​Revelation of the Word

THEME: SACRIFICE
Luke 9:23-25

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

INSIGHT

-We should always remember that we were bought at a price & should glorify God in our bodies & in spirit, which are His (1 Cor 6:20). Jesus emphasizes on personal sacrifice, obedience & seeking His mercy in our daily live, which is better than sacrifice. Just as Christ sacrificed His life for us, we are called in humility to sacrifice for ourselves, for one another & for God as instruments of love & peace here on earth.

SUMMARY

-Sacrifice can be defined as an act of killing animals, people or surrendering possessions as an offering to a deity. It is also giving up something for the sake of a better cause. It can be classified into two, those that involve pouring of blood & those that do not. In the Old Testament, only clean animals were offered for different functions like peace, forgiveness of sin, first-fruit etc. Since the Gentile communities were excluded from the Abrahamic covenant of God made for him & his descendants, they sacrificed to demons for they did not know God. They were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel & strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope & without God in the world. But now through the blood of Christ, Gentiles who were far off have been brought near in Him. In our spiritual nature, we are built upon Christ the High Priest & Chief cornerstone in holy priesthood & as living stones. Therefore, we share in the nature of Christ & His righteousness for our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us. When we are inclined to His will, our minds are renewed & character molded according to His purpose. We are also called to continually offer sacrifices that are well pleasing to God, including praise, thanksgiving & in our words & deeds of sharing what we have with others. Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice & offering to God for a sweet-smelling aroma in His love for us by dying for our sins, that we may also walk in love emulating His word. He promises that, whoever praises Him glorifies His name & to him who orders his conduct aright, He will administer His salvation.

PRAYER

Oh Lord our Father, creator of heaven & earth, Who will come to judge the living & the dead, have mercy on us. Give us the graces to keep You at the center of our lives, to love & forgive one another as You always cleanse us our failings too. You know each one of us by name, renew our strength & satisfy our needs. Uphold our hands to be generous to those who need us most. All glory, honor, power & praise belong to You. Amen

Blessed Weekend.

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