SACRIFICE

SACRIFICE

Passage: Hebrews 10: 1 – 10 (ASV)

“1 For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect them that draw nigh. 2 Else would they not have ceased to be offered? because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; 6 In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: 7 Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. 8 Saying above, Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein (the which are offered according to the law), 9 then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”.

Memory Verse: Ephesians 5:2 (NKJV)

“And walk in love, as Christ also loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma”.

To sacrifice means to make an offering, offer something or to give up something precious for the use or benefit of another. Throughout Scriptures, sacrifice are seen from the era of the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

During the time of Moses, God gave clear instructions and specification on how various sacrifices were to be offered. The central ideas these various sacrifices carried were;

·       Consecration: to make the people Holy before God.

·       Expiation: for the people to show regret of their sins.

·       Propitiation: to please God.

In this study, much will be focused on Jesus’ sacrifice, the sacrifice of a disciple, God’s value for sacrifice and place of love in sacrifice.

Jesus’ Sacrifice

“By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”. (Hebrews 10:10 ASV).

All sacrifices in the Old Testament were shadows which pointed to the reality and good things that happened in the New Testament, thus, CHRIST JESUS.

In the Old Testament, when man sinned, he was held captive and imprisoned by sin, thus, sin became his nature; came under God’s wrath and face eternal damnation (Ephesian 2:3).

The problem of sin had to be dealt with and it was only through sacrifice, thus the shedding of blood. Therefore the Blood of Christ Jesus was more powerful and efficacious in dealing with the problem of sin entirely and also led to the appeasing of God’s wrath. This only happened when Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all men (1 Timothy 2:6). Jesus’ offering of Himself was God’s Will and by doing that Will, we believers have been sanctified, thus, made holy. In effect, what the Old Testament sacrifices that were offered yearly could not do, Jesus Christ did in sacrificing Himself.

The Disciple’s Sacrifice

“Peter said to Him, We have left everything to follow you”. (Mark 10: 28 NIV).

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple”. (Luke 14: 26 – 27 NIV).

To take up the cross meant to carry one’s cross to the place of crucifixion. Many Galileans had been killed that way by the Romans. Jesus’ audience was well aware of what it meant to carry one’s own cross. When the Romans led a criminal to the crucifixion site, the criminal was forced to carry the cross on which he would be die. This showed the criminal’s submission to Rome and warned observes that they better submit too. Jesus made this statement to get the disciples and crowd to think through their enthusiasm for Him. He encouraged those who wanted to be His disciples to submit totally. With this word, He also painted a clear picture and a challenging description of the Christian life. Being His disciple means putting aside all selfish desires,, forsaking all, shouldering one’s cross every day and following Him.

This is simple but yet very demanding. For the original twelve, this meant literal suffering and death. For today believers, it means understanding that we belong to Him and that we live to serve His purposes.

The sacrifice expected of a disciple of Jesus is that of leaving everything or giving up everything. This is not to say the disciple does not live his family or not work hard to acquire material possession but what it means that he preferred Jesus above things being his family, possessions or even their own life.

This implies that, if at any point in time, following Jesus demands that the disciple abandons all that he has including both relations and possessions, he is willing to do so. That is the kind of sacrifice that we as believers are to make.  We must walk with the mindset that all we have was given by God and we must be willing to give them up anything He demands us to do so. In essence, we must prioritize the services of God above all things.

God’s value for sacrifice

Sacrifice is one act that moves God so much, however, not just any sacrifices moves God but one that is offered in obedience to His command. This is seen in the case of some great men of Old such as Noah (Genesis 8:20 – 21), Abraham (Genesis 22: 1 – 18) and David (2 Samuel 24: 10 – 25).

It can be seen that though God is sovereign and would have done what He intended to do anyway, at certain times, He chose to do them after sacrifices were offered to Him. The people who sacrifice in obedience creates the right atmosphere to receive from God. When many people hear the word sacrifice, it normally conveys the idea of losing something, but one thing we must understand is that sacrifice to God is not a loss but rather a gain and anytime we sacrifice to God be it ourselves or our substance, the reward is very great.

