A Living Sacrifice
Text: Romans 12:1-8
Introduction: The church is in the people-changing business. It’s what we do, really. We help people to enter into a personal relationship with God that has dramatic effect on their lives. I think of a couple that came to me recently and asked if I would do their wedding. As I met with them, I listened to their testimony as they shared that in the past few months had they begun to pursue God with zeal and purpose. As they talked about their relationship, I learned that they were living together and had been convicted by God that it was wrong and now wanted to make it right. That’s where the hard part came for me. Knowing that it would be difficult for them to hear what I had to say, I explained my position. I applauded their desire to honor God by getting married, but made it clear that in order to have a Christian marriage, they needed to begin with a Christian engagement--in other words, they needed to live apart until the wedding. I thought this would scare them away, but found that they were willing, because God was changing their lives!
How does life-change happen? The Apostle Paul gives us some insight into this issue from the passage in Romans. When we offer ourselves to God our lives are changed. In the same way that our Lord was offered to the Father (See Luke 2:22) to accomplish His will, so we are to offer ourselves (See Romans 6:13). When we do so, our lives are changed. The word means "transfigured" and is used of Christ when He was changed so that His glory was revealed to Peter, James and John (See Mark 9:2,3).
• The motive for our offering: Having been the benefactor’s of God’s mercy (See Romans 11:30,31), we offer ourselves, not in an attempt to pay God back (See Romans 4:4), but out of sincere love and gratitude.
• The nature of our offering: We are to present ourselves to God as sacrifices. Three adjectives help us to understand the nature of the sacrifice.
a. A "Living" Sacrifice - In the Old Testament, a sacrifice was put to death. The word actually meant, "Something slaughtered." But here we’re told that the sacrifice is one that doesn’t die, but goes on living, and so is an ongoing, continual sacrifice.
b. A "Holy" Sacrifice - To offer ourselves to God as a holy sacrifice means to be set apart from the world and its corruption and dedicated to the service of the Lord.
c. An "Acceptable" Sacrifice - (See 2 Corinthians 5:9) - This is one that is a sweet aroma to God (See Leviticus 1:9; Philippians 4:18).
• The result of our offering: God is worshipped, as we comprehend the richness or His mercy and grace (See Ephesians 2:3-5).
And so we offer ourselves to God and when we do, everything changes.
I. When we offer ourselves to God our beliefs change (See Romans 12:2a). In order to grasp the importance of this verse, we must understand why our beliefs need to change.
A. When sin came into the world through Adam, the Scriptures inform us that it was imputed to all of his descendants (See Romans 5:12). In other words, the affect of sin was not limited to Adam, but attributed to all humankind.
1. Sin corrupted our minds. Adam and Eve experienced fear and guilt immediately after they sinned (See Genesis 3:7-13).
2. Sin corrupted our bodies. God cursed Adam and Eve, so that they would die physically (See Genesis 3:19).
3. Sin corrupted our spirits. Adam and Eve were separated from God and entered into a condition of spiritual death (See Genesis 3:23,24).
B. When Christ came, His purpose was to reverse the affects of the fall, so let’s look at it in reverse order.
1. He has brought spiritual life to those who were dead in their transgressions and sins (See Ephesians 2:1-4).
2. He has given us the promise that we will have a new incorruptible body at the resurrection of the dead (See 1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
3. He has provided us with the capacity to renew our minds (See Romans 8:5-7). This means we must change our beliefs.
C. Some of our beliefs that must change if we’re to grow. There are many untruths that people believe. I would like to mention three.
1. Lie #1 - Man is basically good and capable of working his way to heaven. There is none who is good (See Romans 3:10-18).
2. Lie #2 - God’s primary goal is your happiness. God is not as concerned with your happiness as He is with your holiness (See Leviticus 20:26; Hebrews 12:14).
3. Lie #3 - We are not worthy of being loved. The fact is that God loves the world enough to send His Son to redeem it (See John 3:16-17). Nothing can separate believers from the love of God (See Romans 8:38,39).
Illustration: The Chicago Tribune reported that a British Psychiatrist named Giles Croft wanted to find out if people who believe in the reality of Monday blues are more likely to feel bad on Mondays. So Croft enlisted some volunteers and divided them into three groups. He gave one group a report that said Monday blues are real. He gave a second group a report that denied their existence. The third group received nothing to read. Then he had them record their Monday experiences over a specific period of time. What Croft found was that the first group, which had received the report substantiating Monday blues, was more likely to rate Monday as the worst day in the week. He concluded from his research that what people believe really matters!
II. When we offer ourselves to God our behaviors change (See Romans 12:2b). We can tell a lot about what people believe by how they behave! Paul reiterates this idea in Romans 12:2. We renew our minds so that will be able to "approve" the will of God. The idea is that we will understand and approve what God wants of us and then put it into practice. Behaviors flow out of beliefs! What we believe about the will of God affects what we do as we walk with God. Certainly this was the case with the Apostle Paul (See Acts 26:9-19). Before his encounter with Christ, Paul was convinced (it was his belief) that he should oppose the name of Christ, so he did. After his conversion, his beliefs changed and he obeyed the vision that Christ had given him.
A. We carry out God’s will because we believe it is good (See Romans 7:12).
B. We carry out God’s will because we believe it is pleasing (See Hebrews 13:21).
C. We carry out God’s will because we believe it is perfect. The word means ’having reached its end, needing nothing else to be complete (See Matthew 5:48).
Illustration: Behaviors are spawned by beliefs. For example, if a person believes that pain is to be avoided at all costs, then he will make every attempt to order his life in such a way as to avoid even the potential of pain. Yet this might be contrary to God’s good, pleasing and perfect will for us. To the church at Philippi Paul said, "To you it has been granted (It is a form of the word "grace."), not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." God permitted the suffering for their benefit! Jeff and Kristine Anderson are beekeepers. They wanted to make sure that their daughter overcame an allergy to bee stings. To build up her immunity, a doctor administered a series of injections to Rachel over 4 months. But in order to maintain immunity, she needed to be stung by a bee every six weeks over several years. So, like clockwork, every one and a half months, her father would take a bee, make it good and angry, and then place it on his daughter’s arm so that it stung her. The treatment brought pain, but it worked! Now when Rachel is stung, she has virtually no negative side effects. Seems like a rather weird behavior for a parent, doesn’t it? Yet it is based on the belief that the daughter’s life is more important than her comfort.
III. When we offer ourselves to God our biases change (See Romans 12:3-8). The word bias means a predisposition to show partiality or prejudice. Offering ourselves to God enables us to be sober-minded (i.e. think clearly - 1 Peter 4:7) about our own status and ministry.
A. We have been graced by God (See Romans 12:3; Ephesians 2:8,9).
B. We have been grafted by God (See Romans 12:4, 5; 11:17).
C. We have been gifted by God (See Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:11).
As we recognize our relationship to the body has been made possible through the work of God in us, we avoid pride and prejudice. Humility and unity prevail.
Conclusion: The late jazz trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie, is remembered not only for his talent, but also for the way his cheeks puffed out like a frog as he blew his horn. One day, Gillespie was talking with Adolph Herseth, a trumpeter from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra who was known for turning beet red when he played. Dizzy asked, "Bud, how come your cheeks don’t puff out when you play?" Herseth replied, "Dizzy, how come your face doesn’t get all red when you play?" The two laughed as they recognized and appreciated each other’s greatness and personal style. God has made us all unique, having graced, grafted and gifted us to function as an integral part of the body.
