A Living Sacrifice

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom 12:1).

Present Your Body, A Burnt Offering Acceptable to God

They had travelled for almost three days. The place for the sacrifice was within sight now. With the help of his father, he picked up the wood for the burnt offering. He walked alongside his father, carrying the wood on his shoulder, and they walked towards Mount Moriah.

He was, as you might call him in my native colloquial language, “the true son of his father.” And indeed, he was the only begotten son, both figuratively and in reality. He was always around his father, especially when he was worshipping God. He assisted him many times in building altars and in the solemn worship with burnt offering unto God. He loved his father. And now, even more than anything, he was beginning to love the God of his father.

However, he remembered, when planning for the burnt offering on previous occasions, they had always had the fire, the wood, the knife, and something else. Something even more important—a lamb! The sacrificial lamb that would be killed and laid on the altar of burnt offering was missing. “Father must have forgotten this time,” he said to himself.

So, he called his father’s attention to the missing item in the offering catalog, expecting him to take action and make sure they had all they needed for the offering. He was a young boy, all right, but he was just as concerned for the success of this mission as his father was. At the foot of the mountain, he paused and said, “My father. And he said, here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Gen 22:7).

The boy didn’t know that his father had been thinking about this for a while too. In fact, he’d been thinking about this for more than three days. But he had made a quality decision not only to obey God, but also to believe His promises. He had resolved to walk in faith and obedience.

“And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of them together” (Gen 22:8).

“When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son” (Gen 22:11,12).

And like a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, though an imperfect type, he lay there obedient to his father, even unto possible death. We do not read anywhere that this young man resisted or tried to run for his life, though he could have. He was strong enough to struggle and fight for his life. I imagine him to be eight or nine, though the Scripture doesn’t tell us. He was old enough to understand what the requirements for a burnt offering were, and old enough to carry the wood and walk several miles up the mountain after traveling on foot for almost three days with his father and the servants. But, in obedience to his father, whom he trusted completely, he laid it all down. He, indeed, is a type of the Lord, who laid His life down willingly for us in obedience to His Father God.

This was a willing sacrifice. And a willing sacrifice is a living sacrifice. God does not take any offering from you or me if we do not offer it to Him willingly from our hearts. Apostle Paul teaches that when giving to God in worship, we should always do it from our hearts, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. This is part of what the Lord was telling the woman at the well when he said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:23). In the Old Covenant, God emphatically told the Children of Israel this same message:

“And the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, If any man of you shall bring an offering to the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.

“If his offering shall be a burnt-sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD” (Lev 1:1-3).

The requirements for a burnt offering acceptable to God are clearly outlined in this passage of Scripture. First, the offering must be a domestic animal from the herd or flock and must be without blemish. This is to pre-signify the purity that is in Christ, who is the true burnt offering acceptable to God.

Second, the owner must offer it to God of his own free will. If any offering is to please God, it must be given to Him willingly and done in love. Christ, our Passover Lamb, willingly offered himself for us. And any offering of worship to God must be voluntary and from our innermost being.

Must Be Offered Through Jesus Christ

Third, it must be presented and offered to God through Christ Jesus, who is the Tabernacle of God. The Scripture tells us above that the offerer must present his offering at the door of the Tabernacle. The Lord Jesus is the Door. As the Scriptures declare, Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” and the “door into the sheepfold” (John 14:6, John 10:1).

Here in the Outer Court, the offerer stands facing the brazen altar of burnt offerings, and lays his hands on the offering that would make him acceptable to God. “And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:

And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the LORD” (Lev 1:4-9)

Next, the offerer must put his hand upon the head of his offering, signifying his desire and hope that this substitute would be acceptable by God to make atonement for him. The sacrifice is then killed before the Lord. The priests take the blood of the animal and sprinkle it on the altar round about. By doing this, they are signifying the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ and thus the remission of sins and the purifying of consciences, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. The ninth chapter of Hebrews describes this in the 21st verse:

“Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (Heb 9:21-23).

After this, the animal for the burnt offering is cut into pieces and laid on the altar. They then proceed to put fire upon the altar, for this is to be a burnt offering unto the Lord.

The word translated as “burnt-offering” in Scripture literally means “ascending.” A burnt offering is one that is offered up to God by fire and “ascends,” or “that which goes up” unto God. It is a “whole” offering because the entire animal used for the offering is burnt upon the altar before the Lord. The Book of Leviticus describes several different offerings in detail: the meal offering, the drink offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, the heave offering, and the burnt offering.

