Honoring Sacrifice

Introduction

This memorial day we should set aside some time to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the freedom that you and I enjoy. We should thank God that brave men and women throughout history have been willing to give their lives in the defense of our great nation.

I still believe that we live in the greatest nation on Earth because of the rights and freedoms these men and women died to protect. The question that you and I must ask is “How do we honor their sacrifice?” I believe the answer to that question is that we live our lives embracing those rights and freedoms.

Those who died, have died in vain, if you and I are willing to give up those rights and freedoms without a fight. We dishonor the legacy of these fallen heroes if we willingly embrace the very ideals that they fought to oppose.

Now we will turn our attention to the greatest sacrifice ever made, that of the very Son of God as He gave his life on the cross of calvary.

Scripture Reading

Jesus Christ gave His life to purchase our redemption, but He did not die simply so that we could escape the torments of Hell but also so that we might have the liberty to live our lives for Him.

Let us honor His great sacrifice by living a life that brings glory to His name and points others to Him. We must :

Reject Self-centered Living (Vs. 14-15)

We live in a society where the primary question is “What’s in it for me?” Most live their lives only concerned with what they can gain and attain for themselves.

Jesus Christ did not die for you and I so that we could live lives dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure and honor for ourselves.

So many professing Christians are utterly wasting their lives in the pursuit of their own selfish ambitions.

Jesus Christ did not give His life so that we could make a name for ourselves, He died so that we could exalt His name!

When we live for ourselves, we dishonor the sacrifice that Christ made for us. It is time that we recognized that our life on earth is to be centered on Christ and the furtherance of His eternal kingdom not the advancement of our own earthly kingdom.

Our primary motivation should not be our own prosperity or our own pleasure. Our primary motive in this life should be to lift up the name of Jesus and to live according to His will for our lives.

It is time that we laid aside our plans and began to pursue God’s plan for our lives instead. I Corinthians 6:19-20- not your own, therefore glorify God.

Jesus Christ died to give us the freedom to live for Him, what a pity that so many professing Christians are living lives without regard for the great sacrifice that Christ made for them.

You and I were “dead in trespasses and sins” but Christ has quickened us (made us alive) and now it is our duty to live for Him which died for us! We are thankful that Christ died for our sins but we fail to recognize that when He gave us life it was so that we may live for HIM!

Embrace Our New Nature (Vs. 16-17)

Living for Christ means that we no longer look at the world from a fleshly perspective but rather from a spiritual one. When we placed our faith in Christ we were given a new nature.

If we are to honor the sacrifice that Christ has made for us we must embrace this new nature and determine to put away the old nature.

We must lay aside old habits and embrace new ones. We must lay aside old relationships and embrace new ones. We must lay aside old priorities and embrace new ones.

There should be a transformation taking place in the life of every believer. A kind of metamorphosis as we are transformed into image of Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:29)

Illustration- Caterpillar to Butterfly. Ephesians 4:22-24- put off old man and put on the new

Far too often there is very little change in those who profess faith in Christ. Placing our faith in Jesus Christ should produce a radical change in our life!

We must decide to allow the Spirit of God and the Word of God to transform us so that we may honor Jesus Christ with our lives.

This transformation provides a glorious testimony to the power of Jesus Christ and is one way which we can honor His sacrifice.

Every believer should be being transformed to the point that our new nature erases every remnant of our old nature.

Embrace Our Responsibility as Ambassadors for Christ (Vs. 18-20)

The greatest way that you and I can honor Jesus Christ for the sacrifices He made for us is to point other to Him!

Jesus gave His life to reconcile us to God but it was not for us alone. Jesus Christ died for all men and it His desire that all would be saved.

He has given us a ministry to perform, the ministry of reconciliation! It is the responsibility of every Christian to bring others to Christ!

He has also given us a message to deliver, He has committed unto us the word of reconciliation! You and I have the word of God wherein is contained the gospel of Jesus Christ and God has delivered the Word of God to us so that we might deliver it to those who have not yet heard.

He has given us a role to fill as ambassadors of Jesus Christ! Now that Jesus Christ has ascended back to the father it is our responsibility to stand “in [his] stead” striving to lead men and women to be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

We have a duty to carry the gospel message to our family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors and if we neglect this responsibility we dishonor Christ’s sacrifice.

“Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus.”

“At the end of the day, the biggest obstacle to evangelism is Christians who don’t share the gospel.”

The results of our efforts are not important, our responsibility is simply to deliver the message of the love of Christ as revealed by His death, burial, and resurrection for sinners so that they may have the opportunity to respond in faith and be reconciled to God.

How many believers have miserably failed to honor Christ’s sacrifice because they have never attempted to tell others about Him.

The fact remains that Christ died for all, the only question is how many have yet to hear because of our failure to carry out the charge that God has committed to our trust.

The responsibility is ours and what better way to honor Christ than to tell others about Him!