Also, a personal willingness to offer a sacrifice to God is highly cherished by God. These have been times in the Bible when people have given what they have unto God for the furtherance of His course. An example, is the church of Thessalonica as Paul made mention in Philippians 4, where the church gave all they could for the welfare of the servant of the Lord, hence His (God’s) course. Another is when the disciple gave up all they had to follow the master. These sacrifice were not explicitly an act of obedience to God but out of a self-will mainly proceeding from an expression of faith and love towards God. This really pleases God and attracts a great deal of blessings.

The place of Love in sacrifice

“And walk in love, as Christ also loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma”. (Ephesians 5:2 NKJV).

In the Old Testament, sacrifices that were offered by people whose heart were not right with God was not acceptable in the sight of God and this is confirmed also in the New Testament. In the sacrificing to God, not only is the sacrifice important, but the deposition of the heart giving in the sacrifice is also important. The best deposition of the heart in offering sacrifices is love and God will no wide reject a sacrifice made out of love.

All that believers do now is supposed to be governed by love. We can give up some things for God without love and in the same way we can even give up our bodies to be burnt for our brethren without love (1 Corinthians 13:1). That however, should not be the case. Love should be the basis for all our actions.

From our verse above, it can be seen that, Christ first loved us and gave Himself to God for us. We must also follow this pattern – “Love first and then give ourselves”. Sacrifice is a vital aspect of the Christian walk. Christians sacrifice is not that of expiation or propitiation but a sacrifice of consecration. We are to agree with the hymnist and say that,

“Take my life and let it be, Consecrated Lord to Thee, Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise”.

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THE BURNT OFFERING (Part 2)

THE BURNT OFFERING

Passage: Exodus 29:15 – 18

Memory Verse: Genesis 22: 1 – 18

“He said to his servants, stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” [Genesis 22: 5 NIV]

HOW DOES THIS OFFERING RELATE TO TH CALL TO OFFER OURSELVES AS LIVING SACRIFICES

We learnt  in Genesis 22: 1 – 4, that when Abraham was told to offer up Isaac, who was his only son and heir to the promise which is by faith, obeyed and believed God to know best.

Now, when he was going to the mountain up along with his son, he made a remarkable statement to his servants who were with him. He said “We go to worship” (Genesis 22:5). Abraham saw the burnt offering as an act of worship and servitude. As believers we also are admonished by God to offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Roman 12:1).

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”(Romans 12:1 NIV)

Even as the offering was to be given wholly and not only a part of it, so also are we believers supposed to take our everyday, ordinary life, sleeping, eating, going to work and walking around life and place it before God. It is only when, we believers give ourselves fully to God that we can end up being to Him a sweet smelling savour (a sweet or pleasing aroma), even as Christ gave Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice unto God (Eph. 5:1 – 2).

A believer must not have in mind that somethings must only be done on Saturdays, Sundays, Xmas and Easter celebrations. A believer must know that his or her life is to be a continual burnt offering. A believer’s Sabbath is not only the day he goes to fellowship with his Local Assembly but he or she has entered into a perpetual Sabbath, even as Christ is our Sabbath and we are in Him. (Colossians 2:16 – 17, Romans 14:5 – 8).

BE A LIVING SACRIFICE

One thing to note as believers is that though we are being admonished to give our live as living sacrifices, it is in our very own interests to do so. This is because, by giving our whole selves to God, we are actually giving ourselves wholly to His perfect plan for our lives, which is for our own good. This must be our everyday and mind set, to worship God by giving ourselves wholly to Him.

One of the main reasons why we find this difficult to do is because, we forget that fact that we are not our own. We were bought with a price and we do not belong to ourselves. This, we must glorify God, both in our bodies and in our spirits which are all God’s (1 Corinthians 6:11-20).

To be a living sacrifice means to surrender all things to God and acknowledge Him as both Lord (Master) and Christ. It is only when we acknowledge His Lordship that we can submit to His authority. To be a living sacrifice, in plain terms, means to submit, thus, to live as such means to daily submit to God’s headship and authority and obey Him at all times.

Submission is never a pleasant thing to do. It means subjection of one’s will, foregoing some pleasures and joys, obeying at all times and dying to desire of the flesh. It is virtually impossible to do. But the only way it can be done is to acknowledge the Holy Spirit who is at work in you and His power which works mightily in you (Philippians 2:13).

It is never our doing but God who causes us to triumph. When He causes us to walk in that victory parade, we become to Him a sweet scented and exquisite fragrance of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14-15). Fellowship is key if we intend to make this a reality.

