Chosen | 1 Peter 2:4-10

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our Watch Night Service. We have come to the final moments of 2025. A great year is going to leave us in a couple of minutes. This year has had its share of good and bad for all of us. For some, it has been a challenging year. Through it all, we have seen God’s blessings and faithfulness this year.  Can we all lift up our hands and thank God for 2025. Thank God for the mountains and the valleys, thank God for the good and bad experiences, thank God for the loss and gain of 2025.

A new year is awaiting us. As we get ready to receive the New Year 2025, I had been praying as to what theme to preach on. The theme the Lord laid in my heart is the theme:

CHOSEN

1 Peter 2:9-10

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

⁴As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,

a chosen and precious cornerstone,

and the one who trusts in him

will never be put to shame.”

⁷Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”

⁸and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble

and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

⁹But 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. ¹⁰Once 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.

Peter is writing to a group of Gentile and Jewish believers living in Northern Galatia (modern day Turkey) in the Greco-Roman world. They are suffering persecution. So this letter is written

Peter writes to believers who feel as “foreigners and exiles” (1 Pet 2:11), living under pressure in a culture that does not share their values. He knows they are tempted to interpret their experiences wrongly — “If we are suffering, maybe God is displeased.” So Peter anchors them, not first in circumstances, but in salvation.

We move in three movements:

A Scandalous Call — interpreting rejection through Christ; 2:4–8

A Privileged Call — remembering OUR identity; 2:9–10

A Responsible Call — living for God’s praise in a watching world; 2:9b–12

One sentence to carry the sermon: Human rejection never cancels divine election. (cf. 1 Pet 2:4–6)

1. SALVATION CHANGES EVERYTHING; 1 Pet. 1:3-2:10

Earlier Peter has already said, because of Salvation:

• God has given us new birth into a living hope (1 Pet 1:3).
• He has given an imperishable inheritance and we are shielded by God’s power (1:4–5).

Therefore, we are called to hope (1:13), holiness (1:14–16), fear of God (1:17), love (1:22), and growth (2:1–3). We are called to live differently.

And then, in 2:9–10, Peter summarizes what salvation has made them to be, before pressing them further in how to live.

2. A SCANDALOUS CALL — REJECTION IS NOT FAILURE; 1 Pet. 2:4–8

Peter begins:

As you come to Him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious..; 2:4

The picture is striking. God’s salvation project is built on a Stone the world rejected. The Lord Jesus is not merely a teacher we admire; He is the Cornerstone God has appointed.

Peter then says: you also are living stones being built into a spiritual house (2:5). Meaning: you do not come to Christ and remain alone. You are joined to a people. You are placed into God’s building.

Then comes the scandal: The world rejected the very One God chose. And those who belong to Him will often feel that same rejection. Believers are coming to Christ, the living Stone. rejected by people but chosen by God (2:4).

This is a scandalous call because:

• The One they follow was rejected
• By following Him, they too experience rejection

Their suffering is not failure but fellowship with Christ (2:21–25).

Rejection now does not negate God’s future vindication (2:6).

But Peter quotes the promise: “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” (2:6)

New Year encouragement: Human rejection never cancels divine election.

So Christian suffering—especially when it comes from faithfulness to Christ—is not proof of God’s absence. It is often fellowship with Christ.

New Year application:

Some are entering this year carrying rejection:

• misunderstood by family
• pressured at work
• mocked for convictions
• lonely because you refuse compromise

Human rejection never cancels divine election. God will vindicate His people.

Transition: If rejection does not define us, what does?

3. A PRIVILEGED CALL: REMEMBER WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST; 1 Pet. 2:9–10

Peter applies covenant language once used for Israel to the church:

Four Titles:

a. A Chosen People

You belong to God. This is not earned identity but gifted identity.

This language is covenant language. God said to Israel:

Deuteronomy 7:6-8

⁶For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

⁷The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

God has chosen us in Christ Jesus.

b. A Royal Priesthood

Exodus 19:5-6

⁵Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, ⁶you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

c. A Holy Nation

Holy means set apart—different, belonging to God.

