1 Peter 2:9

You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

In the Old Testament we learn that God decided that the people of Israel should be his chosen people. In Exodus 19 and Isaiah 43 they are described in a number of ways, and here Peter brings together all those descriptions and applies them to the Church. The people of Israel enjoyed their position by birth. They were all descended from Abraham, the father of the faith. And now every Christian is part of the Church, the new chosen people, by our new birth. Through our faith in Christ, we have all the privileges and responsibilities of being a citizen of God’s holy nation.

One of the distinctive features of the Church is that each one of us is a priest. In the Old Testament, the privileged role of the priest was to have access to God, and to enable others to come to God. The priests were drawn from the family line of Aaron and only the high priest was able to enter into the Holy of Holies once a year. But now, in Christ, the doors have been thrown open. Jesus, our great high priest, took upon himself the full weight of human sin. So now, through him, it is possible for us all to have access into the holy presence of God. We can all bring our prayers to God directly and can offer him our worship.

If every Christian is a priest, the obvious question is: “Why do we need Christian ministers at all?” The New Testament gives a very clear answer to this by showing that God has appointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers “to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). We all have wonderful, direct access into the presence of our holy God but there are still many gifts that God gives us through his Holy Spirit to enable us to be faithful and fruitful in our Christian lives.

In Latin the word for priest is pontifex, which literally means bridge-builder. Today God is calling us to build a bridge between him and those with whom we will spend our time.

Question

In what way will you be able to be a bridge-builder for God today?

Prayer

Lord God, thank you that you have given me new birth through the Lord Jesus Christ. Help me today to serve you as a faithful priest. Amen