Giving Ourselves to God: Understanding True Sacrifice

Posted on by korgrocker

“Not only [did they give materially] as we had hoped, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us [as His representatives] by the will of God [disregarding their personal interests and giving as much as they possibly could]. So we urged Titus that, as he began it, he should also complete this gracious work among you as well.”
2 Corinthians 8:5-6 AMP

There is an order of priority to be followed in our Christian walk, an order that may not always align with our own desires and inclinations. We can experience a degree of conflict between our sinful natures and the Spirit of God within us. But in our verses today, Paul writes that they seem to have got the order of priority correct. The Corinthians were eager to give money to help the poor in Jerusalem; in fact, they were quite insistent. However, Paul could see that their first priority was to give “themselves to the Lord”, and, as well, give themselves to “us” – Paul and his colleagues, as God’s representatives. 

Any human being starts life not thinking about others but instead thinking about themselves, motivated by a desire to please themselves. As we grow, that usually doesn’t change much. Our focus can become more dispersed among areas that are important to us, such as relationships, careers, or goals. But the bottom line is almost always a desire to please ourselves. The quest for happiness is a universal journey. But that is not how God created us, as we know from Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”. So, comparing ourselves to God (if that were even possible!), Do we think He would be so selfish as to focus solely on himself? We know otherwise, because he sent His Son to die a sinner’s death, but even more, he took on the sins of the world, from everyone who has ever lived, past, present and future. Would we have been so concerned by the plight of others that we too would forget ourselves and instead shift our thoughts and actions to them and their needs? Being made in God’s image perhaps highlights where our true focus should be.

So, giving ourselves to God means adopting His ways in living our lives. It is said that within us is a God-shaped hole that has to be filled by God Himself. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ”. As we said earlier, human beings are more interested in filling this “hole” or “vacuum” with created things, human relationships or ineffective and useless philosophies. There is a plethora of “things” available for those who seek self-gratification, such as alcohol and drugs, pornography, and similar dark devices, but we mustn’t forget sports and hobbies, all of which can attempt to fill the void inside. Others seek a remedy on a psychiatrist’s couch or pursue religions and philosophies that pander to the ”me” inside us, rather than look upwards to God Himself. It is amazing the lengths to which human beings will go to avoid contact with their Creator. 

The Shorter Westminster Catechism starts with the question, “What is the chief end of man?”, to which the answer is “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever”. Paul wrote, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). This immediately shifts the human focus to God, but provides a problem for those who do not believe that He exists. They continue to live with a vacuum inside that can never be filled, no matter how hard they try. Some people dream of unimaginable wealth, believing it would make a difference, but research shows that lottery winners are among the unhappiest people in the world. Nothing in this world can get close to what God intended.

When we come to the place of recognising life is not about ourselves, we are ready to stop running from God and allow Him to take over. The only way any of us can have a relationship with a holy God is to admit that we are sinners, turn away from that sin, and accept the sacrifice that Jesus made. There is no other way. Picture an altar dedicated to the only true God. Then imagine crawling onto it, lying down, and saying, “Here I am, God. I’m a sinner, but you love me anyway. Thank you for dying for me and rising from the dead so my sin could be forgiven. Cleanse me, forgive me, and make me your child. Take me. All of me. I want to live for you from now on”. 

Paul wrote, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).

Before the Corinthians could give to the poor, they had to give themselves to God. There are nominal Christians today who go through all the motions and even generously give of their money to their church and its ministries, but without first having that relationship with God, it is all pointless. Following a liturgy won’t get them to Heaven. A pass to gain entry through the pearly gates cannot be purchased with human gold. There is only one way to Heaven, and that is to believe in Jesus. Simple but profound. We pilgrims today perhaps are looking inwards instead of upwards, but there is a remedy: once again, we turn our eyes upon Jesus and look into His wonderful face. We then find that all the created objects and methods come to nothing “in the light of His glory and grace”. 

Dear Father God. Our lives are here to provide You with the glory You deserve. Please forgive us for our waywardness, as we dip into the things of the world rather than into the things of Your Word. We worship You today. Amen.

Spiritual Sacrifices

Posted on by korgrocker

“You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.”
1 Peter 2:4-5 NLT

The Jewish religion was based on the sacrifice of animals and other items on the altars located firstly in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem. Sacrifices were typically for an offering for sin, such as we read in Exodus 29:36a, “Each day you must sacrifice a young bull as a sin offering to purify them, making them right with the Lord … ”. But Jesus became an eternal sacrifice for all sins and His death on Calvary sealed the New Covenant between God and man. The prophet Jeremiah foretold of the New Covenant, as we read in Jeremiah 31:33, ““But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people””.

Just as the Old Testament priests were responsible for offering up sacrifices to God, we pilgrims of the new Covenant “offer spiritual sacrifices that please God”. So what are these “sacrifices”? One go-to Scripture is in Romans 12:1, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him”. Then we have the sacrifice of praise, as we read in Hebrews 13:15, “Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name”. In the Old Testament, incense was offered up as a sacrifice, and this is often associated with prayer. We read in Psalm 141:2, “Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering”. 

We pilgrims offer up sacrifices to God that consist of our prayers, praises, worship, our bodies – in fact everything we do we can turn into a sacrifice to God, as we do it in His name. That is what a living sacrifice is all about. We lay ourselves willingly on the altar before Him, remembering the words of the old hymn, “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee“.

