I happened to watch a rerun of Everybody loves Ramon where Ramon's little daughter asked him, "Why am I here?" This was the moment that every parent, including Ramond, feared. So Raymond consulted the book, How to Answer the Sex Question to Children. But the daughter persistently asked, "Why am I here?  ”Who am I? How did I get this identity?” 

Who are we?

 

As Christians, we have an identity and our identity is tied with God. Peter writes about this to the Christians in 1 Peter 2:9. He explains that we got our identity from God. In fact our identity is our relationship to God. We are chosen by God. And He gave this identity by virtue of His irresistible call.  Our identity leads us directly to our destiny: We are chosen, for the sake of being a royal priesthood. But Peter is more specific when he tells us the precise reason for our existence: "that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." Certainly, the full-time destiny of a royal priest is to make the glories of the king known.

 

This identity is not defined in terms of who we are in-and-of ourselves. It's defined in terms of what God does to us and the destiny He appoints for us no matter how insignificant you may be or what people would say about you. You may not hold a great position according to the definition of this world and true, you may not have all the money in the world.  But you are a chosen generation.  And you are chosen because God showered His mercy upon you. (I  Pet.1:10b)

 

We are priests in God's royal, holy priesthood; that is, we are both royal and holy. Keep in mind that the offices of priest and king were separate in Old Testament and that the priesthood and royalty were inherited. We are kings and priests because we are related to the King, King Jesus, who is also the High priest of our calling. It is a tragedy to go through life as a child of the King in God's eyes, yet live as a lowly pauper in our own eyes. Remember Mephibosheth who was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul.  Mephibosheth became crippled when he was a child as a result of a fall following the death of his grandfather and his father. The palace servant brought him all the way to a place called Lodebar, which is one of the most poverty-stricken, burnt out slums in that entire region.  Just imagine it: though Mephibosheth was of royal bloodline, in reality he was living as a pauper! That is exactly how many Christians are living spiritually even though they are related to the royal bloodline of His majesty King Jesus. So many are not standing and functioning in the great call and position which Jesus has bequeathed for them. 

 

We are called and chosen to be a royal priesthood that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. God did not just choose us to stand aloof. Our identity is fundamentally this: we have been shown mercy and our identity helps us function in the greatest office ever - to proclaim and show forth the praises of God.