“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9)
Peter cites words from the prophet Isaiah to point out that Jesus is offensive to many people, Jew and Gentile alike. He is a stumbling block for just the reason He stated in John 14.6: he is the only God. No one gets into heaven except through Him. Peter speaks such words in order to encourage his listeners, to remind them that since Jesus was rejected and maligned, so His followers would, as well. Persecution is to be expected. People hate Jesus because they worship themselves.
Peter further encourages them with the assurance that believers are united with Christ both in this life and for eternity. Therefore believers can persevere through their time of tribulation and hold firmly to the pure truth of the gospel that had been preached to them, salvation by faith in Jesus alone. To abandon this and turn back to follow the Law of Moses would be disaster. They needed to be reminded that the chosen people are no longer the Jewish nation or the physical descendants of Abraham, but the church. To go back would be a rejection of Jesus Himself.
Today billions of people reject Jesus. They are looking for love, acceptance, comfort, and power in self or the things of the world. They either do not know or do not care that what they seek is to be found in the church, the Body of Christ. Jesus dwells with His people providing comfort, wisdom, strength, and unity. In addition, through His people, God walks around in the midst of fallen humanity offering truth, love, compassion, and mercy to all. We who have received such mercy must surrender ourselves to Him and extend that mercy to all no matter their race, language or nation of origin so the light of Christ would shine into their hearts, that they would turn from sin and turn to Jesus for forgiveness.