LIVING SACRIFICE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

Romans 12:1

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Read the Bible enough, especially in the Old Testament, and you will find the matter of sacrificing prevalent to Jewish religious practices. In fact, the Mosaic Law of God prescribed these sacrifices. You can find a list of the five main sacrifices (also referred to as offerings) in chapters 6 and 7 of the Book of Leviticus and of interest, three of these sacrifices were optional and voluntary (the burnt, grain, and peace offerings) while the other two (the sin and guilt offering) were mandated and required (Note: I am using the NIV translation. Your Bible may have different names for some of these sacrifices/offerings).

As we look closer at these offerings/sacrifices, we find that in either instance, whether optional or required, they were burnt on the altar and in the case of animals, this meant they were very dead when sacrificed. This is in stark contrast to the words we find in Paul’s letter to the Romans and the opening verse of Chapter 12 for there we find the call for the Romans (and all others who read this letter) to offer their bodies “as a living sacrifice”.

Why did the matter of sacrifice change?

For that answer, we turn to Jesus who was the first living sacrifice.

You see, the Old Testament sacrifices weren’t changing the narrative between God and His people. For no matter how many sacrifices the Israelites offered to atone for their sins, those sacrifices were just quick fixes. They could be right with God for the moment they offered up the prescribed sacrifice but as soon as they would sin again, they would be right back where they began, in need of atonement again.

And so God changed the covenant He made with His people. He made the way so that there would be one final sacrifice that would atone for the sins of all people, Jew or otherwise. It would have to be a special offering, one of epic proportion, a perfectly unblemished sacrifice to make a sinner sinless and therefore satisfy God’s requirement for eternal life.

So God showed His love for His people, the Creator to the created, by surrendering His one and only Son Jesus to pay the sin debt owed by all of mankind (John 3:16) and His sacrifice wasn’t on an altar but rather on the cross where He was crucified by the Romans after being falsely accused and convicted by the Jewish religious authorities in Jerusalem. Jesus was very much alive when He was nailed into the beams of the cross and elevated high to hang and die in plain view, flanked by criminals to his left and right. And as He drew His final breath, He made sure everyone knew that it was finished. Sin no longer would condemn a person to eternal damnation and torment if a person would just believe in Him, in Jesus who was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world and became its Savior.

Friends, this is not only the heart of the new covenant and Gospel message. It’s also at the heart of fully understanding what we are called to do by Paul in the first verse of Romans 12. We are to be a living sacrifice, willing to put our lives aside for the cause of Christ and the God who sent Him, the God who find such a living sacrifice holy and pleasing. We do so “in view of God’s mercy”, understanding that His decision to offer up His Son was done out of grace and love and forgiveness, not out of anything we may have done to deserve such a salvation.    

We honor God and show the proper reverence for what He has given us through Jesus by offering ourselves up to Him, freely giving Him all that we are so He can use us to achieve His will and purposes here on earth. In other words, we become like Jesus as Christians, modeling our lives after His.

For this and this alone is the way that we can show our “true and proper worship” to a God who has given us more than we could ask for and all we could ever need.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com