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

Message: We have finished reading eleven rather difficult chapters in which Paul examines, in minute detail, the way in which God has operated to bring us righteousness. Here, at the beginning of Chapter 12, we see a major shift in tone. He has explained to us 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. When 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. Christ crucified This may seem easier than what Orthodox Jews go through, with all of their dietary restrictions, clothing oddities, etc.; we can get away with doing a lot less. And in ways, it is. But in one critical detail, it is much more difficult, 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 time, convenience, and possessions to God as our sacrifice. We give the one thing that is really ours: ourselves. 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. It seems likely that, in the near future, some of us might be called to greater sacrifices than we are accustomed to making. Our businesses may be closed down and we may lose the right to practice our professions, because we will not do things that an increasingly anti-Christian majority want to require. Canada, for example, seems on the verge of not allowing physicians to practice medicine, if they will not perform abortions for reasons of religious conviction. The rest of Romans will tell us, in more specific detail, how we are to make this sacrifice. 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.