Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Heb 10: 19-22

What is Sacrifice?  Webster’s dictionary gives these definitions:

• An act of offering to a deity something precious; especially : the killing of a victim on an altar
• Something offered in sacrifice
• a: destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else b: something given up or lost

Exactly!  The act of offering to a deity…GOD, something precious…ourselves. With sincere hearts, with complete surrender, we gave our lives to Him at the time of our prayer for salvation. We were, as it says in Heb 10:22 “sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Following that, we gave our bodies to be ‘washed with pure water” in the act of Baptism. Those activities of a new believer were not the end of it. More was expected of us.

Heb 10: 23 goes on to say that we should ‘hold fast’  (tightly, firmly) to the hope, without wavering.  Hmmm… without wavering.

What does that mean?  Does it mean that we can run and cling to the hem of Christ’s garment when we want something, when we need Him to do something for us?  Does it mean we can return to our old ways and run back and forth to Jesus with a prayer of repentance when we get into trouble?  NO! “Without wavering” means that we must walk in His footsteps, moment by moment. That means seeking God’s will, and yielding to it, regardless of how uncomfortable it may seem at the time. It means that we must surrender our own thoughts and trust in His.

Sacrificial living won’t always feel good. When you  give up something that you are used to doing, however unhealthy it might be, it’s not easy to do. God’s Word tells us that man’s thoughts are not His thoughts and our ways are not His ways.  Sacrificing anything is contrary to man’s selfish nature.

It takes practice to let go of old things and to begin new methods of living. Consider physical exercise. It causes muscles to ache.  However, the more we use those muscles, the stronger they get and the more natural it is to use them. Likewise, exercising these new spiritual muscles may cause moments of pain, but, the more we use those muscles, the stronger they get and the more natural it is to use them. Think of it as ‘growing pains’.  Our sacrificial living is healthier, and it produces growth. Do you see the pattern emerging? Our faithfulness in the practice of giving to and for the Lord, results in our strength, and growth in spiritual things. The more grow, the more we want to please Him.  The more faithful we are, the more He can use us in accomplishing His work.

We are to encourage one another in this vein. When it’s ‘hard’ to run that race set before us, let us call out, first to our Coach Jesus for strength, and then to the other team players, our brothers and sisters in Christ who will be our cheerleaders. We all need a friendly smile, a helping hand, a pat on the back sometimes. We all need a little scolding, too, at times and help in finding our direction. Each of us needs a little nudge, at times, to do our work with a cheerful heart.  Let us pray for one another and encourage one another to ‘keep up the good work’ as we attempt to develop new patterns of sacrificial living.

Rocks have always served as reminders or memorials. They span the ages of time. Ancient petroglyphs, cairns, Stonehenge and Mt. Rushmore all bore significance to their creators. Some meanings have been lost while others are still honored.

While in Savannah, Georgia I made it a point to visit one of the oldest cemeteries. It houses a very large number of Jewish graves. I am fascinated by the Jewish custom of leaving a small stone on the grave of a loved one. Jews do not typically place flowers at grave sites. Instead, they often place little stones on the grave or headstone. The origin of the custom is uncertain but is usually explained as a symbolic act that indicates someone has come to visit and the deceased has not been forgotten. I think it may have deeper roots however.

In ancient times a pile of stones was used as a marker. Two times in particular would be very familiar to Jewish people who know their own history.

In the book of Joshua we read about the Israelites preparation to cross the Jordan river into the Promised Land. Moses had died and Joshua was the new leader. God commanded them to march toward the Jordan River behind the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant. As soon as the priests’ feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing and piled up in a heap a great distance away. The Jordan was at flood stage by the way which just adds all the more to the miracle. And one last thing, the riverbed was bone dry as they crossed, not even the least bit muddy. What a God!

God commanded Joshua to choose 12 men, one from each tribe, to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan. They carried these stones to their camp and set them down. Joshua then set them up as a memorial and reminder of God’s miracle and faithfulness.

In the distant future, the children and the children’s children would pass this heap of stones and inquire about them. They would be told the story and learn of God’s faithfulness and provision for His people.

