Our Reasonable Service
POSTED Mar 31, 01:19 PM
From the Pastor’s Desk –
Our Reasonable Service
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your reasonable act of worship (Rom.12:1).
The theme of sacrifice runs through the pages of the Bible like water runs through a river. In the Old Testament we see the blood sacrifices depicting the need for atonement (payment) for sins and we recognize them as a foreshadowing of what we read in the New Testament - Christ’s ultimate, supreme, and substitutionary sacrifice of His body and blood for us.
What does it mean for us to make a sacrifice today? We do not need to offer blood sacrifices any longer, because Jesus was the ultimate and final sacrifice. That is why we do not have an altar in the Presbyterian church. There is no need for an altar. He paid the price in full and there is no need for any further payment for sin, or sacrifice, to be made on our behalf. So why are we to offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto the Lord?
A sacrifice is something that we need, but that we give up for the sake of another. This is true whether it be our lives, our time, effort, energy, or even our money. Here are three reasons why sacrifice on our part, in all the above mentioned areas, is most reasonable and is something that we must do as followers of Christ, as the Covenant people of God:
1) Sacrifice was Made for Us. In Eph.5:1-2 we read, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” In 2 Cor.8:9 we read, “For you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” He died willingly so that He might bring fruit in the lives of those for whom He died. If He gave Himself up for us like that, we surely should be willing to give ourselves and our resources to Him.
2) Sacrifice is Asked of Us. “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices (Rom.12:1). To be a living sacrifice is to be willingly, continually, and completely at God’s disposal. Of course, due to His sovereignty, we are already at His disposal. But are we at His disposal willingly? It is only as we are willingly offering our bodies as living sacrifices that our offering will be holy and pleasing to God. We must be willing to deny the self, our own will, our own desires and follow His purpose, His will for us as revealed in His Word. In Luke 9:23 Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” It is reasonable that Christ should have that which He has bought with the price of His own blood – you and me, and that we should honor Him with our bodies and all we are and have (1 Cor.6:20).
3) Sacrifice Now Brings Greater Blessings Now and Later. In offering our bodies, our lives, our time, energy, resources, material possessions, and money to God we are not then selling our souls to the devil. We are denying Satan the use of us and the things that belong to us. Everything that God accepts from us is sanctified by Him – it is made holy, set apart for His holy purposes. When we give to God that which is pleasing and acceptable to Him, He blesses it and increases it many times over so that we and others are blessed beyond measure.
So consider giving of yourself sacrificially to the Lord in every area of your life. In view of God’s mercy, it is the least we can do.
