A Living Sacrifice

“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 spiritual act of worship.”  

“Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”

Spiritual discipline: offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him:

• What we do with our bodies matters to God. 
• How we view our bodies matters to God.
• Our bodies can either be an instrument of worship or an instrument of idolatry.

Abraham Kuyper once said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

Does your view of your body match God’s high view of your body?

Worship is what we value the most. What we worship is where we find peace, security, and comfort.

Because of Christ, a new paradigm for Christian living is introduced. In the OT, God’s word called for a dead sacrifice. In the new, his mercies call for a living sacrifice.

That when we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, God can use the seemingly small everyday decisions to have an enormous effect

“Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Spiritual discipline two: mind renewal. 

We play a critical part in who gets access to the wheel by what we allow into our mind.  

• Pay attention to mental inputs.
• Read God’s word.

In summary, we respond to God’s grace by offering our bodies as a living sacrifice, and committing to a lifestyle of mind renewal. Both of those disciplines are everyday, seemingly small Walter White decisions that if handled properly, will have an enormous effect and mold us into the image of God’s son.  That’s Romans 12:1-2.

All of us here, myself included all sinful and selfish, and left to our devices, would much rather use body and our mind to serve ourselves rather than others. That’s why we need a Savior. That’s why Jesus had to come. Jesus perfectly embodied and lived out everything we’ve talked about today. No one, no one had a more transformed mind than Christ.

No one offered their body as a sacrifice better than Jesus.

On the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for our refusal to offer our own bodies to Him. The only reason we can offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, is because Jesus first offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice.

Application:

Jesus, thank you! Thank you for offering yourself for me! As a response, would you enable me to offer myself to others? Would you enable me to have your mind, to ever be transformed into your image? I can’t, but you can through me.