In the near future the Israelites would think about the power of this mighty God as they would face a multitude of enemies. The crossing of the Jordan on dry land was above all a sign that the living God was among them and would drive out all other nations from the land promised ages ago to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Many years later, when God rescued the Israelites from the Philistines, Samuel set a stone up as a memorial once again to God’s help and deliverance.

I’m thinking that this isn’t such a bad idea for us today. We can draw much strength for out present struggles if we take time to remember God’s presence and help during past crises. Why not take time to set up a memorial of some type that will serve as a reminder of past victories through Christ? This will in turn spur us on by giving us the confidence and strength to press on. Not to mention the stories you can pass down to your children when they ask the meaning behind this memorial.

We want to know Him, to know more about Him. We begin to read, to learn from, to take root in His Word. We realize what His instructions are, and we make an effort to obey His commandments. One of those commandments is to remember Him in the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. In Luke 22:19,  Jesus took break and gave thanks for it. He passed it to the disciples, saying “Take, eat, for this is my body, broken for you. This do in remembrance of me.”

Just as we wash our hands before we sit down to eat a meal, we need to examine our lives and be sure that we ask forgiveness for anything that stands between Jesus and ourselves. We need to know that we are cleansed of any known or unknown sin before we partake in the body and blood of Christ at the Communion table. No longer is it necessary for us make atonement for our sin by slaying a lamb as a sacrifice.  Jesus, the Spotless Lamb of God, did it all for us at the Cross.   We have been reborn into a new covenant with God!  I believe that when we join together in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, we are gathering around a family table.  We have been made blood relatives, in the true sense of the word, by the blood Jesus shed at Calvary. . It is solemn time of unity each  of us who believe. It is a time of reflecting, remembering, the sacrificial act of our Brother and Lord. It is an intimate time that believers share together in Christ.

The scriptures say that he who eats the bread or drinks the cup in an  unworthy manner is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. (1Cor 11:27)   We believers, also, must be sure that we are partaking with the correct examination of our selves, for the Word tells us that ” he eats and drinks judgment unto himself if he has not judged his body rightly.”  1 Cor 11: 28. When we come to the table of the Lord’s Supper, let us come, with no sin, no grudges against another, no unfinished business with the Lord. We are united by His blood, by His Spirit…one with God. Let us live the oneness that we have together as family members.

And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which seals the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many.”

Matthew 26:27-28, NLT

And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is my blood, poured out for many, sealing the covenant between God and his people.”

Mark 14:23-24

After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This wine is the token of God’s new covenant to save you – an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.”

Luke 22:20

Many were amazed when they saw him – beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person.* In a world sanitized of violence and blood – hating to be reminded of all it signifies – the cup that carried the wine reminds us of the punishment our savior endured. God in the flesh, the true image of God, man as God intended him to be, was marred beyond recognition. Do you see the poetry, the irony in it? That Satan could not stand to see God reflected in the man Jesus? That his every intention to destroy that image resulted in God’s complete victory over sin?

I recently read a book on Communion where the author declared her belief that we focus too much on the blood, too much on the sacrifice, too much on the payment for sin in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Quite to the contrary, I left that work more aware of how important it is to take Jesus’ words to heart. He recognized the importance of his blood! It was costly. He received more than just an unjust beating; he was deprived of justice and experienced the humiliation of a criminal’s death at the hands of a violent and unyielding people: He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized  that he was dying for their sins – that he was suffering their punishment?*

Jesus offers the cup to remind us – his followers – that he willingly died to ratify the new relationship between us and God. He bore the penalty for us, so that we could stand in the presence of a holy God. And not just stand; we can bow, worship, praise – all without fear of rejection or condemnation. We are his inheritance, his reward. But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.*

Rejoice! Jesus has redeemed us! Now let us walk in the righteousness we have been given. Let us honor the sacrifice and the price Jesus’ paid by giving our lives in return. This is his call to discipleship; it is not a lighthearted and effortless faith, rather a total physical and spiritual response to the great gift of God.

