Capital punishment has been a controversial issue and a bone of contention for as long as I can remember. It has been voted in and out and in and put on hold. Some call it cruel and inhumane, or claim that it is just legalized murder. Others defend the practice on the ground of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life.”
With regard to sin, God pronounced the death penalty: “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.” Ezekiel 18:20 (NASB).
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 (NASB).
Whereas son could not substitute for father and vice versa, it was God’s plan for the pre-Christ Jews to substitute an animal without blemish to die in the sinner’s stead.
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5 (NASB).
“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.’” Revelation 5:9 (NASB).
The song, written by The McKameys, said,
“Build an altar of stone, for sins to atone
Once a year to pardon and free.
Slay a lamb pure and white.
Make a blood sacrifice
Was the way that it used to be.”
And:
“God gave His own Son, our sins to atone.
The Supreme sacrifice was made.
Jesus hung on the cross,
Shed His blood for the lost,
The price for redemption was paid.”
But now God asks for a different kind of sacrifice; a bloodless sacrifice, not a sacrifice to atone for sins since Jesus did that once and for all.
Here’s the sacrifice God desires:”Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Romans 12:1-3 (NASB).
Living sacrifices stand in contrast to dying sacrifices in that
*The animals had no choice, but the choice is ours to “present our bodies.”
**The animals died, but we are urged to be living sacrifices.
***The animal sacrifices appealed to the mercy of God, but being living sacrifices is a grateful response to His already given mercy.
So, today, if you want to offer an acceptable sacrifice:
I. Offer Your Body On The Altar Made Of Good Deeds:
A. Old Testament altars were made of two types of materials.
1. First, after the Israelites crossed the Jordan, God said, “You shall build the altar of the LORD your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD your God;” Deuteronomy 27:6 (NASB).
2. Later, God instructed, “And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze” . Exodus 27:1-2 (NASB).
B. Our altar is neither stones nor acacia wood. Our altar is built of good deeds, upon which we present our bodies as living sacrifices.
C. You can see that the way we become living sacrifices is to give ourselves to God in doing what is right.
1. It is to give up, or yield, or surrender our bodies and lives to Him for His use.
2. To present your body as a living sacrifice is to do all the good you can to all the people you can, in every way you can, in all the places you can, as long as we can, even when it is inconvenient, difficult and costly.
D. Here’s a list of the kind of deeds God loves. Do them and your body will be a living sacrifice: Since we have different gifts, according to the grace given us:
1. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
2. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
3. If it is encouraging, let him encourage;
4. If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously;
5. If it is leadership, let him govern diligently;
6. If it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)
E. A native in Africa wanted to thank his missionary decided to give him a very special shell. But the shell was to be found in a Bay which was several miles away. Not having transportation, he walked those miles to the beach and obtained the shell Then he walked back to the mission and gave the shell to the missionary. The missionary, thrilled with the gift, said “ You should not have walked all that distance just for me.” The man replied,” Long walk is part of gift.” So may we, under no obligation other than gratitude, seek to give God our deeds of service without counting the cost or considering the inconvenience.
II. Offer Your Body With A Renewed Mind:
A. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 (NASB). That is, “Let not your behavior be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God.” Romans 12:2 (BBE).
B. The ancient Israelites frequently went through the motions of worship but God said, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” Matthew 15:8-9 (NASB).
1. It didn’t make a whit of difference if they worshiped in the wilderness or in the temple – if their hearts and minds were false, the worship was in vain.
2. True worship and sacrifice comes from loving God with “All your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30 (NASB).
C. But that demands a renewed mind which is:
1. A mind that refuses to conform to this world.
2. A mind that desires to know and do God’s will.’
3. A repentant mind that turns from sin and falsehood.
4. A mind that sees God from a new and humble perspective.
5. A mind filled with awe, respect and reverence.
6. A mind which is set on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” Colossians 3:1-3 (NASB).
7. A mind that without doubt trusts God.
D. When our desires and thoughts are pure and are centered on Jesus because of renewed minds, offering our bodies as living sacrifices becomes true worship.
E. Here’s Charlie Brown with Lucy and Linus, looking up into the clouds. Lucy says, “If you use your imagination you can see lots of things in the cloud formation What do you think you see Linus?” Linus replies, “Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean. That cloud of their looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor. And that group of clouds over there and gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen. I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.” Lucy says, “Uh huh. That’s very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?” Charlie Brown replies “Well I was going to say I see a ducky and a horsey. But I changed my mind ”
Let us make up our minds to change our minds and have God renew our mind. ‘The sin I once enjoyed, I now eschew. I changed my mind” “The evil desires I once obeyed, I now oppose. I changed my mind.” “The rebellion I once displayed, I now denounce. I changed my mind.”
If your mind is renewed, then
III. Offer Your Body With A Humble Heart:
A. “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 (NASB).
B. That we should not think too highly of self does not mean that we should think more lowly than we ought, either! John Ruskin said, “I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility, doubt of his own power, or hesitation in speaking his opinion. But really great men have a ... feeling that the greatness is not in them but through them; that they could not do or be anything else than God made them.”
1. Jesus adds worth us and makes us acceptable to God.
2. If God has made us new creatures, we are well remade! As I saw on a t-shirt, “God don’t make no junk!”
3. We can see ourselves as children of God, King’s Kids,’members of God’s family!
C. All that is true, but it ought not swell our heads – it ought to swell our hearts with thanks, worship and humility.
D. God loves humility!
1. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;” Philippians 2:3 (NASB).
2. “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 (NASB).
3. “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13 (NLT2).
E. From Paul Green comes this story about the man in the American Revolution, who was dressed in civilian clothes and rode past a group of soldiers repairing a defensive barrier. Their leader was shouting instructions, but making no attempt to help them. Asked why by the rider, he retorted with great dignity, “Sir, I am a corporal!” The stranger apologized, dismounted, and proceeded to help the exhausted soldiers. And when the job was done, he turned to the corporal and said, “Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again.” The man was none other than George Washington.
Jesus did something even better: and we are urged, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:3-8 (NASB).
His was a sacrifice of blood unto death – ours is a bloodless sacrifice unto life. He surrendered all to give us all God has to give. How about you? Will you surrender all for Him?