In contrast to the sin offerings, a burnt offering is an offering of worship. It is not an offering relating to the sin of the offerer, but one offered up as a fragrance for God’s acceptance and pleasure. In the Sin and Trespass offerings, one comes as a sinner to pay the penalty for sins and trespasses. In the burnt offering, one comes to offer oblations of worship to God. This offering is for God. In this offering, sin is not seen or thought of. It is an offering from the faithful giving sweet and voluntary worship to their God.

As this offering is burnt, the fragrance of the incense rises up before God as a sweet-smelling savor. In this offering, God finds satisfaction. In the burnt offering, the worshipper places the entire animal on the altar, and since the altar is the table of the Lord, as declared by the prophet Malachi (1:11,12), whatever is placed on it is “the bread of God” (Lev 21:6). It is all His. The fire from Heaven consumes the offering, and it ascends unto God as sweet incense.

For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.

But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible” (Mal 1:11,12).

They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God; for the offerings of Jehovah made by fire, the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy” (Lev 21:6).

The burnt offering, together with the meat offering and the peace offering, are sweet savor offerings. These three offerings are offered up unto God by fire upon the brazen altar in the Outer Court. But of all these, only the burnt offering is wholly burnt on the altar as a sweet-smelling savor unto God. It represents a worshipper totally offering himself or herself unto God. This is significant, as we’ll discuss later in this chapter.

Peculiar to the burnt offering is the fact that a life is offered on the altar. “And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Lev 1:5). In this, the burnt offering is different from the meat offering, where corn, oil, and frankincense are offered. In the burnt offering, a life is involved and life is that part of creation which, from the beginning, God claimed as His. This is why, in the first offering given to God by the two sons of Adam, Abel’s offering was accepted, while Cain’s was not. God desires an offering of life and a living sacrifice.

We need to understand, at this junction, the importance of the actions of the offerer during the sacrifice. Here, I am referring to the laying of the offerer’s hands on the head of the animal victim being offered. This act expresses identification of the offerer with the offering. In doing this, the offerer identifies with the offering, and in giving up the offering to be burnt, he signifies complete surrender of his person. The offering, whatever type of animal it might be, stands for and is looked upon as identical with the offerer.

Therefore, in burnt offerings, as the whole offering is set on fire and burnt on the altar before God, and as its fragrance rises up before the Throne of God as a sweet-smelling savor, it signifies that the offerer is accepted by God. His prayer is acceptable to God and his worship and incense are pleasant to Him. In this case, this true worshipper has presented and wholly surrendered himself upon the altar of the Lord as a sweet savor unto Jehovah.

Be Transformed by the Renewing of Your Mind

The Apostle Paul, teaching this in the New Testament, wrote in his Epistle to the Romans:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

“And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:1-2).

Here the Apostle is admonishing us to present our bodies to God as living sacrifices, which are the ones that are acceptable to God. As we discussed in the early part of this chapter, God said to Moses that when anyone brings an offering to Him, it must be from a willing heart. An offering from a willing heart is a living sacrifice, and this is what is acceptable to God. Here, the Apostle is saying that, like the burnt offering of the Old Testament, we should wholly and willingly surrender our bodies as living sacrifices on the altar. As we do, the fire of the Holy Ghost will fall upon us and our lives will be offered unto God as a sweet-smelling savor, holy and acceptable unto Him.

We are to present our bodies wholly to God as living sacrifices. This is our spiritual worship. God seeks a spiritual offering, an offering presented in spirit and in truth. An offering given to Him with free will and out of the heart; an offering of life, willingly and wholly laid upon the altar. Not one given grudgingly or under compulsion, but one that, like Isaac, lies on the altar in obedience and total submission to the Father God. Like our Lord and Master, we are to willingly lay down our lives on the altar of burnt offering.

It is important to understand that burnt offerings refer to worship and communion as they pertain to our relationship with God. A burnt offering is not an oblation for sin, but an offering made by fire to bring worship and adoration to the Most High. Burnt offerings mean worship. We worship God not only with our words, but with the totality of our lives laid upon the altar. A life totally devoted to God in words and deeds is the worship He desires.

We must understand that offering our worship to God is not just singing and praying, but the life that we live in praise of our God. A life lived in honor of God and dedicated to the cause of righteousness and holiness, a life lived as “Holiness unto the Lord,” is the acceptable worship and desired sacrifice that God is looking for. This is the living sacrifice the Apostle is talking about. And the living fire will fall upon the living sacrifice laid on the living altar, offering up a sweet-smelling savor unto the Living God.