* Isaiah 52:14; 53:7-8, 10-12, NLT

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

Matthew 26:26, NIV

Every time I hold the bread in my hand when I’m taking communion, I reflect upon the suffering that Jesus physically endured for me in His human body.  That piece of bread lying in the palm of my hand reminds me of the nails that pierced His skin, the thorns that ripped through His brow, and the spear that pierced His side.  I’m reminded of the open wounds on His back from the lashes He received from the soldier’s whips and the torturer’s “cat of nine-tails.”

This piece of bread is a symbol.  It is an edible reminder of the punishment that Jesus bore for me.  My sins, my disobedience, my short falls of God’s standard, my pride, my jealousy, my depravity, my selfishness…all the things that should have sentenced me to the cross, were absorbed by the body of my Savior instead.  He was rejected, He was mocked and beaten and bruised.  He was killed in my place.  This piece of bread symbolizes that.

The bread also reminds me of my Redeemer’s great love for me, because the body that this bread represents was willingly laid down for me.  Jesus gave Himself as a voluntary substitute for me.  His body wasn’t abused and taken against His will…He lovingly offered it of His own free will. I am humbled beyond words every time I stare into my hand and reflect upon the kind of love that piece of bread represents. Who can understand and comprehend such love? Thank You, Jesus, for the sacrifice You made for me.  I owe my life to you.

Jesus instructed us that we are to continue remembering the sacrifice He made through the observance of communion until He returns and we celebrate with Him in heaven.  The scars that still remain in Jesus’ hands, feet, and side are a reminder of His love for us and the redemption that He purchased for us, as is the bread that we receive when we partake of communion.  May we never take for granted the price that Jesus paid for us, and may we humbly thank Him each time we “do this in remembrance” of Him.

The Bible tells us that as Christ prayed his sweat became as great drops of blood falling to the ground. He pleaded time and again with his disciples to stay awake and pray. He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” He pleaded with His Father. “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Later He prayed again. “If it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”

The events of this night were no surprise to Christ. He had repeatedly told His disciples that He was sent into the world for this very purpose.

Just a few days earlier He had entered Jerusalem, the city where He was a wanted man by the religious leaders, to purposely begin the trip that would lead directly to the cross. On the Thursday night after entering Jerusalem on Sunday, Christ shared His last Passover meal with His disciples while here on earth. This meal would become the basis for our observance of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion.

It is no accident that Christ’s death would come during the Passover celebration. The first Passover observed by the Israelites the night they would flee from Egypt was explained to them by Moses who had heard directly from God. It involved the sacrifice of a pure lamb whose blood was sprinkled on the sides and tops of the door frames. It gives me chills every time I think of this blood staining the wood of the doorposts in the same locations that it would stain the wood of the cross centuries later. Just as the lamb had to be killed in order for the blood to be taken as protection from the death angel passing through the streets of Egypt, Christ would have to die for His blood to protect us from an eternity in hell.

Christ knew from the beginning of time that His life would someday be given as a ransom for ours.

So here Christ stands in the garden ready for the final agony that would bring us salvation.

We know from scripture that in the final hours of crucifixion God turned away from looking at His beloved Son who had taken on the sins of the entire world; past, present, and future. God is holy and perfect and will not stand before sin. But many scholars believe that as Christ prayed in the garden, God was already distancing Himself from His Son. Christ’s agony was not only from the dread of physical torment, but in the full knowledge that the sins of the world would soon separate Him from His Father. This would have been an unprecedented event. Yet Christ was willing to experience this agonizing separation so that we would not have to experience an eternal separation from God.

Never believe that Christ was a political victim or simply an innocent man framed by religious leaders. He completed what He originally set out to do as a baby in Bethlehem. He was born to die and given a million opportunities to back out, He wouldn’t.

Our human minds fail to understand a love that deep and total. How I look forward to the day I stand before Him face to face and finally fully comprehend a love so great!

