1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

I almost wrote on a different part of this chapter, but this verse is just too glorious to pass up! This has been very memorably set to music, and I learned it that way many years ago. When I translated it into Japanese I changed the “you” to “we,” making it a faith declaration, and I think it serves that purpose very well. This is the assurance God wants us to have. It isn’t conceit, because the operative agent is God, not man. When we know who and what God has made and called us to be, all sorts of things change. All the trials of this world shrink greatly in perspective, because we know the glory for which we are being prepared. As Paul famously said, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) This doesn’t mean we look down on others, but rather that we seek to lift them up to the place God has prepared for us all. “Doom and gloom” disappear from our vocabulary, and we eagerly look forward to the next thing God has for us. The scale is different in many respects, but I think what is happening in the US right now is a good illustration. Conservative patriots have a fresh hope, a fresh optimism, and the mood is contagious. In many respects it feels like awaking from a nightmare, and some people are downright giddy. That has its risks, but it has been many years since a national leader has used the term, manifest destiny, in a speech. There are some who despise that way of thinking, but an objective look at the past 250 years of world history shows that the US is indeed unique in a number of ways, and most of them are good. For one thing, the US has sent out more missionaries by far than any other nation. As big as all that is, it is minor compared to what Peter is saying here, and the better we grasp that reality, the more useful we will be to God in establishing His kingdom.

Several years ago I participated in a round table for The Christian Newspaper here in Japan. I think my most important contribution was the statement that when Japanese Christians wake up to who and what they are in Christ, not only the nation, but the whole world will be transformed. I think it’s much like world politics started changing once Donald Trump was elected, even before the inauguration. We have spiritual authority, not on our own but because of who we are in Christ, and the better we exercise that authority, the more God’s will will be done in this earth. I am never to be cocky, but I am never to back down. As James said, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) I am to remember who and what I am in Christ and teach others who they are as well, so that the devil’s schemes may be defeated and God’s will be done, for His glory alone.

Father, thank You for this reminder. As many times as You’ve spoken this to me, I still tend to forget it in practical terms. I ask for Your anointing as I prepare the message notes for Sunday, so that the believers may likewise be encouraged to stand up as who You have created them to be, for their great blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!