Plan for: Thanksgiving | Advent | Christmas
The sermon emphasizes the transformational journey of a Christian, highlighting the sacrifices and constant devotion required, and encourages believers to seek and fulfill God's purpose in their lives.
Well church, we’ve come to the end of our sermon series on the book of Romans. We’ve talked through several key teachings and principles significant in the life of a believer and the health of the local church.
The Problem of Sin
The Rescue from Sin
The Pursuit of Righteousness
God Chooses Us
Today, as we end our series, I believe we are going to explore one of the greatest principles Paul discusses in the book of Romans. Specifically that we would offer our lives as living sacrifices unto the service of the Lord.
And this is important because as we learn about sin, redemption, righteousness, etc… we are often left asking of ourselves and of God, “Okay, so now what?” Or, “I get that I’m redeemed from sin and death, but what am I redeemed to?”
Well, today is an answer, not a full and exhaustive answer, but an answer to these questions. And hopefully today is not the end of the conversation on such things, but rather a beginning. A first step to a life of understanding what it means to live as redeemed people in the hands of an almighty God.
Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 9 and we’ll jump right into the conversation together.
A first step to a life of understanding what it means to live as redeemed people in the hands of an almighty God.
As you’re probably aware, the Old Testament is filled with animal sacrifices. The temple altar was a bloody place, where constant sacrifice had to be made for the sin of the people. Hebrews 9:22 reminds us that, “under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” That of course, was before Christ. But as Hebrews 9 explains further;
“For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:24-26
I hope you caught that last part. Christ sacrificed himself once and for all, for us. And this is the basis from which the apostle Paul makes his plea in Romans 1.
Paul’s “appeal” is a very clear conclusion to all that has come before in Romans 1-11 where he explained the doctrine of christian faith ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium