“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” ~ Romans 12:1-2
A living sacrifice is somewhat of an oxymoron. A sacrifice was typically an animal that was slaughtered then placed on the altar and burned. And it wasn’t just offering something dead but something of value. It had to cost you something in order to sacrifice it, and it being dead was that cost going up in smoke, literally.
There were a few things happening in that sacrifice; the person declared God to be of greater value, it was a commitment to follow God’s statutes, and the mercy of God flowed forth to forgive sins.
With the previous sacrificial system sins were forgiven but the heart was not cleansed (Hebrews 10:11-14). God allowed this system because it was looking forward to Jesus’ sacrifice which took away sins and sanctified the believer.
Since Jesus died for us, and rose again, there is no longer any sacrifice needed. He was the perfect and complete sacrifice for our sins.
So, Paul tells us that we are to be a living sacrifice. The sentence of death, because of our sins, is no longer on us, now we are sentenced to life because of our faith in Jesus. Life in Christ means death to the world.
I suppose we could look at it and say that either way we are dead to something, either dead to God or dead to the world. Paul talks elsewhere about us being a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness (Romans 6:19), either way we’re a slave. But we know that the world is death, the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
So, now that Jesus has been our sacrifice for sins and we believe in Him, we have eternal life. Eternal life in God means living as dead to the world. As we enter into our faith we are baptized and declared dead to the world and are given life by God (Romans 6:5). According to God we are now justified, in right standing with Him, we are His sons and daughters, co-heirs with Christ. According to the world we are dead.
No longer do we desire the things of the world. The world tells us that we need money, fame, beauty, power, control, pleasure, and so on in order to be fulfilled in life. These are the fulfillments of the base desires within us. All we have to do is look around to know those things don’t satisfy. Sure, they are fun for the moment but they are certainly not eternal. We can point to plenty of people that have all these things and are completely miserable. How can that be? The world is death. Following the ways of the world will never lead to life.
Our desire now is for the things of God. There is nothing I desire more than doing God’s will. We desire to know God more, to feel His presence with us, the joy of pouring our life out for someone else, the peace that comes from knowing the love of God, and so on. I would give all the money in the world to know God’s presence, but it is not gained through money. Salvation is given by God when we surrender to Him. Surrender, sacrifice, our life.
God does this amazing thing when we give to Him, He gives back to us even more than we could have imagined. We lay our pathetic worldly lives at His feet and He gives us eternal life in it’s place. Now we are in the world but not of the world. Now we have life, real life, and it comes with death to the world.
We are dead men walking, according to the world, and the world hates it because it has no control. What can you offer a dead man to get them to do what you want? The world tries to control us, tries to conform us into worldly desires, but they have nothing I desire. They could give me money, but I know God will provide all my needs, and I have seen money of the world corrupt too many. They could offer me pleasure, but I know there is no greater pleasure than being with God and doing His will. I’ve experienced some things in life, but nothing even comes close to the life God offers. They could offer me power, but I know they can also take it away as soon as they are finished with me, and the power of God is beyond their imagination.
I am dead to this world and alive to God. I have no desire to conform to this world because I have been transformed into something different. I have been born again and the Spirit of the Living God dwells in me. I am a son of God, an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven, co-heirs with Christ, and I have been given a task by the God who reigns eternal to know Him and make Him known.
The world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back. I have been a part of the world and it is lacking. I have tasted of the goodness of God and it is joy forevermore. Let us be dead to this world knowing it has nothing to offer. Let us be alive to God knowing He gives us everything. If we will do so, He will transform us into His image and we will reign with Him in eternity.
WORD UP 