A lot of us probably have heard Romans 12:1.
Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. (KJV--which is your reasonable service.)
For a Bible study, I was reading Isaiah 6:1-8.
In the year that King Uzziah died I then saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and liftedup, and His train filled thetemple. Above it stood the seraphs; each one had six wings; with two he coverd his face, with two he covered his face, and with two he flew. And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory. And the dootposts moved at the voice of the one who cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, Woe is me! For I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.Then one of the seraphs flew to me, haveing a live coal in his hand, snatched with tongs from the altar. And he laid it on my mouth and said, Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me!
One of the questions we were asked was what the symbolism of the coal was. Here's what I came up with. I think it's pretty interesting, and it shows you another example of the circular, rather than linear models found in scripture...
"The symbolism of the coal is so beautiful, and is really summed up in [Romans 12:1]. When we look back to Old Testament times, buring sacrifices on the altar was a huge part of worship, purification, redemption, you name it. The coals from the altar were what enabled the sacrifices to rise before God as a pleasing aroma. The coals were what consumed, or accepted the sacrifice. The coals were also the fuel for the sacrifice, what allowed it to keep buring and to continue to be offered up to God. Now, when we translate this to Isaiah, we see that he is what the coals are being applied to. Isaiah was really the first living sacrifice! Then in verse 8, we see that imediately after becoming a sacrifice, he is called to the work of God.
Now applying this to us, present day is the exciting part. Because of the Lord's mercy, we are giving access to God's alter. As we allow ourselves to daily become living sacrifices, the coals of God's altar are also purifying us, making us more that acceptable in the light of His holiness. Though this is a painful process at times, we can be filled with joy in His presence. Another extremely important thing to note is that the coals are what fuels the sacrifice--NOT us. At times, we feel the coals are too painful or too hot, so we go off and try to find a more comfortable altar, made to an idol--something we have placed above God in our lives. At times, we simply try to burn on our own, apart from God's refining, purifying fire. And then we wonder why we aren't "on fire for God" like we used to be?"
Take some time to think about this and apply it. As modern day christians, I think we really need to take a look at the image we're portraying to the world. Do we look like walking, talking sacrifices to the living God? Or our we lying comfortably on out burnt out altars made to success, entertainment, ourselves, or even to christian things instead of Christ? And if we feel like we're making a point to take up our crosses and make a daily trek onto the altar, this still shouldn't be enough if we see other parts of the body of Christ still on other altars. God asks that the whole Body of Christ be put on His altar. Pray that we would be one upon His altar.
Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. (KJV--which is your reasonable service.)
For a Bible study, I was reading Isaiah 6:1-8.
In the year that King Uzziah died I then saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and liftedup, and His train filled thetemple. Above it stood the seraphs; each one had six wings; with two he coverd his face, with two he covered his face, and with two he flew. And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory. And the dootposts moved at the voice of the one who cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, Woe is me! For I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.Then one of the seraphs flew to me, haveing a live coal in his hand, snatched with tongs from the altar. And he laid it on my mouth and said, Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me!
One of the questions we were asked was what the symbolism of the coal was. Here's what I came up with. I think it's pretty interesting, and it shows you another example of the circular, rather than linear models found in scripture...
"The symbolism of the coal is so beautiful, and is really summed up in [Romans 12:1]. When we look back to Old Testament times, buring sacrifices on the altar was a huge part of worship, purification, redemption, you name it. The coals from the altar were what enabled the sacrifices to rise before God as a pleasing aroma. The coals were what consumed, or accepted the sacrifice. The coals were also the fuel for the sacrifice, what allowed it to keep buring and to continue to be offered up to God. Now, when we translate this to Isaiah, we see that he is what the coals are being applied to. Isaiah was really the first living sacrifice! Then in verse 8, we see that imediately after becoming a sacrifice, he is called to the work of God.
Now applying this to us, present day is the exciting part. Because of the Lord's mercy, we are giving access to God's alter. As we allow ourselves to daily become living sacrifices, the coals of God's altar are also purifying us, making us more that acceptable in the light of His holiness. Though this is a painful process at times, we can be filled with joy in His presence. Another extremely important thing to note is that the coals are what fuels the sacrifice--NOT us. At times, we feel the coals are too painful or too hot, so we go off and try to find a more comfortable altar, made to an idol--something we have placed above God in our lives. At times, we simply try to burn on our own, apart from God's refining, purifying fire. And then we wonder why we aren't "on fire for God" like we used to be?"
Take some time to think about this and apply it. As modern day christians, I think we really need to take a look at the image we're portraying to the world. Do we look like walking, talking sacrifices to the living God? Or our we lying comfortably on out burnt out altars made to success, entertainment, ourselves, or even to christian things instead of Christ? And if we feel like we're making a point to take up our crosses and make a daily trek onto the altar, this still shouldn't be enough if we see other parts of the body of Christ still on other altars. God asks that the whole Body of Christ be put on His altar. Pray that we would be one upon His altar.
