1 Peter 2:9-17

This passage seems to be broken into three distinct sections, each of them developing from the previous.

1) Who we are (vv. 9-10)

2) What we should do about it (vv. 11-12)

3) How we should do it (13-17)

The apostle peter makes a case that since we are in Christ (who is the subject of the previous verses) and he is our foundation that we are to be separated unto God as a unique people because of that we are to live countercultural lives so that God may be glorified. In the final section the apostle Peter goes on to describe what living lives that glorify God means in its practical outworking.
The things Peter would have described would have been mind blowing for the first century believers. The emperor at the time was not just like our president who makes decisions that we may not agree with but overall is there by the will of the people. The emperor was literally killing the believers at this time; so honoring the emperor would have been a pretty tough task. Also, even though the emperor was killing the Christians it was not him and his capital punishment that they were to fear, they were only instructed to fear God.
God must be the all consuming motive for my life, not my self, my future, nothing can take the preeminent place of God. Peter emphasizes this fact here when first he describes Christ and our subsequent relationship to him, then at the end puts God above all human relationships.