Romans 12:1-2 - 8/31/2011 - Sacrifice Alive

Romans 12:1-2 (NASB):
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may [d]prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."


When I was a kid, I was a fan of the cartoon show "The Transformers."  This show centered around these "alien beings" that were made of metal and took the form of mechanical things on this earth.  The cartoon show acted out the battle between the "Autobots" and the "Deceptecons".  The drawing point of this cartoon was that these robots could "transform" into 1, and sometimes 2 or more different shapes.  For example, the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, could transform into a huge truck.  The idea was that these robots were not trapped in only 1 form, they could transform as situations arose that called for alternate strategies.  Other people must have liked the show when they were kids too, because the 3 movies that came out in the past 5 years made millions of dollars.

Here at the start of Romans 12 we see a similar challenge thrown out by Paul.  "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  Now, those of you reading this probably realize that physically, you look the same both before and after you accept Christ.  I'm still "Will" when someone looks at me.  Believing in Christ doesn't make me transform like the transformers did - on the outside.  The truth is that we are transformed by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and we continue to transform as we receive the truth of the Word of God into our hearts and begin reflecting that truth in our actions - in outward transformation.  In general, we are transforming first on the inside, and then on the outside to match.  This makes sense because we are transformed by the "renewing of our mind."  If what our mind thinks is not being made new, then we cannot transform.  This is a continuous snare that can trip up anyone - especially someone who believes that they are sure of anything.  I'm not saying that you can't be sure of anything - I'm just saying to be careful about becoming prideful and so set in your thinking that you are not open to a new look at something.  It might just be the renewing agent you need to transform in that "difficult" area of your life.

It would be enough if these 2 verses were just about transformation, however there is much more there.  Paul answers the question of why we transform, "So that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."  We transform so that we can prove (in some translations this is interpreted as "approve"), what the will of God is.  This transformation process (and it is a process), starts to throw open doors in your life that you didn't see through before.  I should say throws open "some" doors.  Other doors creep open, and some remain shut and you just glance at them every once and awhile and wonder if they'll ever open.  Renewing our mind begins when we accept Christ, and the Holy Spirit is unhinged and given license to lay waste to the dreadful state that is our hearts (and minds).  Remember, we were (are) sinners that need(ed) a savior.  So the Holy Spirit goes to work.  This work sometimes brings us long-awaited relief from pain, guilt, shame, and things that did not belong destroying the fabric of our lives.  Things then begins to heal, and on from there.  We begin to think differently about ourselves, our world, others, etc (now thinking under the influence of the "renewing process" that is at work).

Sometimes though, the work of the Holy Spirit to enact renewal is greeted with resistance.  We may willfully resist, or we may be a slave to some kind of evil that we cannot hope to do battle with on our own.  Either way, whether it is us resisting or the "evil in us" resisting, the resistance is going to lose because it's up against God now.  However, we must remember this.  Sin and evil parade around in our hearts and claim a sense of power which they do not have.  We were once slaves to sin and death, but in Christ we are not slaves to that - we are slaves to Him; and thus we are set free from sin.  Therefore, it is not us that does battle with the sin left trying to hold onto us - it is the Holy Spirit that begins battle.  Some battles take years, others take days.  Some depends on you and your willingness to surrender to God, some depends on God alone and His "perfect" will.  God may have plans for how He will deal with things in your life and they may be (and often are) different than your plans for that.  "Working out our salvation", and this renewing of our mind process is part of that, always builds our trust in God.  Put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6), get ready to do battle, and trust Him.  One caution - do not show indifference toward the sin you recognize in your life.  Tell God you see it, and continue to cry out to Him.  He knows - but tell Him anyway.  He wants to hear from us on these things, and it goes a long way to pray with vulnerability to a God who is trustworthy.  He loves that.

Through all this new-found dependence, trust, and renewing, we then offer the result of our lives to God as "living sacrifices".  "Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship."  Here is one of the many places where worship is revealed as much more than song and praise on Sunday's.  Here worship is simply how we live - a sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God.  In the Old Testament when the Lord is communicating the law to Moses (see Exodus 19 - Numbers), there is a set of verses when the Lord communicates about all of the offerings.  In each type of offering (sin, burnt, fellowship, food, etc...there are more) the description includes "an aroma pleasing to the Lord."

Considered together with Revelation 5:8 (The Lamb-Jesus taking the scroll):
"And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people."


Catch that?  "Golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people."  Incense (at least the kind we know of) provides aroma.  I could be wrong here, but I'm going out on a limb and taking a guess that whatever aroma those bowls are giving off in heaven is "an aroma pleasing to the Lord."  If that's true, then these verses (Romans 12:1-2) scream to us that we are truly living sacrifices, an aroma pleasing to the Lord."  That's the point of this verse.  Our lives are to be shaped and lived in service to God - sacrificially pouring ourselves out for His glory and according to His leading.

There was once a time in history when things had to die to appease and create an aroma pleasing to the Lord.  In the new covenant in Christ, the pleasing aroma to to the Lord is created by living things - those who believe in Christ and are living Romans 12:1-2.  Praise God that He saw fit to flip the script on death and give life freely, so that we may receive that life and live it in honor of His glory...offered back as a sacrifice that is pleasing to Him.

Oh, and remember - don't get stressed out about "living for God."  Trust Him and do your best.  He doesn't expect you to be perfect, He makes you perfect in Christ through this process in His perfect timing.  Surrender, depend on Him, and fall into His grace.  Talk about Majesty...