The People of God
Hosea 1;
1 Peter 2:9-10
"Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
(1 Peter 2:10)
Both Christian and secular observers of American culture have consistently noticed a
"de-centeredness" in the lives of people. A deep sense of not belonging anywhere or to anyone prevails. Lives are set adrift in a sea of meaninglessness, leaving people feeling uprooted and alone. High divorce rates have broken the fabric of the family. Job instability continually moves us from our communities. And the technology that promises to bring us together often, ironically, isolates us even further. Where can we recover our center?
Part of the answer lies in the transition described by Peter. In Christ, God has taken those who were "not a people" and made them not just "a people" but "the people of God"! God had promised ages before to gather a people to Himself
(Genesis 17:7); through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, He fulfilled that promise. People going nowhere are now headed to Zion. People belonging nowhere are now citizens of heaven. And the people belonging to no one now belong to God!
INSIGHT
Does your life ever feel "de-centered"? Rejoice that you are part of the people of God!
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Jeremiah 51-52
Psalm 127
2 Corinthians 8
Hosea 1;
1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash[a] king of Israel:
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD." 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel."
6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means "not loved"), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the LORD their God, will save them."
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi (which means "not my people"), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.[b]
10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.[c]
Footnotes:
a. Hosea 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash
b. Hosea 1:9 Or your I AM
c. Hosea 1:11 In Hebrew texts 1:10,11 is numbered 2:1,2.
1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
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