What did the Apostle Paul mean when he said "present your bodies a living sacrifice ....unto God"?; as I was grappling to understand what it exactly means; my mind some how turned to the sacrifices of the old testament. The pictures of the sacrifice surely should have been very graphic. When Adam and Eve crossed the God given boundaries by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, they stood naked and guilty which means God had every right to do whatever he wanted do with them as they brought disharmony into the God's world. Here we understand that by crossing the God given borders, we not only bring disharmony into our world (our homes, families..etc) but also bring devastation on us. So 'sin' generates multiple consequences. When Adam and Eve stood naked and guilty; God, instead of wiping them off; he chose to provide a way by giving them skin-coats. Surely God must have killed an animal to cover the naked bodies of Adam and Eve. And they must have been the witnessed to the animal killing. If they were to be covered; the killing should have taken place. Here the animal was killed for somebody else's trespass. Surely the couple would have understood the seriousness of their act against God's will (read Genesis ch 3); a part of God's creation was sacrificed. God decided to give the humans a second chance instead of imposing penalty directly on them. This is where we see God as a God of Grace and Mercy.
The very meaning of 'sacrifice' tells that something or someone dies on somebody's behalf or something valuble is given up in order that one may live or be happy. What is this 'living sacrifice' then? When we offer sacrifice, that will die. But when we offer ourselves, we must die too. But the Apostle is asking us to be 'living sacrifices'. How can you answer this 'apparent contradiction'? ..I shall try to glean some more thoughts in my next post, God willing, only with His help.
No comments:
Post a Comment