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Galatians 3:26-27, NIV

On Sunday we had the wonderful pleasure of celebrating the baptism of several people at The Mount.  It was such a time of joy as we witnessed their public profession of faith in Jesus Christ.  While we do not believe that baptism is the point of salvation (because that takes place prior to baptism when an individual invites Christ into their hearts and begins a personal relationship with Him), we do believe that it symbolizes the spiritual cleansing that Christ provided for all mankind through the shedding of His blood on the cross.  Through Jesus’ sacrifice, all those who give their lives to Him through repentance of their sins can be forgiven and united with all fellow believers into the family of God.

Baptism is a beautiful representation of that cleansing as those who have recently given their lives to Christ step into the water and are immersed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  As each person is dipped below the water, it is a portrait of Jesus’ death and burial, and as they are pulled back out of the water, it is a picture of Jesus’ resurrection.  All who pass through the baptismal waters are united in their public declaration of what God has done for them in making them a new creation.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV

Though I do not remember the specific date, I do recall the day I accepted Jesus as my Savior in 1977.  I was listening intently to the lesson being shared in children’s church and after it was over the teacher asked if anyone would like to invite Jesus into their hearts.  I had attended children’s church for many months and heard many stories about Jesus during that time.  But this particular day, I felt a tugging on my heart and a need to make sure that I did invite Jesus to come and live in my heart.  I remember stepping into a side room with a few other people and saying a prayer to ask Jesus to forgive me for the sins I had committed up to that point in my life.  I remember people sharing what my decision meant and how Jesus now had a home inside my heart.  The memory of that day has lingered with me ever since.

Shortly after that our church held a baptism service at the home of one of the congregations members.  They had an in-ground swimming pool.  I remember being nervous as I entered the water, but there were other people there with me, so it wasn’t too bad.  That was over 32 years ago now, but that day in that swimming pool in the backyard of a home in North Central Ohio represents the day I gave my first sermon.  For, it was the day I was baptized in the same manner as my Savior, when I publicly declared in front of all who were there that I had accepted Jesus into my life and that I had entered into the joy of being in relationship with Him and everyone else who was a member of His family.  It was one of the greatest days of my life, and I am so thankful for the peace and strength having a relationship with Jesus has provided me over the years.  I cannot imagine life without Him and without my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

If you haven’t entered into a personal relationship with Jesus yet, what are you waiting for?  He wants to welcome you into the family and expose you to the joy that comes from being forgiven! In fact, Jesus even prayed for your unity…

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

John 17:20-23

Regardless of any man-made denominational labels we may wear in modern society, whether we call ourselves Baptist, or Presbyterian, or Methodist, or Lutheran, etc.  If you believe in Jesus Christ and that He is the only way to heaven, then you can enjoy the unity that God has provided for all mankind to have with Him.  Jesus paved the way for all of humanity to be united…through His death and resurrection, and all of us who accept Him as Savior live in that unity.  And baptism simply punctuates that we have entered into that unity.

Baptism is a symbol that a boundary has been crossed. A transition has occurred, and there is really no “going back” to the way you were. The price for sin has been paid, and you now walk in forgiveness! The old you that you are so familiar with is a thing of the past:

Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

Romans 6:3-4

Think back to before you came to know Jesus. How would you describe your life? What did you struggle with? What temptations were present? Now think about today. Same questions, but present tense: What do you struggle with? What are the temptations you deal with? For some, the struggles are completely different. For others, they are the same. You might be daily fighting against the same sinful attitudes you once did. As you have followed Jesus, he might have brought victory in some areas, allowing others to come to the forefront. But we are tempted daily. We all struggle – if not with sin, then with what is best; what is God’s will, his current activity, his desire for us every moment of every day.

Baptism signifies this break. Life before Christ is looking for excuses to cover our sin. It is hiding from judgment. It is looking for the comfortable, the way out, what is pleasant, what satisfies our cravings – at least for a time. Our whole nature was bent on suiting ourselves, or excusing ourselves. Well, no more, thank you!

