No sacrifice required

Posted by Jeffrey Smith June 8th, 2016 1,743 Views 0 Comments

Psalm 40:6- Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced *(additional notation), burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, Here I am, I have come--it is written about me in the scroll.

Luke 24:44-He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

This is a Psalm from David. He is telling us all about Jesus. In fact the original Hebrew text in Psalm 40:6 says "but a body you have prepared for me" instead of "but my ears you have pierced." So if we look at the Psalm from the original text we know that David is talking about Jesus. We all know that under the law we would have been required to sacrifice a sin offering to be righteous before God. Despite the law of his time, David tells us in Psalm 40:6 that it will not be required of us. Jesus is the final sacrifice. So why do we think we must sacrifice to be righteous before God? I hear it all the time. "Being a Christian is a life of sacrifice." That is not true, nor is it required to be that way. We have Jesus who paid the price on our behalf. We no longer have to work our hands to the bone, sacrificing ourselves. We no longer have to focus on our self-righteousness before God. The body was prepared for us all! Jesus confirms for us that prophetic words were written about Him in Psalms. We know that David was talking about Jesus when he wrote this by way of the Holy Spirit. 

So we have it all laid out for us here. Rest in Jesus. Give Him all of the praise. Let go of all of the misconception that man has made through religion and doctrine. We do not have to be perfect, we do not have to sacrifice our lives. We do not have to live in poverty to show humility. We do not have to chastise ourselves before man to prove our righteousness before God. We have only to point to the one who already has, and His name is Jesus Christ our savior. He was perfect in His life, He was perfect in His death, so that in His perfection we don’t have to be. I see so many well-meaning Christians tell others to strive to be Jesus! I think it is important to let the Spirit lead us all in everything, and if that ends up looking more like Jesus then that will be amazing. If however we work to be like Jesus and try and be something we are not then it is our works, and our self-doing the work, the sacrifice. Why then would we need Jesus if we can just be Jesus ourselves? We cannot measure up to the life of sacrifice Jesus made for everyone. Be yourself, live a life that embraces freedom, love, and compassion. Let us all let go of anything false that is striving and allow the Spirit to lead us all in a life that is devoted to glorifying and praising the One who's body was prepared for us, who was, and is, and will be the great I am in the flesh, Jesus Christ. 

Thank You Father that You loved us so much that You saved us through Your sacrifice. Thank You that we can rest in You and Your promises for our lives today in Jesus name, amen.