Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers (& sisters), by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Our worship is not confined to a Sunday our worship is daily! And without reserve we give ourselves over to God as a living sacrifice... Holy and everything that means, and acceptable to God! Surely such verses effect every interaction we have, every decision we make, what we say, how we say it, what we do, how we do it? Because we know the kind of standard God has and God wants. Surely such an appeal to us has a massive impact on our living.
Rom 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
This verse reminding us that he is creator, that all things are through him and that all things promote his glory. So as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, we set forth in spiritual worship. And as you know this whole idea presented here is based around the old testament sacrifices.
And You know as well as I do there was always the Jew who would if they thought they could get away with it send up the odd sheep or goat for sacrifice that was a bit lame, hoping to get away with something less than acceptable. No, no, no, this daily sacrifice of ours is to be holy and acceptable! And so you have got to ask yourself how does that colour our life? How does that effect our living?
Our daily living, our offering, our response to our God, our expression of thanksgiving, the way we live is for the honour of God.
When I shop, when I study, when I play, when I work, my life is on display, that can't be helped, and it's presented as a sacrifice, an offering to God.
Myself given over to God for his propose for him to use and for me, for us, to let go any claim and this we do not because we are forced but because we are free and set free by God.
Set free by the God of all creation who saved us from our own personal Egypt, which was a life without hope. Set free from our own slavish entanglement with sin and death and we now live as if for God, in our daily giving over of ourselves.
Don't we! Don't we?
I mean that's what we have been doing...
That brothers and sisters is just the start of it!
We are that, and more!
It says in 1Peter 2:5 and let me read the lead up to it, it says this.
1Pe 2:1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.
1Pe 2:2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation--
1Pe 2:3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
1Pe 2:4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
and here it comes..
1Pe 2:5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
Here's the news folks!
Something we have know for a long time
we are
Temple
Priesthood
and Sacrifice!
We are Gods splendid edifice here on the earth. Aren't we?
We are one big walking advert for God and his kind of religion and his kind of living and sacrifice. An advert for life and for love...
Aren't we! Aren't we?
1Co 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
We are the culmination of all bible history, we are Israel, we are the story of the lost and saved, we are the faithful who traveled the desert we are the one's who keep choosing God, we chose him when we saw him in the flesh too, we chose Christ.
You are the way God reaches out to all the world. You, your life, your actions, your participation, you go out in to the world you proclaim his life his death his resurrection, you, you, you!
Your the the church, your the priest, your sacrifice points to the sacrifice of the Christ who takes away the sins of the world. You.
You, your the church.
Your the plan of God there is no plan B.
Let me begin to draw this to a conclusion, we are all these wonderful things and not for the first time has God said, you, I'll take a chance on you.
In Heb 13:15 it says.
Heb 13:15 Through him (Christ) then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
Heb 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
And
Col 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
And finally
Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
So living stones what now?
Holy priesthood, living sacrifices ? What now?
Does that sound like your life?
Will we take up the challenge that we are much, much, more than the eye can see.
Here is a wee something that I hope helps.
The other day I parked up by the side of the road too early for work, it was one of those beautiful sunny days and I saw this woman who didn't see me, walking down the road I saw her stop lean over a small garden fence I saw her take and cup a lovely big pink rose in her hands and push her face into it and smell its perfume. I haven't done that to a rose in years.
There should be something that marks us out from the rest of the garden/crowd there should be something about us, the way we live, what we do, how we deal with things, there should be something about us, the hope we have, the way we deal with life and living, this daily sacrifice that marks us out as having something to offer people that it's worth a closer inspecting, worth leaning over the fence and taking a good look at.
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen.