Sacrifice, Death, Life

Genesis 22:1-3 - Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him."

Where do I start this morning? Oh, I suppose at the altar! This goes along with the blog the other day about Jesus having gone before us…to His own altar, to His cross. This is more about the cross, the meaning of it, the meaning of dying to self, of giving all to God and letting Him handle our situations, about trusting Him for all things. It's a very important topic.

Our pastor, Rory Grooters, preached this message: Altar Calls: God's Private Places of Testing and Trust. After hearing Pastor Dan's message last week, Come and Die, this message is even more of a reminder of what we are called to do as true believers of Christ.

Like Abraham who took his son, Isaac, to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice per God's request, God sacrificed His son, Jesus. Isaac's life was spared. It was a test for Abraham to see how much he trusted his God's commands. Jesus, although He died, arose to life. (As an aside, Mt. Moriah became the site of today's Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Uh, Jerusalem, Jesus. Isaac, Mt. Moriah. A sacred place to God.) 

The altar is a place of sacrifice. Sacrifice means death. But then death means life, in God's eyes. There are many who can't or will not make that sacrifice…the very first one being giving our lives to Christ. After that the sacrifices should be daily: Here I am, Lord. It is a new day. Take my life and do what you will with it. I am Yours. To die is to live and gain, according to Your plans.

It is important to know that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the only Way, Truth and Life. No one goes to the Father except by Him. This world is in a downward spiral. There is deception by an enemy that we will not be able to run from and which is growing larger and stronger...a real enemy. But Jesus is our hope. 

I know internet, blogs, emails could very well be monitored for content. It seems unlikely that little, ole me would be spotted out, but you never know… I know that standing for the truth could be costly some day...it could cost friends, family, lives. We know that there is an infiltration within our own government of this enemy. Our current president is bowing to it. There are factions within our government who, somewhere down the line have ties to terrorism, to control this nation, to control the world, to kill the infidels! And this particular infidel means anyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

But I know Who the Way, Truth and Life is. I trust that no matter what might happen to me, He will see me through. This trust only comes from laying my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my life down at God's altar, like Jesus did…not My will, but Yours, be done. Yes, not my will, Lord, but Yours.

What do I have to fear in this world? The physical world is governed by men. There is a spiritual world  governed by God. This spiritual world has greater importance. It is important to know the Ruler of this spiritual world. There is a bumper sticker: No peace, no God; Know Peace, Know God. There's more truth to that than you can imagine.

We were called to the altar in church yesterday to place whatever we needed to at the foot of the cross and offer it as a sacrifice. Give it to God and trust He will provide. As pastor told us: the altar calls take us from where we want to be to where God wants us to be. It's where we lay it all on the line. It's where we place our hope in God's hands. We trust God will provide, like He did for Abraham. Like He did for Jesus when He provided life out of death. 

We cannot have hope of any consequence without first knowing Jesus. He showed us what we are to do. He spent time with His Father privately; then went out publicly to do His Father's will. The most impressive and public moment of Jesus' life was after He went into the Garden of Gethsemane and gave Himself to the Father…then He carried His own cross and died…for us.

The altar means we die to self, carry our own cross…sacrifice our own hopes and dreams for God's. It's dying to live and knowing that when we do God will provide. We need to understand the very heart of the meaning of what Jesus did for us.

So, we must sacrifice our own lives, die to self and receive Christ. We must let go of the things that prevent us from knowing the absolute truth of who God is. We must let go of the pride and arrogance of being self-made people. Self must die. With this death, praise God, comes a new life, in Christ, and eternal life at that. We must decrease so God can increase (John 3:30).

Will we be asked to physically give our lives for Christ? We don't know for sure. Some will. Would we be willing to? Or would we deny Christ to save our mortal lives? This is where we need to lay it all at the foot of the cross…now. It's where God's will in our lives gives us the strength, peace and hope for our future…now.

We have an enemy. This enemy is gaining ground. What we see happening in the world today was written about thousands of years ago. If we don't see it, we are truly lost. The enemy did not start in the physical…he is spiritual and has taken root in the very souls of our enemy. If we don't understand this, we will not be prepared. There will be no government to save us. Government cannot save us: only Jesus Christ can.

Are you willing to lose your life for Christ that you might live? Or do you want to save your earthly life…and thus lose it?

Matthew 16:25 - For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting]. (Amplified version)