Having been saved by God's grace from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites were called by God to be his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation who make his name known to the nations. But with the coming of Christ, now it's through the church - made up of Jews and Gentiles - that God intends to display his glory and make his name known. Peter says, we are 'a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light' (1 Peter 2: 9-10).