We are alive unto God ad dead to sin. Our bodies are not ours but the Lord’s. Though we have our wills and desires, yet we are to submit it wholly unto God, just as a burnt offering is wholly consumed by fire. By so doing, we are bond to walk in His perfect plan for our lives and hence walk in the benefits thereof.

Shalom!!!

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THE BURNT OFFERING

THE BURNT OFFERING

Passage: Exodus 29:15 – 18

Memory Verse: Genesis 22: 1 – 18

“He said to his servants, stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” [Genesis 22: 5 NIV]

For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning (Romans 15: 4a) and for this I intend to share on the topic “Burnt Offering.”

WHAT IS A BURNT OFFERING?

The Old Testament is replete with all forms of sacrifices and offering. Some of these are Sin Offering, Peace Offering, Grain Offering, Guilt Offering, among others (Leviticus Chapter 1 – Chapter 7). The Burnt Offering is one such offering. It was ordained by God as part of the laws to be observed by the Israelites.

The burnt offering is from the Hebrew word “olah” which simply means “ascending.” It depicts a sacrifice having the whole being consumed by fire and observed as ascending to God while being consumed. In all other forms of offering, only parts were burnt in the fire. It was only the burnt offering that had the whole consumed and devoured by fire.

THE DESCRIPTION OF THE BURNT OFFERING

The first time the phrase “burnt offering” was used in the Bible, was when God told Abraham to offer up his son Isaac upon a mountain that He Himself (God) would show him (Abraham), (Genesis 22:2). This clearly means that it was God who initiated the activity. Abraham had a certain understanding of the activity, so he took certain needed tools (wood, fire and knife), he also built an altar upon which he would put the “lamb” to be sacrificed.

When God gave the Israelites the law, He included therein a law of the burnt offering (Lev 6:9 – 13). God then revealed to the people how they would go about the burnt offering. He gave them all the specifications needed for the offering.

“You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram; and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it all around on the altar. Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head. And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.”  (Exodus 29:15 – 18).

The burnt offering was not to be given anyhow and anywhere. Our Lord God is very much particular and accurate in His dealings, so He gave certain places, times and occasions for the offering of all the burnt offerings. There were the Continual Burnt Offering (Exodus 29: 38 – 42), which was done in every single day at the door of the tabernacle where God was to meet them; the Sabbath burnt offering (Numbers 28:9-10), which was done every Sabbath; the burnt offering of every month (Number 28:11-15), ordained for the beginning of every month and several others.

There was also an altar of burnt offering (Exodus 30:28) upon which all burnt offerings were mad. The animals used were either a ram or bullock which was in its first year, having no spot or wrinkle. God wanted the best to be used as sacrifice and only this would it be a sweet savour (a sweet or pleasing aroma) unto Him. Along with the animals used was the flour mixed with oil, offered as a drink offering.

To be continued…………………………………………………..Stay Bless!!!!

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WE ARE AUTHORIZED

WE ARE AUTHORIZED

"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be to you: as My Father has sent Me, even so send I you." (John 20:21) KJV.

Beloved, we are on a mission in this world, not just to come and eat, sleep and build nice houses. We are here for God's plan. God wants to reach the lost through you. At the end of the day, all what will matter is how much of the kingdom work you promoted. We are God's people here. You are not a Christian by accident, God planned your coming. God is counting on you to reach out to others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There are Christians who ask the question "must I preach the Gospel?". What else do you want to preach, my friend? Jesus said in John 20:21 "... As My Father has sent Me, even so send I you." Wow! We are authorized, beloved. He is sending us exactly in the same manner and authority the Father sent Him, nothing less. Does it look like we are powerless? No! All through the ministry of Jesus, you'll realize He had a strong consciousness of His mission on earth.

He demonstrated soo much power and divine energy that the world hadn't seen before. When He entered a place, the place literally vibrated with the anointing. He walked on water and performed diverse miracles. And this same Jesus says, "...as My Father has sent Me, even so send I you.".
How wonderful! Friend, how glorious could life ever be?

Everywhere Jesus went, demons bowed so why do you even think of them when Jesus has given you His authority? Clearly, it is only the ignorant Christian who will keep struggling, be tossed to and fro by the devil, and think it's God punishing him/her. So long as we are in this world, the devil and and his cohorts will forever remain under our feet, where Jesus put them. Stay bless

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