“SACRIFICE”

“SACRIFICE”

INTRODUCTION:

Sacrifice: from Latin sacrificare; sacer sacred, holy + facere to make.

1.      To make an offering of; to consecrate or present to a divinity by way of expiation or propitiation, or as a token acknowledgment or thanksgiving; to immolate on the altar of God, in order to atone for sin, to procure favor, or to express thankfulness;

2.      Hence, to destroy, surrender, or suffer to be lost, for the sake of obtaining something; to give up in favor of a higher or more imperative object or duty; to devote, with loss or suffering.

3.      To destroy; to kill.

4.      To sell at a price less than the cost or actual value.

Blood still remains a key component in the understanding of Christian sacrifice. Jesus' crucifixion is regarded by Christians as the "perfect sacrifice". He spilled his blood on the cross for the sins of the world.

Let us consider the following questions:

1.      Why should a Christian need to sacrifice if Jesus already gave the ultimate sacrifice of his life?

2.      Why should a Christian need to sacrifice anything–since God is very rich and has stores of blessings ready to pour out on His children who have faith?

3.      If a believer has already given up drugs, smoking, drinking, swearing, stealing–what more could be asked?

4.      Is sacrificing our sinful habits what God is asking us to do?

5.      Sinful habits could hardly be considered a sacrifice "holy" or "acceptable." What kind of "living sacrifice" is God accepting?

The Real Sacrifice

When Jesus offered himself in sacrifice at the River Jordan and said, "I come to do thy will," he was offering his humanity. His human will was killed. For three and one half years it was as if his flesh burned on the altar. When the world outside observed what he was doing with his life, it was a stench to them. But to God it was a sweet-smelling sacrifice. Finally, he died on the cross. When resurrected, appearing "in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24), the merit of his blood was presented to justice in the presence of God.

Nothing More Needed To Be Done:

But God has been selecting a church to follow in Jesus' footsteps. To make our sacrifice acceptable, our high priest laid hands on us because we have no value apart from Jesus. Jesus makes our sacrifice "acceptable" and "holy." He is calling on Christians to be faithful to their commitment of sacrifice–no matter what the world thinks, "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God to the one [the world] an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life" (2 Corinthians 2:15, 16).

So God is pleased to accept our sacrifices– "present your bodies" –to become part of one sin-offering "sacrifice." Though our wills are dead to self–still it is a living sacrifice because in reality we have to consciously keep it dead on the altar till totally consumed. God is not asking us to sacrifice a sinful life. Our acceptable sacrifice is putting aside or surrendering our legitimate human hopes, plans and ambitions to the will and service of God.

Qualifications Of A God Filled Sacrifice

A) Notice The Pleadings Of Paul

1.       His Address Is Personal

2.       His Action Is Powerful

3.       His Aim Is Projected

4.       His Affection Is Present

B) Notice The Presentation Of The Person

1.      The Offering

2.      The Obligation

3.      The Operation

C) Notice The Pattern Of The Proposal

1.      Restricted

2.      Reasonable

3.      Rendering

CASE STUDY: 2 KINGS 3

And when the King of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him—i.e. that he could not hope to maintain the defense much longer, but would be forced to surrender the fortress—he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the King of Edom. Perhaps he regarded the King of Edom as the weakest of the three confederates, and the least likely to offer effectual resistance; perhaps he viewed him as a traitor, since Edom had been his ally a little earlier (2 Chronicles 20:10, 2 Chronicles 20:22), and wished to wreak his vengeance on him. But they could not. The attempt failed; Edom was too strong, and he was forced to throw himself once more into the beleaguered town.

Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead—the throne of Moab being hereditary, and primogeniture the established law. Human sacrifice was widely practiced by the idolatrous nations and by none more than by the Moabites. The practice rested on the idea that God was best pleased when men offered to him what was dearest and most precious to them; but it was in glaring contradiction to the character of God as revealed by his prophets, and it did violence to the best and holiest instincts of human nature. The King of Mesh, undoubtedly, offered the sacrifice to his god Chemosh, hoping to propitiate him, and by his aid to escape from the peril in which he found himself placed. HIS motive for offering the sacrifice upon the wall is not so clear. It was evidently done to attract the notice of the besiegers, but with what further object is uncertain. The king's intention was to "confound the enemy by the spectacle of the frightful deed to which they had forced him," and thus to "effect a change in their purposes". And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed. It seems necessary to connect these clauses, and to regard them as assigning cause and effect.