You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. Psalm 51:16-17 (NIV)
Part 6 – Enough is Enough
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5
There're all these ideas around the things that we need to sacrifice for God. Over the years, I’ve been told that I need to sacrifice my dreams, my ideas, my life, my time, my talents, my money… so much sacrifice. Through the Old and New Testament, there is a lot of talk about sacrifice – the ritual of it, what it means, the practicalities of it, why we need it and more. You could spend the rest of your life reading all the commentary available on it! Our relationship with God is birthed and held within the practice and idea of sacrifice.
And then at the same time as we look for black and white questions and answers around sacrifice in the Bible, it makes all these seemingly contradictory claims around it. A blood sacrifice is required for the atonement of our sins, but at the same time, again and again we hear whispers of God not desiring a sacrifice, but rather a relationship. So which is it? Does he need a sacrifice? Or does he just need us?
Yes.
The Bible is many different stories and events and seasons that come together to create ONE story. A narrative about humans growing in their understanding of the Divine and how they collide/connect/belong with him. It’s a romance, thriller, tragedy, horror, suspense, action, drama, comedy all thrown in together telling the most vivid and incredible story of our divine dance with God. Often one step forward, two steps backward. What little we can cover in the few words we have each day, we cannot in any way explore the depth and width of the doctrine of sacrifice, but here are some ideas to help us get started:
Sacrifices were used to pay debts. Whether it be moral, monetary or religious, a sacrifice was made to atone for lack, fill up the space, pay the gap between what someone had and what was required of them to give. It focused on our inability to live up to God's standard. Even so, the heart of God longed for the heart of man, not just their pursuit to pay their debts and meet the required standard. For God, it’s always been about heart. But something has always made us want to hide our hearts from him…
Jesus came to be our living sacrifice. To settle this debt, the requirement, the gap once and for all. And to reveal to us what sacrifice is about – to reveal the heart of God, to show us his love and devotion. Jesus didn’t sacrifice himself out of ritual; He did it out of love. He was sent in love. He lived in love; he died for love, and he rose by the power of divine and pure love.
His sacrifice didn’t scream “See how much you lack?” it declared “See how much I love!”
Humanity was trying to please God with religion and ritual and acts and deeds and service and performance (we still do)… So God made a sacrifice for us once and for all. No longer could humanity just offer a token of their devotion to God; there is now no sacrifice required, nothing to give to settle our debts as they have been paid, closed, settled.
We can live pure in deed and it will not be enough, we can have glowing reputations and it will not be enough, we can be successful and it will not be enough, we can know the Bible back to front and it will not be enough, we can give all we have and it will not be enough, we can be rich and influential and it will still not be what God is looking for…
“For the source of your pleasure is not in my performance or the sacrifices I might offer to you. The fountain of your pleasure is found in the sacrifice of my shattered heart before you. You will not despise my tenderness as I humbly bow down at your feet.” Psalm 51:16-17, The Passion Translation.
Go to Part 7 – Pride – In the Name of Love
[vcex_image_grid columns=”3″ pagination=”false” thumbnail_link=”custom_link” link_title_tag=”true” custom_links_target=”_blank” overlay_style=”title-category-visible” columns_gap=”5″ img_hover_style=”fade-out” image_ids=”20934,20935,20937″ custom_links=”https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1239768002?pt=118656308&ct=blog%20footer&mt=8,https://www.pktfuel.com/dailyemail,https://www.pktfuel.com/support” img_height=”350″]