Remember Who We Are #3

We are talking about Who We Are as the People of God in Christ. One of my favorite descriptions is in I Peter 2:

 9 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. 

In the Old Testament the Jewish People were the chosen race, called out to be an example and a blessing. But now, in Christ, the "race" is not a bloodline, it is all those united by the blood of Christ.  Also in the Old Testament, it was only priests and Levites who had the privilege of serving during worship, while the bloodline of the King was separate, But now, in Christ, we are in a sense all priests, and our relationship with Christ makes us children of the King as well. The nation of Israel often failed to be the holy people God intended, but the Holy Spirit indwells all true believers.  In Christ, we now belong to God; we are on the inside not the outside, and we are loved.  Who we are should affect what we do. We should be full of praise and ready to proclaim the name of the One who has delivered us and brought us into His Kingdom of light.  We should not be ashamed or afraid, but emboldened (in a positive way), but who we are in Christ.