Sanctifying in this context means the Holy Spirit sets us apart.
He marks us out as those who will belong to God.
In fact, the Holy Spirit's work, his primary work,
is to make our belonging to God a reality in our lives.
A few years ago, Kirsty and I had to write a will.
And in that will it states that should anything ever happen to us,
all that we own, all our belongings, will go to our children.
Which means a mortgage, by the way.
They will receive ownership of all that we have.
Now for that to happen, we need a guarantor
who will enact what the will says to ensure that they receive
everything that has been willed to them.
Now in the same way, as we've just seen,
in eternity past, the Father has willed,
he has chosen us to be his children.
And the Holy Spirit acts as the guarantor.
He sets us apart, making sure that we will become God's children
and that we will belong to him.
He makes the will of God a reality in our lives.
You see, as a Christian,
we might be outsiders in this world.
We might feel alone and abandoned and that nobody understands.
We may experience a form of isolation.
But because of the Spirit's work in our lives,
we have been set apart by God
and called to be God's children.
We're not loners,
wandering around without purpose and without meaning.
We've been set apart,
marked out by the Holy Spirit
to live as God's people in this world.
Don't let the world
make your identity.
Let God shape your identity.
So we've been chosen by the Father,
set apart by the Spirit,
and now belong to Jesus.
Let's read again,
chapter 1, verse 1,
to God's elect.
Verse 2,
who've been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through the setting apart work of the Spirit,
for obedience to Jesus Christ,
and sprinkling by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Now, to help us understand this,
we need to go back to a very important occasion
in the Old Testament.
So keep your finger in 1 Peter.
Let's go back to Exodus, chapter 24.
Exodus, chapter 24.
And here we get an understanding
of what that little phrase,
for obedience to Jesus,
and sprinkling by the blood of Jesus,
what that means.
So in Exodus 24,
what's happened is,
the people of Israel,
remember,
were taken into slavery in Egypt,
and God comes,
and he rescues them from Egypt,
and he delivers them across,
and promises to bring them to a new land and a new place.
And towards that land,
on their journey,
God calls all the people together
at Mount Sinai.
And at this mountain,
God enters into relationship
with these people.
It's where God makes a covenant.
He makes a promise
to belong to these people.
And that's where we come to
in Exodus, chapter 24,
verse 7.
So here they are,
gathered at the mountain.
God is speaking
through Moses,
their leader.
Verse 7.
Then he,
that's Moses,
took the book of the covenant
and read it to the people.
And they responded,
we will do everything
the Lord has said.
We will obey.
So everything that God says,
we're going to do what God says.
We're going to obey him.
Verse 8.
Moses then took the blood
of an animal
that had been sacrificed
and sprinkled it on the people
and said,
this is the blood of the covenant
that the Lord has made with you
in accordance
with all these words.
So on the one side,
the people,
as they come into relationship
with God,
he says,
the people say,
we're going to obey God.
We promise to obey God.
And then God,
on the other side,
through the symbol
of the sprinkling of the blood,
promises to be committed
to these people.
It's God's way of saying,
you belong to me
and I belong to you.
I am going to be your God
and you're going to be my people.
But why would he start
sprinkling blood?
It sounds really gross,
doesn't it?
You could imagine
just blood being thrown around
all on top of you just now.
Why that?
Well, the blood underlined
the seriousness of this relationship,
this commitment,
one to each other.
In other words,
God is saying,
I will give my life for you.
I will be prepared
to shed my blood for you.
I will be ready to die for you
so that you belong to me.
Of course, as the story unfolds,
the problem is
the people keep on breaking
their side of the promise.
They continually disobey.
They continually walk away from God
and the relationship to God
is completely broken.
But now,
as we see in 1 Peter,
through Jesus,
our belonging to him
is now made permanent.
It can never be broken
because Jesus has come
and he has stepped in for us.
First of all,
Jesus gives us
his perfect obedience
so that we always stand
before God
as right
and as pure
and as blameless
because Jesus has clothed us
with his perfection.
But not only that,
second,
Jesus has taken the blame
for all of our disobedience.
And as Jesus died
on the cross,
all my disobedience
was placed on him.
He suffers the punishment
that I deserve.
He gives his life for me.
He sheds his blood for me.
He dies in place of me
so that I,
a rebel,
can belong to him
for all eternity.
By faith
in the death of Jesus,
it's just as if
we've been sprinkled
with the blood of Jesus,
a sign of God's
eternal commitment,
telling us time and time again,
saying,
I have died for you.
You belong to me
and I belong to you
and I am your God
and you will be my people.
We have been set apart
by the Spirit
for obedience to Jesus
and the sprinkling
of his blood.
You see,
if we are Christians,
we don't belong
in this world.
But the point is,
we do belong
to Jesus.
We cannot get better
or greater than that.
If God has chosen you
from before time began,
if he has set you apart
by his Holy Spirit,
if he sent his Son
to die for you,
then you do belong.
You are God's
chosen people
to live for him
in this world.
In a moment,
we are all going to
walk through
that door.
And if you are
a follower of Jesus,
you will walk out
through there
as an exile.
It is like we will be
scattered to different places.
We will go to our places
of work tomorrow morning.
We will go into college
or school.
We will be mixing
with our friends
in our neighbourhoods.
We will be going back
home to our families.
And it is not going
to be easy.
It will be hostile.
It will be difficult.
People will not always
want to be your friend.
They won't agree
with what you have to say.
They will shut you out
and push you out.
But our sense of identity
is not shaped
by this world.
It is shaped
by God.
Remember,
we are elect
exiles.
Yes,
we are strangers
in this world,
but chosen
by God
to live for him.
And as we go,
let us go
with this
great promise.
Look at the end
of verse 2.
Chapter 1,
verse 2.
Grace
and peace
be yours
in abundance.
As God's loved
and treasured
and chosen child,
he will not leave you
alone and isolated.
He is not about
to give up on you
and say,
just live this life
on your own
and get on with it.
God will give you
his peace
and his grace
in abundance.
It's going to be
like an overflowing
fountain
pouring down
upon you
on your life.
What you need
to live
as a stranger
in this world
will be much
more than you need.
All the resources
that you need
to live for God
will be poured
out upon your life.
In your weakness,
you will have
his grace.
When you struggle
to keep going
as a Christian
and the pressure
seems too much
and you just want
to give in
and give up
and conform
to everybody else,
his grace
will be sufficient
for you.
in fear,
you will have
his peace.
When you worry
about what people
think of you,
when what you believe
costs you
your friends,
his peace
will be your comfort.
He will fill you.
He will be with you.
Do not let the world
shape your identity.
Live
as the chosen
people of God,
loved by the Father
in eternity past,
set apart
by the Holy Spirit
to belong to him,
belonging to Jesus,
the one who died
for you
to give you meaning
and purpose.
So let's go
with confidence.
Let's go
as God's
elect
exiles
to serve him
and to live
for him
in this hostile
world.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Father,
we recognize
that at times
we do feel
alone
and we wonder
where home
actually is.
We struggle