1 Peter 2. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (2:10).

Peter highlights a huge identity shift for Christians in chapter 2, because of our new relationship with Jesus Christ. Let’s look at some of the imagery used in this chapter:

You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house (2:5). Jesus is also referred to as a living stone, a cornerstone, a capstone, and a stumbling stone in this chapter! There’s a ton of building imagery in Peter’s letter. When you think of stones being built into a spiritual house, what Old Testament picture comes to mind? Do you think of the tabernacle, the tent that was built in the wilderness where God came to meet with his people? Or maybe you thought of the Jerusalem temple, a more permanent building where God met his people? Yet we are called living stones who are being built into a spiritual house. The Jerusalem temple is finished, God’s presence rests within his followers and we have become a living building now.

You are a holy priesthood (2:5), a royal priesthood (2:9). In the Old Testament priests played a special role as intermediaries between God and man. Now, all believers belong to the priesthood because God’s presence dwells within them as the Holy Spirit. We are now the royal priesthood, called to holiness.

You are a chosen race (2:9). In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were chosen to be an example of God’s holiness and to be the vehicle God used to bring blessings on the entire world. Now, all believers are part of God’s chosen race who are on mission in the world to share the gospel and God’s blessings.

You are a holy nation, a people for his own possession (2:9). You are God’s people (2:9).

As a chosen people set apart for God to use to spread the gospel and its blessings to all the world, believers are also called to be a holy nation. We are called to be separate from the ungodly world, holy and set apart for the purposes of God. Yet we are also a nation, a spiritual community working together – not a bunch of individualists. God calls us his own, and cares for us as his special possession.

You have received mercy (2:10). We are reminded how merciful God has been to us, and we say thank you. We also offer mercy to others, even if they do not deserve it.

You are sojourners and exiles (2:11). What is a sojourner? One who is only here temporarily, for a short stay. Some translations use the word foreigners, meaning that believers are not permanent citizens of this physical world but instead belong to a spiritual kingdom. What is an exile? One who has been thrown out, banished, separated from their home. Dr. Sandy Richter calls Christians exiles from Eden, those who have been banished from the presence of God due to sin but are longing to find their way home. In Christ, God has made a way for exiles and sojourners to come home to the kingdom of God, and their gospel mission on earth is temporary.

Which of these images of our new identity stands out to you as most remarkable? Why?