Sacrifice or Love

SACRIFICE or LOVE

 

 

Hi Everyone:

 

When Noah built the ark, it was a work of obedience and God smiled upon him. Noah was so grateful he built an altar and offered burnt offerings to the Lord.  It was the practice to offer animals as a sacrifice or offering to the Lord in that time. I could spend much time talking about Noah and his relationship with God, e.g. Noah was the only person on the entire Earth that pleased God. However my point of this letter is, not about Noah but about what God wants from us

 

Many believe that one must perform some form of sacrifice to please God. When Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross for us He told the world He was willing to sacrifice Himself for anyone who would believe that He was the Son of God; indeed He is and is the redeemer for anyone who believes. I must admit that I cannot think of a greater sacrifice than for someone to give his life for someone else. Yes indeed, it was the most humiliating sacrifice ever, not ever to be equaled. Today many people in various ways develop a feeling of guilt and the 'need' to do something about it. Some will pray, some will go to 'church', some will confess and others will seek counsel and I'm sure there are numerous other things one might do to relieve their conscience. In some religions when a person commits a sin, it is a requirement to confess the sin and offer some form of sacrifice. Is this what God wants us to do?

 

If you study the life of Noah, you will begin to understand what God wants. You see, Noah was a man that put a smile on the face of God. See Genesis 6:8-9. Psalm 52:16 says,'…thou dost not delight in sacrifice…'  It was obvious that Noah loved God and enjoyed a very close relationship with Him. Hosea 6:6 tells us that God wants our love and not our sacrifices AND that God wants us to know Him. How can we get to know God?

 

The first thing is to recognize the fact that we are not an accident, that we just didn't accidentally pop up from the ground or arrive in a space ship. We are God's creation. He created us for His personal enjoyment. He smiles when we do what is right in His eyes. Psalm 147:11 speaks of His pleasure in those that love and honor Him. Even our faith in Him pleases Him. In reading Psalm 69:30 David says he will praise the Lord and give his thanks for his blessings. The Bible has many, many references to the fact that God wants love and not sacrifices. If we accept this, then we can move on to what pleases Him.

 

I believe the best demonstration of our love for God is to accept what He is offering us, to believe in what He says in His Word; that the Son of God (Jesus Christ) sacrificed Himself for us and has presented to us a gift. If we accept this gift, then, and only then, will we begin to show our love for Him. This acceptance should be the beginning of an eternal journey of praise and thanksgiving. One day soon I will write a letter on the fact that we are living in Eternity at this very moment.

 

One last point about God's desire for love and not sacrifice is clearly shown to us at the time of His crucifixion. In the Gospel of John 19:30, "When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, 'it is finished'. And He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit." What was finished was the work that He came on this earth to do which was to die on the cross. This 'death' was necessary for our salvation; Romans 6:23 says "For the wage of sin is 'death', but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Please remember we do not have to sacrifice or atone for our sins any longer, it was finished on the cross.

 

Let us all praise and love Him forever, Amen.