Thursday, October 27, 2011

Sacrifice of Praise


This reminds me of the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament and, of course, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who is my Savior and Lord.  In both the Old and New Testaments, animals were acceptable sacrifices for sin until Jesus was resurrected from the dead.  

Before the death, burial and resurrection of Christ men were separated from God because of their sin and the wrath of God was their portion.  It says in Romans 1:18–20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

This tells us that we, being born in sin, are all under God’s wrath and His judgment at the time of our birth with no exceptions.  The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (NIV Bible)  The Bible also says in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (KJV Bible)  So all of us were born with a death sentence on our lives and totally separated from God because of our sin.  

The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.”  So for mankind to ever be able to stand before God there had to be a sacrifice for their sin.  The sacrifice for man’s sins had to be a perfect sacrifice, it could not be an animal sacrifice because the animal sacrifice was just a covering over of sin and had to be done over and over again because there wasn’t enough power in the blood of animals to completely erase man’s sins.  It says in Hebrews 10:4, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”  

But there was a problem, man couldn’t shed his own blood because he was a sinner so man needed a perfect sacrifice.  God knowing our dilemma made a way for us.  God sent His only begotten Son to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins, praise God!  

Going back to Romans 6:23, after it says the wages of sin is death it says but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  It says in Hebrews 9:24–28, “For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.  Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.  Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world.  But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (NIV Bible)  This is great news for fallen man, something to get excited about and to stay excited about.  If the Lord never does anything else for you this is enough for you to thank and praise Him forever.  

Just think, without the power in the blood of Jesus to cleanse and purify our sins we would be the most miserable people.  So no matter where you find yourself today, in whatever circumstance or situation, whether you feel like it or not, if you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus give Him a sacrifice of praise!!  The gift of salvation is the greatest gift you will ever receive.  People get excited about so many things and none of them can top this one.  God loves it when we praise Him, so what are you waiting for, get your mind off everything else and give the Lord praise!

If you are not born again there is room at the feet of Jesus for you.  Repent of your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you for them.  Then ask the Lord to come into your life, to be your Lord and Savior.  If you truly mean what you say the Lord will forgive you.  Then you will also be excited and start praising and thanking the Lord and so will all the heavenly host, praise the Lord.  Have a great day and God bless!!              

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