We live in the same society, but our values are not borrowed from the culture. We are citizens here, but our ultimate citizenship is in heaven (cf. Phil 3:20). We are a holy nation in the midst of many nations and our nationality here.

Israel was chosen by grace, called to be holy. And when Israel failed again and again, God promised a new covenant and a faithful Servant. And that Servant is Christ—the chosen One:

• “Here is My servant… My chosen One in whom I delight.” (Isa 42:1)
• Peter has already called Christ “chosen and precious” (1 Pet 2:4).

So Peter applies Israel’s covenant titles to the Jesus and through Jesus to the church, because in Christ God is forming a new people—Jews and Gentiles together—defined by union with Jesus.

So: as you step into the new year, before you know what the year will bring, you can know what God has Chosen you, you are highly Treasured, and you are called to be Holy.

d. God’s Special Possession

This is tender language. You are treasured. You are purchased. You are not disposable. God loves you and God cares for you.

Then Peter adds the mercy statement:

1 Peter 2:10

¹⁰Once 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.

This is the gospel in one line: God made a people where there was “no people,” and poured mercy where there was “no mercy.”

• We were once not a people, now God’s people.
• We were once without mercy, now living by mercy (2:10).

Our greatest privilege is belonging to God.

Identity is not only comfort; it is purpose. Privilege produces responsibility.

4. A RESPONSIBLE CALL — DECLARE HIS PRAISES; 1 Peter 2:9b–12

Our purpose: “…that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (2:9)

God did not choose you merely to survive. God chose you to proclaim and display His excellencies.

Peter shows how this happens. Our calling is lived out through:

a. Witness: Declare With Words; 2:9, 3:15

We testify. We worship. We speak of His goodness. We name His mercy. We tell the next generation what God has done.

b. Life: By Holy Conduct; 2 11-12

Peter is honest: the battle is not only outside us; it is inside us. The war against our soul is real. And holiness is not optional; it is warfare.

c. Deed: Good Works; 2:15

“Live such good lives among the unbelievers… that they may see your good deeds and glorify God.” (2:12)

This is powerful: God uses holy lives to silence slander and awaken conscience.

• how we speak in conflict
• how we handle money
• The way we treat employees/domestic help
• how we respond when wronged
• how we behave when nobody is watching

God save His people, so His glory maybe seen through their lives.

Some will not read Scripture, but they will read your life. And Peter says God can use that life to bring others to glorify Him. We do not do this in human strength. We do this as a Spirit-empowered people—praying, worshipping, witnessing—standing firm in Christ.

Three Takeaways for the New Year

1. Interpret Trials Through Identity — rejection may be real, but election is greater (2:4–6).

2. Live from belonging, not approval — we are God’s people by mercy (2:9–10).

3. Make God visible —  through holy lives and faithful witness(2:9b–12).

Conclusion: Three invitations

1. Receive Christ

If you are still in darkness, tonight Jesus calls you into His light (2:9). Come by repentance and faith. Do not enter this year without mercy.

2. Realign your life

Believers: lay aside what wages war against your soul (2:11). Let the year begin with consecration.

3. Renew your mission

Chosen people declare. The chosen one praise. Chosen people shine. Ask God for courage and love to witness faithfully.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for mercy. Thank You for choosing us in Christ. As we enter this new year, cleanse us, strengthen us, and use us. Make us a praising people, a holy people, and a witnessing people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Anchor lines:

• “Salvation changes everything.” (1 Pet 1:3)
• “Rejected by people, chosen by God.” (1 Pet 2:4)
• “Human rejection never cancels divine election.” (1 Pet 2:6)
• “Once not a people—now God’s people.” (1 Pet 2:10)
• “Chosen to declare His praises.” (1 Pet 2:9)
• “Holy lives make God visible.” (1 Pet 2:12)