“A LIVING SACRIFICE” Romans 12:1-2
FBCF – 9/29/24
Jon Daniels
INTRO – The Lord’s Supper today – Beautiful picture of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for our salvation. Ongoing reminder of that perfect sacrifice.
Christian life is a life of sacrifice.
- The foundation of the Gospel message of our salvation is sacrifice – John 3:16; Romans 5:8
- Sacrifice is at the heart of expressing Christ-like love – John 15:13 – “Greater love…”
- Jesus taught, that in order for us to truly follow Him, we must deny ourselves & take up our cross – a symbol of sacrifice. He went on to say, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” – Matthew 16:24-25
- A husband’s true love for his wife is expressed through selfless sacrifice – Ephesian 5:25 – “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church…”
Our life as Christ-followers is a life of sacrifice - joyful sacrifice – willing sacrifice – intentional sacrifice - &, as we will see today – living sacrifice.
EXPLANATION – Romans 12:1-2
“Romans is the constitution of the Church” (Tony Evans). Much of our doctrine as evangelical Christians comes from the book of Romans. It’s the longest of Paul’s letter & is the most systematically reasoned, giving us great theological truths to stand on as Christ-followers & as the Church. Paul announces the theme of the book in Romans 1:16-17 – “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first & also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life.’” (NLT)
Like Ephesians that we were in last Sunday, Paul takes the first several chapters & establishes some great biblical truths about who we are in Christ & what the Gospel means to us. Some of these truths are:
- B/c of our sin & alienation from God, we must be justified by faith in Christ alone – doctrine of justification – Romans 3:23-24 – “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”
- B/c we are saved, we are to continue to progress in being more & more like Jesus – doctrine of sanctification – Romans 6:10-11 – “For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So, you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
- B/c we are saved, we are secure in the love of God – the doctrine of eternal security – Romans 8:35-39 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- Then Paul gives this climactic doxology in Romans 11:33-36 that trumpets the sovereignty of our God – “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?” Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?” For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.”
- “THEREFORE…”, in light of these magnificent truths, we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord, meaning…
APPLICATION – There is no sacrifice too great for us as Christ-followers.
THREE ASPECTS OF A LIVING SACRIFICE:
IT’S A LIVING SACRIFICE – Our sacrifice is a living sacrifice, not a dead sacrifice. Why? Simple: B/c we are alive! We have been made alive forever “by the mercies of God”, we are presenting ourselves totally to God – Every bit of ourselves – Every aspect of our lives – Every fiber of our being – Every relationship w/ have – Every penny in our bank account – Every business decision we make – Every family decision – Every area of our living lives is presented to God.
- “Nothing less than a living sacrifice is demanded. Not a loan, but a gift; not a compromise but a sacrifice; not our poorest, but our best. Not a dead, but a living offering. Each drop of our blood, each ounce of our energy, each throb of our heart, we must offer to God.” (Joseph Pearce, https://gracequotes.org/?s=living+sacrifice)
Problem w/ a living sacrifice: It keeps crawling off the altar (Joe McKeever’s cartoon). How does that happen?
- When instead of sacrifice, we sin.
- Instead of giving ourselves to God, we give in to temptation.
- Instead of yielding to the Holy Spirit, we yield to our flesh.
That’s why a lifestyle of living sacrifice is a daily decision.
IT’S AN ACT OF LOVING WORSHIP – The total sacrificial surrender of our lives is what true, loving worship is all about. Our worship of Jesus is more than singing & preaching. It’s the total surrender ourselves to Him in joyful gratitude for all He has done for us. What a blessing! What a privilege! B/c of Jesus:
- We GET to come to church
- We GET to give our tithes & offerings
- We GET to sing songs of praise to Him
- We GET to preach a sermon or hear a sermon that challenges us, or convicts us, or comforts us
- We GET to serve Him in the church as staff, as deacons, as LG teachers, as preschool workers, as children’s ministry & student ministry volunteers, as women’s ministry & men’s ministry leaders, as ushers, as security personnel, as choir members & instrumentalists
Worship is extravagant love & extreme obedience!
- God’s extravagant love shown to us by sacrificing His one & only Son for us
- Our extreme obedience in gratitude for that extravagant love!
IT BRINGS LIFE TRANSFORMATION – The result is a total transformation of our lives:
- From a mindset that says, “I’m going to get all I can get” to “I’m going to give all I can give.”
- From an attitude that is centered on the all-consuming ME to the almighty God
- From living a self-serving lifestyle that promotes myself to a self-sacrificing lifestyle that lifts up Jesus
When you & I got saved, our lives were totally transformed. And that transformation should be evident in every area of our lives. Some of us need to stop listening to WIIFM – What’s In It For Me? & tune our hearts & minds in to WGWFM – “What’s God’s Will For Me?”
CONCLUSION – Before we come to the Lord’s Table, I ask you now to consider – Have you truly offered yourself to the Lord completely? Have you truly been saved & transformed by the Lord Jesus? If not, now is the time to do that. Let today be YOUR day of salvation!
