'Peculiarly mine'

Hebrews 10:5, talking about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, says, ‘Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:’

Jordan explains, “That’s Jesus Christ talking to the Father about coming to be the sacrifice for sin. Verse 10 says, ‘By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’ Verse 14 goes on, ‘For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.’

“I want you to see that the passage he’s quoting in Psalms is a reference to the attitude Jesus Christ had to the will of the Father when He came to be the sacrifice for sin: ‘I come to do thy will o God.’ That was the attitude Jesus Christ stepped out of heaven and came down to earth with and when He gave Himself, that was on His lips and on His mind.

“Psalm 40:6 says, ‘Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.’

“When you got your ear open, what do you do? You hear, you listen. Isaiah says He had the ear of the learned, He came having listened, and in obedience, to the will of His Father. That’s where the body came from; that’s what his humanity was about. ‘I came to do thy will.’

“Verse 7-8 says, ‘Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.’

“ ‘Delight to do thy will.’ That’s Godliness, God-likeness, God living in our humanity. It’s not just knowing and thinking like God thinks. It’s when you think about what happens with what you think is you begin to do what you think. You take what you know and think and put it into action. You believe it and the word works effectually in you that believe. Jesus Christ is energized by the will of His Father.

“He says, ‘I delight. I bought into this thing. I see what’s going to happen. I see the plan of the Father and this thing is fantastic. This thing’s glorious.’ And Jesus Christ bought into it and He said, ‘I delight in it, I rejoice in it the way the Father does.’

“I love the verse in Hebrews 12:2: ‘Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’

“He saw the joy the Father had planned and He said, ‘Man, that’s good enough for me!’ and He put that frame of reference in His mind and it’s what sustained Him and carried Him through.

“Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, ‘Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
[24] But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.’

“He understands me, he’s got a grip on what I’m doing, he knows what my mind is, what my plans are, what my thinking is. ‘That I am the Lord which exerciseth lovingkindness, judgment, righteousness in the earth--for in these things I delight. He says, ‘Glory in the fact you can delight in the things the Father delights in.’

“That word ‘peculiar’ in our vernacular is usually associated with being weird and strange and you know if you go out and preach grace you’re going to look that way.

“The first-grade definition of the word ‘peculiar’ really means ‘to belong to.’ Something that’s ‘peculiar to’ means it especially personally belongs to you. Now, if you especially, personally, particularly belong to God, what are you going to look like to the world? A little weird.

“The issue isn’t in the weirdness; the issue’s in the belonging. Exodus 19: 4-5 says, ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
[5] Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:’

“This is the 4^th of July for the nation Israel. He said, ‘You’ve seen that. I did that for you!’ He took them out into the wilderness and began to teach them about how, ‘I’m gonna do it for you! Relax!’ If God makes you a promise, what should you do? Sit down and shut up and let Him do it.

“ ‘Peculiar treasure.’ He says, ‘Israel, I’m going to make you my agency in the earth. I’m going to set you up here and make it clear you belong to me.’ To be a peculiar people was to be God’s agency in the earth.”