By: Zachary Teasley
Sacrifice- is the act of giving up or losing something of value for the sake of something else, Merriam-Webster Dictionary. W.E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament words define sacrifice as the act of offering. We cannot find a greater example of sacrifice then which was shown by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who humbly made multiple sacrifices which would take a while to list all of them, but to highlight some of them: He came down to the earth and took on flesh as we are and gave up power, glory and honor on high, Phil 2:7-8, “but made Himself of no reputation taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Eph 5:1-2 clearly speaks about Christ who offered up and sacrificed Himself for us, it says, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Please keep in mind that the sacrifice that Christ made to God on our behalf was purely out His love for us and the Father who is in Heaven. Jesus Christ voluntarily gave His life as a ransom for many, see Mark 10:45. Jesus sacrificed material gain during His earthly ministry because in Matt 8:20 Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Other examples of great sacrifice and self-control exhibited by our Savior is when He was arrested by the mob sent by the chief priests and elders and was betrayed by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. He shows great restraint for in Matt 26:53, it reads, “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels.” The last but not least example of the sacrifices by Jesus Christ was during the day and time of His crucifixion after being brutally beaten He gave up His body as a sin offering to the Father and by offering His shed blood so that we can have our sins forgiven and washed away if we obey the gospel plan of salvation. We see that through Christ’s example that when we sacrifice that we must also suffer as well, Peter makes this known that we must follow Christ in similar fashion and give up a lot to live the Christian life, 1 Pet 2:21-25, “For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”, who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shephard.” As I mention earlier in this article, we have identified or listed just some of the ways that Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself to carry out the mission that God had sent Him to the earth to accomplish. Consequently, in similar manner, us as Christians must also sacrifice, offer and give up things, and take on challenges to successfully live faithfully and godly to our Lord until He returns to the earth to take us back home with Him. Yes, indeed saints to live the Christian life requires sacrificial giving and focus on God for every moment that we now live. The inspired Apostle Paul who was sharing with Timothy from some of his life experiences that he had encountered about being a Christian in 2 Tim 3:10-17, “But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.” Paul mentions in the passage we just read and as you might recall, the city of Iconium. In Acts 14, Iconium was one of the places that Paul and Barnabas visited during their first missionary journey and preached the gospel there and next went to Lystra and continued to teach/preach and while there an angry group of Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and stirred up the multitudes there in Lystra and “they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” Please note that they stoned Paul and were trying to kill him supposing that he was dead they dragged his body outside of the city and threw him out like a piece of trash, but God was with him, and the scripture says that Paul, “rose up and went into the city (Lystra).” The point is that Paul awakened and he went back to the same city he was stoned in and he reunited with his fellow brother Barnabas and they went to Derbe the next day. Amazingly, and with a lot of faith and courage, they returned to Lystra and Iconium where they had just encountered and suffered life threats. How many of us would have the faith and courage to sacrifice and return to a place where our lives were threatened? To successfully live the Christian life, it demands or requires the sacrificial giving of oneself in every moment and facet of our existence which includes the physical and the spiritual part of us. This point is clearly made by the inspired writer in Rom 8:1-6, “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Successfully living the Christian life demands dedication and sacrificial giving on our part (we must all take up our own cross and follow the example set by Jesus, Matt 10:32-39). Speaking of giving, even the giving of our means on the first day of the week must be done as we prosper and in a sacrificial manner, 1 Cor 16:1-2.