True Worship and Sacrifice

From the very beginning, sacrifice, the giving of innocent life in the place of the guilty, has been the main element in worship. In Genesis 3:21, the Bible states that God made garments of animal skins for Adam and Eve. God provided the first sacrifice. Cain and Abel worshiped God through sacrifice (one was full with faith, the other was empty without faith). Noah and Abram built altars and worshiped with sacrifice. God gave Moses specific instructions concerning worship, all centered upon sacrifice, the giving of innocent life in the place of the guilty. But why worship through sacrifice?

All of the Old Testament instructions concerning sacrifice were fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Father could see the Son in the shadows of the Old Testament sacrifices, and it pleased Him. Sacrifice reveals the heart of God. He is love.

When the Lord Jesus poured out His holy life on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins and mine, it pleased the Father (Isaiah 53:10) because it fully revealed the heart and love of the Father toward you and me. The Father rewarded His Son by raising Him from the dead and eternal life with Himself revealing the heart and love of the Father toward the Son!

This life is yours through faith in Christ, if you are willing to believe that in Christ you can die to sin and be rewarded, now, with eternal life with God. This is sacrifice and it is the true worship that the Father is seeking today.

The Father sees Himself in the sacrifice of His Son, through faith, your faith in Him, and it pleases Him. The reward is an intimate, personal, and eternal relationship with Him.

Tomorrow we will see how this truth is tied to Romans 12:1 – 2 in clear instructions for true worship and promise of the reward.