Have you ever faced a situation that made you pray to God and say, "If my life is what you require, then I freely give it?" No, I haven't been in a position where I had anything in my life that caused me to pray to God with such angst, driven to the point where there is no other option but to say that very thing. But Jesus did.
You know, sometimes we forget that though Jesus is the Son of God, He also came to this earth as the Son of Man. He had human emotions that He had to overcome. I'm not trying to focus too much on His humanity, but in the Garden of Gethsemane the word says Jesus sweat great drops of blood as He prayed to the Father.
Luke 22:44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Right before this verse, Jesus prayed: Luke 22:42 saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."
In essence, Jesus said that if God so desired, He could not require the Sacrifice that Jesus was sent to make. Jesus could have easily said He was not going to endure the Cross. But He didn't. He said nevertheless the Father's will be done, not His own. How many times do we try to bargain with God and then do what we want to do anyway when His will isn't what we want? Beyond that, Jesus also said,
John 10:17-18 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. (18) No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."
No one took Jesus' life from Him. He had the power to command a legion of angels to come to His defense. He had the power to take Himself down from the cross and continue to be a son to His earthly mother and father. He did not have to fulfill His purpose. But He did, because He was more interested in seeing His Father's will fulfilled than His own...even unto His death. He even told His disciples that His Father loved Him because He was making this sacrifice. He was doing the will of His Father at all costs. Jesus is called the Lamb of God because He was the final sacrifice for all sin and for every man. He is the ransom that was paid to redeem us from the kingdom of darkness. The sacrifice required His life, so the mercy of God could be bestowed upon us all. Jesus destroyed the works of the devil with His death and resurrection. He took the punishment for our sins so we would not bear them. And so Paul said,
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
We are to be living sacrifices. What is our sacrifice, or reasonable service? The Christain worship music group Phillips, Craig, and Dean has a song called 'Crucified with Christ.' If you have the opportunity, go give it a listen. There is a line in the song that says, "His cross will never ask for more than I can give." While I truly love this song and its message, I wonder how many of us actually consider what we are saying when we say we are crucified with Christ. Or what that line in the song means. "His cross will never ask for more than I can give." Crucifixion was a method of the Roman death sentence. It was excruciatingly painful, was reserved for the worst criminals and always ended in death. What does the cross ask for? The cross asks for the lives of those that are placed upon it. The cross does not care what we want. Its purpose was to put to death those who violated the laws of the land.
Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Putting to death the works of the flesh can be painful to us. Putting to death those things mean we are to say to our Father, "Yet not my will, but Yours be done." Jesus said,
Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (25) For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow Him. We have looked at many things over the last few weeks that we have to do to be the city on a hill, but we haven't really looked at the sacrifice it takes. What did Jesus mean when He said to deny ourselves and take up our cross? Our lives are not our own. They have been bought back; purchased out of the grasp of the enemy. Paul said,
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
What sacrifice are you making today to say that you have been crucified with Christ? Have you picked up your cross to follow Him? It is not a sacrifice if it does not cost something to give up. No matter what we are talking about: drugs, alcohol, pornography, sexual immorality, financial, etc. Giving up anything that is important to us can be painful for us.
So, what are you sacrificing today? Can you say today that you will freely give your life as a sacrifice to the One who gave it you if that is what He requires? Can you say, Yet not my will, but Yours, regardless of the cost?
Join the discussion on Facebook.
You know, sometimes we forget that though Jesus is the Son of God, He also came to this earth as the Son of Man. He had human emotions that He had to overcome. I'm not trying to focus too much on His humanity, but in the Garden of Gethsemane the word says Jesus sweat great drops of blood as He prayed to the Father.
Luke 22:44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Right before this verse, Jesus prayed: Luke 22:42 saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."
In essence, Jesus said that if God so desired, He could not require the Sacrifice that Jesus was sent to make. Jesus could have easily said He was not going to endure the Cross. But He didn't. He said nevertheless the Father's will be done, not His own. How many times do we try to bargain with God and then do what we want to do anyway when His will isn't what we want? Beyond that, Jesus also said,
John 10:17-18 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. (18) No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."
No one took Jesus' life from Him. He had the power to command a legion of angels to come to His defense. He had the power to take Himself down from the cross and continue to be a son to His earthly mother and father. He did not have to fulfill His purpose. But He did, because He was more interested in seeing His Father's will fulfilled than His own...even unto His death. He even told His disciples that His Father loved Him because He was making this sacrifice. He was doing the will of His Father at all costs. Jesus is called the Lamb of God because He was the final sacrifice for all sin and for every man. He is the ransom that was paid to redeem us from the kingdom of darkness. The sacrifice required His life, so the mercy of God could be bestowed upon us all. Jesus destroyed the works of the devil with His death and resurrection. He took the punishment for our sins so we would not bear them. And so Paul said,
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
We are to be living sacrifices. What is our sacrifice, or reasonable service? The Christain worship music group Phillips, Craig, and Dean has a song called 'Crucified with Christ.' If you have the opportunity, go give it a listen. There is a line in the song that says, "His cross will never ask for more than I can give." While I truly love this song and its message, I wonder how many of us actually consider what we are saying when we say we are crucified with Christ. Or what that line in the song means. "His cross will never ask for more than I can give." Crucifixion was a method of the Roman death sentence. It was excruciatingly painful, was reserved for the worst criminals and always ended in death. What does the cross ask for? The cross asks for the lives of those that are placed upon it. The cross does not care what we want. Its purpose was to put to death those who violated the laws of the land.
Paul said we are to be living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God. Paul told the church at Colossus:
Colossians 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Putting to death the works of the flesh can be painful to us. Putting to death those things mean we are to say to our Father, "Yet not my will, but Yours be done." Jesus said,
Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (25) For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow Him. We have looked at many things over the last few weeks that we have to do to be the city on a hill, but we haven't really looked at the sacrifice it takes. What did Jesus mean when He said to deny ourselves and take up our cross? Our lives are not our own. They have been bought back; purchased out of the grasp of the enemy. Paul said,
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
What sacrifice are you making today to say that you have been crucified with Christ? Have you picked up your cross to follow Him? It is not a sacrifice if it does not cost something to give up. No matter what we are talking about: drugs, alcohol, pornography, sexual immorality, financial, etc. Giving up anything that is important to us can be painful for us.
So, what are you sacrificing today? Can you say today that you will freely give your life as a sacrifice to the One who gave it you if that is what He requires? Can you say, Yet not my will, but Yours, regardless of the cost?
Join the discussion on Facebook.