On this side of the baptismal waters, we find that life isn’t about us. These “new lives” aren’t to be squandered on selfish ambition or pleasure, or finding loop-holes through careful reading of God’s word. Jesus didn’t just drain the sin tank, making room for more evil. In these new lives we will struggle against sin. But on this side, we have new hearts. We have new minds. We have purpose and connection we didn’t have before. We can overcome sin, as we draw closer to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Paul wrote the words of Romans 6 to people who were questioning what God’s grace meant in their lives. Some were saying that continuing down a path of sin would actually bring God more glory, by highlighting his mercy even more! Paul quickly points out that this argument misses God’s desire and heart for us. He didn’t die so that we could continue with life as it was, now protected by some magic pixie dust that assured our good standing in the last days. He died to destroy the hold sin had on our lives. And he rose again, not to assure us that we would have some happy ever-after spent in self-indulgence, but to give us confidence and hope.

Confidence, that we can please him as we run from sin and follow God’s will – becoming more like his Son. Hope, that one day we will share in his resurrection and his victory over death.

At about the age of thirty years He knew that the time had come to begin His ministry. He knew what He should do to accomplish the work that God, the Father, had set before Him. One of those things was to go to His cousin, John the Baptist, to be baptized. When John saw Jesus at the river, he asked why he should be baptizing Jesus. He said that Jesus should, instead, be baptizing him. Jesus answered that it was necessary for himself to be baptized to ‘fulfill righteousness.” (Matt 3:15)

At Calvary, Jesus, who was sinless, (John 8:7), laid down His perfection for a few brief hours and He picked up the sin of all humanity. He identified himself with us, by carrying the guilt and filth and sinful acts just the way we had done. He traveled to hell, leaving that horrible burden behind the gates, locking them behind Him. That provided the way for us to have freedom from sin and to gain righteousness in Christ for all eternity. Praise be to God for such a plan! Christ took on our humanness, just for that short time, but what a powerful gift that was for Him to give!

Charles Swindoll in Signposts Along Life’s Journey (1997), Insight for Living, CA, p. 10, wrote that the word ‘baptize’ comes from the “root word, bapto, which was a term used in the first century for immersing a garment first into bleach and then into dye, both cleansing and changing the color of the cloth. (Note its similarity to baptism’s cleansing of sin and becoming a new person through Christ.) Stated another way, when you process cloth to change its color, you are said to “baptize” it.

When Jesus was baptized, He set an example for believers to follow. When we accepted Christ as our Savior by faith, we were cleansed by His blood. At that moment, we were completely forgiven of all of our past, present and future sin. When we followed His example of baptism, we were plunged beneath the water, symbolic of the cleansing we’d received at Salvation. Our baptism was a testimony to the world that we have been changed! We signified that were burying our sin, and rising in life anew. In such a way, we identified ourselves with Jesus, both inwardly and outwardly for all to see. (It is not the baptism that renews us, it is the faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection that does that work. Baptism is a testimony that we have been changed…renewed by the power of His righteousness.)

Let us, daily, renew ourselves in Him, as we remember that our sins are dead to us, and go forth to live in the newness of Life in Christ!

The strongest power that has ever been experienced on earth is not through mankind’s doing however, but  through the resurrection of Christ. Unlike man’s power, Christ’s power does not result in destruction, but rather in victory over death and in eternal life. Far more powerful than a nuclear reaction, Christ had the power to raise His own bloody, unrecognizable, lifeless body from the grave in perfect form. Now that is power!

That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 1:19b-20

Because Jesus said “I and my Father are One” we can know that the God who raised Christ through the power of the Spirit are all the same person. That in itself staggers the mind, so brace yourself for this next part.

The same power that rose Christ from the dead is within us if we have accepted Him as our Savior!

There is no more beautiful example of this than the one we see exemplified through believer’s baptism. The plunge underneath the water represents our burial with Christ and death of our old life. The resurrection of Christ is represented as we emerge from the water to a new life of service for Him.

If we truly understood that the power that raised Christ from the dead is residing within us, there would be nothing we would ever need fear. This same power not only empowers us for daily living but will some day raise us from physical death into eternal life with Him. Grasping that, we can join Paul in saying,

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering, becoming like Him in death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:10-11