By Philippe Sterling

Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God sought worshipers who would worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). How can believers today express such worship?

The essence of worship is sacrifice. In the OT, worshipers offered up animals for the restoration of fellowship with God when that fellowship was affected by sin, and as an expression of gratitude for His benefits. Christ is the full and final sacrifice for sin, but believers today can offer up spiritual sacrifices of gratitude to God through Christ.

CHRIST OFFERED UP HIMSELF TO GOD AS A SACRIFICE FOR US

The foundation of worship is the sacrifice of Christ. He gave His life so that believers might become worshipers in spirit and truth.

The Apostle Paul compared the sacrifice of Christ on the cross to the “sweet savor” sacrifices presented at the altar of the temple (Eph 5:1-2; Lev 1:9, 13, 17). The death of Christ satisfied the holiness of God and was acceptable and pleasing to the Father.

Jesus put away sin once and for all by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb 9:26). His offering was unlike those of OT worship; being eternally effective, it needed no repetition.

Because of His sacrifice, we can freely worship God. His sacrifice inspires our spiritual sacrifices.

WE CAN NOW OFFER UP TO GOD SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES THROUGH CHRIST

We have been redeemed so that we may worship God and offer up spiritual sacrifices. Peter affirmed this when he wrote:

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet 2:4, emphasis added).

Through Christ, we have access to God as priests. A priest brings offerings to God. Our offerings are not animal sacrifices. They are spiritual sacrifices. What are some of the spiritual offerings that we can offer as priests?

We can offer the sacrifice of ourselves (Rom 12:1)

The first spiritual sacrifice we can offer is the sacrifice of ourselves. In light of all that God has done in redeeming us, we can now offer ourselves as sacrifices to Him. The sacrifice of ourselves involves the surrender of our bodies. We yield the members of our bodies as “instruments of righteousness” (Rom 6:13).

We can offer the sacrifice of our substance (Phil 4:18)

The second spiritual sacrifice we can offer is the sacrifice of our substance. The Apostle Paul looked upon the financial gift of the Philippians as a spiritual sacrifice laid upon the altar to God (Phil 4:18-19). Paul did not look upon this gift as simply coming from them. He saw it as God’s provision, through them, of his need.

Paul went on to say that because of God’s meeting his need through them, He would also abundantly supply their need. This promise occurred in the context of the Philippians’ joint participation with Paul in the spread of the good news concerning Christ (Phil 1:3-7). It would be God’s response to the sacrificial giving of believers for the spreading of the life message and the making of disciples.

We can offer the sacrifice of our service (Heb 13:15-16; Rom 15:16)

The third spiritual sacrifice we can offer is that of our service. This sacrifice has a Godward aspect and a manward aspect.

The Godward aspect of our service is the sacrifice of praise (Heb 13:15). Why is praise called a sacrifice? Because it is like the OT todah sacrifice (thank offering). Tanner writes concerning the sacrifice of praise in Heb 13:15:

So, to offer praise to God is to capture the heart of real sacrifice. The phrase giving thanks to His name is literally “confessing His name” (cf. 3:1; 4:14; 10:23). The first aspect of our “sacrifice of praise” is the willingness to confess His name…openly to confess Jesus as Messiah and Savior (“Hebrews” in The Grace New Testament Commentary, p. 1095).

A believer can offer thanks and praise to God in whatever circumstance he finds himself. Such a sacrifice of praise irrespective of circumstance is costly and valuable to God.

The manward aspect of our service is the sacrifice of doing good works and declaring the good news.

We can do good works, which the author of Hebrews mentioned immediately after the sacrifice of praise (Heb 13:16). Those works might include the hospitality mentioned in Heb 13:2 and the care of mistreated believers, as cited in Heb 13:3.

We can share the message of life and make disciples (Rom 15:16). Paul looked upon himself as a priest at the altar offering up to God the Gentiles he had introduced to Christ. They were a spiritual sacrifice to God. His sharing of the life message and the making of disciples was a priestly service.

CONCLUSION

One of the great truths of the Bible is that every believer is a priest who can offer up spiritual sacrifices to God. We are all to be in priestly service because we have experienced the mercy of God in Christ. Considering the supreme sacrifice of our Savior, we should now offer up to God the spiritual sacrifices of ourselves, our substance, and our service. Our spiritual sacrifices will please God, enrich our lives, and benefit the Church. Because we have known the mercy of God in Christ, let us now bring spiritual sacrifices to God through Christ.

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Philippe Sterling is the pastor of Vista Ridge Bible Fellowship in Lewisville, TX. He and his wife of 45 years, Brenda, live in Denton, TX, near their daughter, Sarah, son-in-law, Ben, and grandkids.