Dear Lord. We offer up our sacrifices of praise today in deep gratitude for Your grace and love. Amen.

Living Sacrifice

Posted on by korgrocker

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
Romans 12:1 NLT

Paul starts this chapter with an “And so”. Other translations use the word “Therefore”. He is referring to all that he has written in the previous verses and chapters, and because of all this, Romans 12:1 is the proper response. Paul “pleads” with his readers to do something, something that perhaps they would find hard or difficult. How can we give our bodies to God? He is Spirit. Our bodies are physical. Flesh and blood. But the Jewish Christians would have known what Paul was getting at. Animal sacrifice was very much a part of the Jewish religion, at least while they had a temple. But is Paul here saying that they, his readers, should be the sacrifices instead?

First of all we should remember that Jesus put an end to the practice of animal sacrifice, by becoming an eternal offering for sin. In Hebrews 10:5 we read, “That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer””. Why did Jesus do that? Hebrews 10:10, “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time”. And then Hebrews 10:18, “And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices”. 

But Paul “pleads” with his readers to “be a living and holy sacrifice”. It can’t be anything to do with forgiveness for sins, because Jesus was the ultimate and eternal sacrifice. There is, perhaps, a clue when Paul adds the reason for giving our bodies – “because of all he has done for [us]”. How can we properly respond to God for what Jesus did for us at Calvary? It is no good offering Him our money, or anything else that we own. And neither will working for God in some religious role, such as a missionary or minister, be good enough. No, God wants us, body, soul and spirit, our entirety. 

It is easier in many ways to go through the religious motions of being a Christian. Going to church. Attending the prayer meetings. Putting a tithe in the offering. Standing on a street corner with a collecting box for the poor. But none of this costs us what God is really looking for – our selves. We must bring our wills to God, and lay them on His altar. 

Paul said that our sacrifice, our bodies, must be “living and holy”. Nothing else is acceptable to God. Our bodily sacrifice has to be alive, because then our wills, our selves, are active and making decisions God’s way. If we were dead there would be no benefit, either to us or to God. And we mustn’t forget that God will only accept what is holy into His presence. Hebrews 12:14, “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord“. We are sanctified – made holy – through Jesus. Colossians 1:22, “Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault“. 

Through our willingness to present every facet of our lives to God, for His service and worship, and because of the blood of Jesus, we are an acceptable sacrifice to God. Of course, we become stained and soiled by our sin and the sins of others, but by confessing our sins to God we are forgiven, becoming a living and holy sacrifice.

Dear Father God. We respond to Your servant Paul’s pleadings today. We reach out to You in praise and worship. Amen.

Holy Dough

Posted on by korgrocker

“And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their descendants will also be holy—just as the entire batch of dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.”
Romans 11:16 NLT

We are having a second look at this verse in Romans 11. Paul reminds his readers that the early Jews were obliged to provide an offering to God made up of dough. This was a type of bread made from finely ground wheat or barley with oil and salt, but without any yeast. It could be cooked or uncooked and it was brought to the priests with some of it offered to God. We read all about the grain offering, which was presented in the form of dough, in Leviticus 2, and we read that it was considered a special offering. Leviticus 2:10, “The rest of the grain offering will then be given to Aaron and his sons as their food. This offering will be considered a most holy part of the special gifts presented to the Lord”. 

But we pilgrims ask if the dough offering has any relevance today. I think it does, as a principle to be followed. As we look at the offerings set out in Leviticus and the other parts of the Torah, they all relate to something significant for the person presenting the offering. A grain offering when the Israelites were wandering for 40 years in the desert would have been difficult to find, so would have been considered something precious. And that is the key – an offering to God of any kind is worthless if it is submitted from a position of plenty. In modern terms, an offering of £10 to God is worth little to someone with £1000, but a lot to someone with £15 in their wallet. Jesus was in the Temple one day with His disciples, and the offering from an old lady caught His attention. We read the story in Mark 12:41-44, “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few pence. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on’”.

Tithes and offerings were a significant part of the Jewish faith, and the same principle applies to Christians today. Of course, our Western societies have a system of taxes to support local and national governmental responsibilities, but our religious leaders, our pastors and teachers, need support through our tithes and offerings. And there seems to be a connection between our generosity and our personal well-being. Proverbs 11:24-25, “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed”. 

But Paul, in the next chapter in Romans, exhorts us to bring a personal offering to God, in the shape of our bodies. We read in Romans 12:1, “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”. But however we view the “dough” in our lives, and whatever form it takes, there is a principle here of holiness in our attitude towards God. 

In a sense we pilgrims are resident in a society, a “dough”, consisting of many people. but perhaps through our presence within it we are introducing a glimmer of holiness because of our connection to God. A bit like the salt and light in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We must never underestimate the importance of being God’s ambassadors in our communities. Sodom and Gomorrah might still be with us if righteous people could have been found there. A contentious thought? Perhaps, but God is looking for holiness amongst His people. We read in 1 Peter 1:15-16, “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy””. Perhaps we feel the bar for achieving holiness is too high, and, of course, it is through our own efforts. Thankfully, through Jesus, we are considered righteous in God’s sight.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Jesus and Your plan for our salvation. Please refresh us today by the power of Your Spirit, so that we can shine brighter and brighter in our families and communities. Amen.