The Promise of Sacrifice
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Intro and Tension
Intro and Tension
What a journey | In Transit | took turn up mountain | James | not always easy | Not always koombaya at top of mountain | There is sacrifice at top of the mountain | but always deliverance | This is what we unpacking today.
What I want to do today; Start in creation | Garden to Cross in 20 mins | Talk about promise of sacrifice - what it means, still relevant?
Title: The Promise of Sacrifice
My Hope: The gospel gets bigger for you today | The Good news - Get’s real for you today.
*pray*
2 weeks - Grace & Favour - The grace the Sent Jesus | The favour we live in.
greatest ever redemption story in history | God inviting us into His story | but you have to step.
OK let’s begin.
Start way back = in creation.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
imagine for a second | Garden of Eden | no hurt | no Death |
Perfection - With God
And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
No Shame | No Guilt
Unfortunately - didn’t stay this way
One Rule = Don’t touch Google tree.
One Satan = Did God really say?
What did they do? took the fruit - Realised naked = Shame = God punished them because God is Holy. God has to deal with Sin.
So God punishes the Man, and the Woman.
and to the serpent he says:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
What is this? “Your offspring” is anyone that is in opposition to God and her offspring is Jesus Christ.
So the devil is going to bruise Christ’s heel - but Christ will crush His head.
In the punishment, there was a promise. This promise was for redemption.
Perspective - Tell my kid off
Then seperation = Man and God.
All through History though - We see God inviting people into HIS story for their redemption.
All through history, people of great faith stepped in - until they didn’t.
Abraham:
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
What did Abraham do?
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Fast forward | Moses | Burning Bush “What now” | Moses responds = “Here I am” - Kicks off second greatest redepmtion story - Lead out of Egypt | Up Mountaint to meet God | In God’s story, until He decided to step out of it.
40 years in wilderness - Ran out of water | God said speak to the rock | Moses Smacked it instead
(numbers 20:12) - God took Moses up to wood shed | Moses didn’t get to go to promise land because He disobeyed - In His Justice he had to deal with it = no promise land = BUT look at his Mercy;
remember transfiguration? Jesus goes up mountain = on left elijah - who on his right?
And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
Where was this? THe promise land.
Moses - Transformed by God - Redeemed by God -
Joshua - Given city of Jericho, remember - Given the city - but told to step - 6 times, over 6 days, then 7 times on the 7th day - Silly plan.
Joshua = invited in. Moses = invited in. Abraham invited in.
What are we learning today?
All through history...God is constantly inviting us into His Story for His Glory and for our redemption.
Why? Because God gave us Free Will to choose Him and the OT was a story of God saying “Return to me”.
They didn’t.
400 years - Silence - then greatest act of redemption by God in history.
No other way | All the way back in Garden | God knew To bring us back in relationship with Him
Had to be a sacrifice that was worthy | Jesus left Deity for dust | Did it for you.
Can you imagine conversation
Conversation between Jesus and God
Why would he?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Yes God has Wrath | But He sent Jesus because He was motivated by Mercy.
Doesn’t want to bury you | Wants to show you Mercy | From God to be able to move you from Death to Life | Doomed to Forgiven - Had to be great sacrifice | Had to allow Satan to bruise his Heal | Jesus died, so you never have to
knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
What are we to do? What do we give the God, that has everything?
A sacrifice provided a way for you.
and a sacrifice is what is required from you.
**WHAT - Telling me greatest love story of all time - all of a sudden - flipped the script**
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.
God inviting you into His Story - On His Terms.
Clear - Given life to Jesus - You’re getting to Heaven - but if the gospel is just saved from hell to go to Heaven | Missing something.
God is asking the same thing since history - Give up your way and go my way.
God gave 100% - How much do we give?
Have to ask ourselves;
Do I have a life that represents my gratitude for what came down from Heaven?
Our Church Building - Noise goes out
Our life should be an echo and a response to what God has already done.
Namely the sacrifice that came out of heaven in the form of Jesus Christ.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 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.
Not the stone, but now built on the cornerstone
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 marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
We worship God with our whole lives because of what Jesus did with His.
Worship isn’t something that we manufacture - it’s an echo of the sound of heaven that we hear.
if sound of heaven BIG = ECHO is BIG = Overflow is BIG.
Small stone - small gospel, small splash - big gospel - big splash.
If you have laid down your life | Everything you do looks a little bit like Jesus | Excited to be at churhc.
Should be an echo in your heart because of what Jesus has ALREADY done. Grace we have ALREADY recieved.
If gospel is “alright” news - You might just give Sundays - but if you see Gospel is GRACE that sent JESUS to the CROSS for YOU + Now you have HS + Walk with Yahweh.
Man = That’s gonna come out.
So what do we do?
We start with Worship
Starts ONLY if you see the sacrifice of Love | When you do - it moves your heart - changes everything.
Then you know - No matter what - My God is worthy.
Difficult Diagnoses = Worthy
Didn’t get Job= God worthy
etc.
2. We constantly hand it over
My life = Yours. Situation = yours. World = Yours. I’ve been sacrificed to your will. All yours.
3. We look at our circumstances through the character of God
Illustration (Cardboard cutout)
Text Message
We are at top of mountain | Sacrifices happen at top of Mountain |
Mountaintops are about realising that all worship requires sacrifice.
What happens if this is heart shift for you today?
Romans 12:1 - Lay down your life.
Very next verse:
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.
When deny yourself and give life - We are transformed | Situations are transformed | Your life=transformed. - Discern Will of God - Step into it.
God is inviting you to step into His story today of Grace = Not in a small way = but with everything you have - because He gave everything He Had.