Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: Paul spends the first eleven chapters of Romans examining, in minute detail, the way in which God has operated to bring us righteousness. Here, at the beginning of Chapter 12, there is a major shift in tone. Chapters 1-11 explain the differences between the Old Testament and the New, and why they are one Bible even though there seem to be many contradictions between them. But this verse sounds very different. It is not an explanation; it is a call to action. Paul has told us “why”. Now, he is going to tell us “what”. And the very first “what” is to present our bodies as a sacrifice. W hen we hear about the Jews making sacrifices, it sounds strange to our modern ear. How could anyone worship God — our God — by killing and burning animals or wheat? But that is what the law called upon the Jews to do in the Old Testament. We don't make animal sacrifices any longer because we live under a new covenant with God, reflected in the New Testament. Our relationship with God changed. Does this mean we no longer make sacrifices to God? No. We now follow the law in the Spirit. We keep the same law in a new way. We follow the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. This may seem easier than what Orthodox Jews go through; we can get away with doing a lot less. And in ways, it is. But in one critical detail, it is more, because Christ did not give just his sheep or his wheat or his time or his money as a sacrifice for us. He gave his body. He sacrificed his own flesh and blood. And now, like Christ, we present more than our possessions to God as our sacrifice. We give the one thing that is really ours: ourselves, our souls and bodies. Like Christ, we present our bodies as a sacrifice; we give ourselves back to the God who created us. I hope that none of us are called to die for Christ. We must always remember that countless Christians have done exactly that. Yet, although few are called to die for Christ, we are all called to live for Christ. Each and every one of us are called to give our bodies as a living sacrifice. We are not expected to die for God. We are expected to live for God, and it is a living God who will enable us, strengthen us, comfort us and instruct us in our journey: The Holy Spirit. How do we do this? The rest of Romans will tell us. Most of epistles are full of information on the subject and actually, it starts in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5-7) It sounds scary, but it isn't; because once we have faith, once we are confident in God's Holy Spirit within us and the salvation that awaits us, we do not need to fear anything. And in fact, leading a life of Christian sacrifice is a life filled with joy and happiness. God will not leave all of our rewards until after our death. The joy one can derive from following God's commandments is beyond anything the secular world realizes. People spend their lives grabbing for money, power, sex, status — and they wonder why they are not happy. They wonder what is the meaning of it all, and yet, it is right before them, in the Bible they have rejected.