s kingdom.

Too often, we forget why we set our hearts apart for him. It’s out of our love for him and all that he has done for us. As John wrote,

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Chapter 46 repeats these themes as it goes over all the offerings that were offered. I’ve touched on this in another blog, but it’s worth repeating.

The burnt offering was used for atonement for sin, and it also showed a complete surrender to God (the offering was completely burnt up).

The grain offering was an offering of thanksgiving.

The fellowship offering again had the idea of atonement, with the animal taking on the guilt of the offerer, but also had the idea that with our sins taken care of, we now have fellowship with God.

One last point. When the people came to worship, they had to enter one gate (north or south) and exit the opposite gate.

To me this symbolizes that as we enter his presence to worship, we cannot help but come out changed.

Having been washed by Jesus’ blood, with hearts that have been justified and sanctified, and Jesus sitting on the throne of our hearts, we have become new people.

As Paul wrote,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

As God’s new creations, let us set apart our hearts for him each day.