His Body, A Living Sacrifice

by Steve Seddon, Portslade, England | Category: General | Apr 1996

Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - which is your spiritual [reasonable] worship (Rom. 12:1).

This key verse, and those following it, lay on the line the basic starting point for any would-he disciple of the Lord Jesus. Indeed, it has been said that no man (or woman) of God can be one, unless he has first been to Romans 12:1-2. To offer our body means to present every member of our body: our minds, our eyes, our ears, our mouths, our feet, and our hands. Through all the days of His earthly service, the Lord Jesus demonstrated in full the true meaning of presenting His body as a living sacrifice.

The Word became flesh:

Firstly, it was necessary for the Lord Jesus Himself, to acquire a body like ours. Isaiah, in his remarkable experience1 of actually seeing into the

presence of God, gives perhaps just a glimpse of something of the glory that the Lord Jesus knew when He was with His Father before He left heaven to become a man. This impression of the Lord high and lifted up in the temple of heaven, the seraphs calling out His praises, 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty', helps to enhance our appreciation of how much the Lord Jesus was prepared to give up, when He became a man, taking on all the limitations of a physical human body.

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped [held on to], but made Himself nothing being made in human likeness

(Phil. 2:6,7).

His mind:

The verses in Philippians 2 referring to the Lord Jesus, are describing His mind2; that is the attitude which He adopted in all that He did; not desiring the glory that was His by right, rather, in humility, becoming a man without reputation; a servant whose obedience to His master was absolute - even to death. The yielding of His mind set the course for how He fully presented the members of His body. He offered His mind, a living sacrifice.

His eyes:

Solomon advised: 'Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.'3 We know from our own experience how difficult this can be in a world so full of distractions, which, if allowed to come into our field of vision, can so easily divert our attention. Isaiah could write concerning the Lord Jesus, '... I set My face like a flint ... '4 - His vision so clearly fixed on doing His Father's will. The eyes of the Lord Jesus were focused eyes, not prone to wander on to things which would distract Him from obedience to His Father. He offered His eyes, a living sacrifice.

His ears:

We have already said that in the glory of heaven, the Lord Jesus would have been used to hearing His own Name exalted by the heavenly beings, the sound of innumerable hosts proclaiming His glory - to an extent which caused the door posts and the temple threshold to shake. In stark contrast, during His time on earth, those ears would be subjected to many undignified sounds: 'The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking Him ... they said many other insulting things to Him'5. Throughout His life, His pierced ears6 ever open to hear His Father's will and ready to listen to those who would come to Him. He offered His ears, a living sacrifice.

His mouth:

It was the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ which in the beginning spoke the universe into existence7, and still today sustains all things by its power8. As the Lord Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God, so the words of His mouth demonstrated His divine authority, wisdom and love. Those who recognized His identity appreciated that His were lips dripping liquid myrrh9. However, there was a time when He opened not His mouth - yes, before Herod during His mock trial, but also during those three hours of darkness when legions of angels were ready and waiting for His cry for deliverance - but He opened not His mouthl0. He offered His mouth, a living sacrifice.

His feet:

Imagine a footstool in heaven, where rest the feet of the One who sits upon the throne; feet at which angel hosts fall in homage, doubtless filled with the sweetness of the aromas that ascend to that holy place. Such a contrast to those weary feet, in need of anointing and rest1 1, which trod the dusty streets of Palestine; taking Him step by step through His Father's will, ultimately leading to Calvary where they would he nailed through for me. He offered His feet, a living sacrifice.

His hands:

Those hands of the new-born baby in the manger in Bethlehem, hardly co-ordinated in their movements, were the hands of the sovereign Creator of all that exists! Hands which would touch with power to heal, take bold of little children to bless them, create things from nothing. Hands which, without hesitation, touched lepers, and would wash the feet of others. Hands which would be bound by soldiers in Gethsemane. Hands which would surrender to the cruel nails of Calvary.

He offered His hands, a living sacrifice.

My reasonable service, His reasonable Expectation:

The Lord Jesus Himself, offered His own body as a living sacrifice for me, it is therefore a reasonable expectation for Him to want mine; and it is a reasonable service for me to give it. May God help us, out of our love for Him, to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

Biblical quotations from the NIV

1Isaiah 6:14

2Philippians 2:5

3Proverbs 4:25

4lsaiah 50:7

5Luke 22:63,65

6Psalm 40:6 7 John 1:3

8Hebrews 1:3

9Song of Songs 5:13

l0Isaiah 53:7

11Luke 7:44

Steve Seddon, Portslade, England | Apr 1996
General