Who are you?? What do you value? Whose are you??

1 Peter 2 tells us what we were:  we are not a people; we are divided, with no joy of community, lonely. Sin has made us foreigners.  Like Adam, we are separated from God by barriers of our own making, barriers we ourselves could not undo.  We have broken our community with God, and with our neighbors.  One verdict:  Guilty!

The Bible also tells us who we are now.  We are a chosen generation,  a royal priesthood, a holy nation, chosen by God.  We are washed, sanctified, justified by the blood of Jesus.  Sin is not our identity.  We are a new creation by grace through faith.  We are united with Christ in a covenant relationship, the image bearer of God, lovingly created, bought with a price.  We can proclaim God’s glory through our words, through our actions.  We are valued, redeemed, treasured.  We live in His forgiveness, to live to spill this out into those around you.  We are His.