Words of Life - Peculiar

Terry Siverd
09/13/15 - Sun AM

Series: Words of Life

 

 

PECULIAR

PI-KYOOL YER

1. Unusual or eccentric; strange; queer; odd: His actions are most peculiar.

2. Standing apart from others; calling for special consideration or attention; distinct and particular.

3. a. Exclusive; unique.  b. Belonging distinctively or especially to one person, group, or kind.

Titus 2:14 4 (Christ) gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed

and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Greek “peripoiesis” meaning “to be around”.

It can be charted with a dot in a circle.

As the circle is around the dot, so God is around each one of His saints.  The circle has the dot all to itself.

So God has His own all to Himself.  They are His own private unique possession.

1 Pet. 2:9-10 4 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,

that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God;

you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  cf. Ex.19:5 & Deut.7:6

1 Thess. 1:1 4 to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 1. Positively stated, what benefit does this provide for us as Christians?

  “What a pillow on which to rest our weary hearts when going through a testing time.”

  We are rooted in the loving and protective care of our Almighty God.  cf. 1Cor.10:13

  Think of some hymns that describe such - - A Shield About Me  and  He Leadeth Me

  2 Pet. 2:7 / this precious value, then, is for you who believe…

  Ps. 63:7 / For Thou hast been my help, and In the shadow of Thy wings, I sing for joy

2. Practically speaking, what does this imply (behavior-wise) for us as Christians?

  Are we truly peculiar?  In what ways are Christ’s disciples different (from the world)?

~ CONDUCT / “conduct yourselves with wisdom towards outsiders…” – Col.4:5

~ SPEECH / Are our words spoken with “grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt” – Col.4:6

What does it mean to live holy lives? – 1Pet.2:14-15

~ ATTITUDES / Are we sometimes just as “anxious” as everybody else? – Mt.6:25 and Philp.4:6

  It’s not that we Christians strive to be odd or peculiar as a goal in and of itself, but rather that our actions in being the people of God make us strange (different from the world in which we live).  cf. Rom.12:1-2 and Eph.5:7-8