A Living Sacrifice

—Rom 12:1–2 “…present your bodies a living sacrifice…”

Andrew Fountain – Mar 20, 2022

Click on this slide and then press the spacebar to advance slides: ➜ (or swipe on a touch screen)

Goal

To open our eyes with excitement to one of the key verses of Scripture
and to be motivated to commit to its message.

A Living Sacrifice

An overview, seeing what it means and how it fits together
Step back and see the big picture
Ask what it means in practice

Romans 12

I appeal to you therefore, brothers,
- by the mercies of God
- to present your bodies a living sacrifice
  - holy and pleasing to God
  - which is your reasonable service
and do not let yourself be conformed to this world

but let yourself be transformed by the renewing of your mind

that you might discern and approve what is the will of God:
- what is good, and well-pleasing and perfect

Romans 12

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,
- by the mercies of God
- to present your whole beings a living sacrifice
  - 100% dedicated and bringing joy to God
  - which is your service that makes complete sense
and do not let yourself be pressed into the shape of this world

but let yourself be continuously morphed by the renewing of your mind

that you might recognize and be 100% in agreement with the will of God:
- what is good, and well-pleasing and flawless

Now we come to our response
- There is a switch—God has given himself for us, we give ourselves to him
- But they are totally different:
  - Jesus was a “dying sacrifice” for us—that was agony
  - We don’t have to die—ours is a joy
- “bodies” is used here for the whole being, —he is not trying to drive a wedge between our mind and our body.
- “reasonable service” KJV & NET, or “rational sacrifice”?
  - the word means “it makes logical sense”, it is totally reasonable.
  - the word for “service” is the same as the priests serving in the temple—we are not only the sacrifice itself, but also the priest who offers it up! And it all makes sense!
This looks like transformation into the new, not the old
- It is stopped by the opposite happening—we are conformed to this world
  - back problems: shape of car seat
  - shape of the metal sides of the car (not hand crafted by elves)
  - literally means shaped by being with something
    - so it’s hard for us to transform, because we are being continually pushed back into the old shape
- The word transformed is metamorphosis.
  - We are morphing into something different
  - Think of superman
  - Think of transformers
  - Think of caterpillar to butterfly
Two things to note:
1. it is a continuous process (slow motion transformation...)
2. It is done to us
So what stops this? and what makes it happen? —the shape of the world pressing us
- Oh, and it’s your mind not your body. (body still looks the same!)
  - One day it will be the body as well
  - for now it is your inner world that being radically changed
The goal is becoming shaped to the beautiful will of God
- We become in tune with God’s will
- This is not so much about having a revelation of his will, as being in tune with it
  - The word means to examine something and be in 100% agreement with it at the end
- Both you and God agree that it is good, brings pleasure, and is flawless

So that is an overview
Now we will step back and see the big picture

2. Step back and see the big picture

	Old Covenant	New Covenant
Boundary markers defining God’s people	The Law	Faith in Jesus

(take sheep, food item, sabbath “rest” pillow, megablocks “temple”)

Circumcision
Food laws
Sabbath and other special days
Sacrifices
Priests to serve God
Government
Ten Commandments
The Temple
Presence of the Spirit
Jesus is the replacement for all of this
- Joined to him by faith, the imprint of his love is on us, shining out
Have you seen any? (clothing (but modesty is important) , hats)
- King James Bible
- Laws
Outline of Paul 9–11, 13—
- Not that Jews are out, but Gentiles are in, so what are the boundary markers?
- Relates to 10 commandments and Government:

Romans 13:7–9

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Old and the New

Old People of God
The New People of God
What is the new rule of life?

Old	“Do this and live” Lev 18:5
New	“present your bodies a living sacrifice” Rom 12:1

A Living Sacrifice

An overview, seeing what it means and how it fits together
Step back and see the big picture
Ask what it means in practice

Questions

What does it actually mean in practice to be a “living sacrifice”?
Look at the example of Jesus
Getting up early on a Sunday!
Little choices
Our time is costly
What does “this world” mean?
What are the pressures that conform us?
How do we go about getting transformed?
What are we morphed into?
How does recognizing God’s will actually happen?

Romans 12:2

and do not let yourself be pressed into the shape of this world

but let yourself be continuously morphed by the renewing of your mind

that you might recognize and be 100% in agreement with the will of God:
- what is good, and well-pleasing and flawless

Parallel Colossians 3

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

2 Corinthians 4:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Romans 12

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,
- by the mercies of God
- to present your whole beings a living sacrifice
  - 100% dedicated and bringing joy to God
  - which is your service that makes complete sense
and do not let yourself be pressed into the shape of this world

but let yourself be continuously morphed by the renewing of your mind

that you might recognize and be 100% in agreement with the will of God:
- what is good, and well-pleasing and flawless