The Body as a Sacrifice

The Body as a Sacrifice

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.” Rom. 12:1.

The body manifests either good or evil. The body is an instrument. Either it is an instrument of righteousness or of unrighteousness. Rom. 6:13. When God wants to reveal Himself, He has to have a body by which He can become visible. Jesus gave His body. Heb. 10:5, 7. The apostles gave their bodies, and God revealed Himself mightily.

With our body we enjoy earthly things. Earthly things lose their value as our body grows weaker. People toil and are anxious for their bodies. All their time is spent in providing for the demands of the body. It never gets enough. This is the opposite of giving the body as a sacrifice. You cannot be concerned for your body and at the same time seek God’s kingdom. The body has to be given as a sacrifice.

There is no glory without a body. This is how it is in the earthly as well as in the spiritual realm. Everything that is produced is done by the body. This also applies to the virtues of Christ. They become visible by means of the body when it is a sacrifice. Sin will become visible if you enjoy your body (those who live according to their lusts do that).

God has given natural laws for the natural world. If you break them, you have to suffer the consequences. The body has to have food, clothing, and sleep so it can keep going. However, if you indulge in these things, you are transgressing the laws of nature, and the result is sickness. Then the body becomes a burden.

You also sin against the laws of nature by using your body beyond its strength and capability because of vanity and ambition, resulting in sickness. If the body has been given to God as a sacrifice, you will not seek the things that are on earth, but rather the things that are above, where Christ is sitting. Col. 3:1-2. Then we enter into God’s leading. Then God can do with our bodies what He intends to do—He has an instrument. Then He also assumes responsibility for our body. If the body is sick, He cannot use it as if it were well. If the body has been given to Him as a sacrifice, it becomes His responsibility.

He allows you to be sick to give you extra training in understanding His leading better. Then He heals you so He can use you better. As time goes by, your body will perish in any case. You have no promises for your body if it has been used in your own interests. But you do have promises if you have given it to God as a sacrifice. Perhaps you have to suffer for His name’s sake. You get little sleep and food; you are cold; perhaps you will even have to die as a martyr. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Rom. 8:11.

God will replace the body you have given Him. You will receive it back, transformed into a glorious body like His. Phil. 3:21. Then you will be able to enjoy and share God’s glory during the Millennium and for all eternity without hindrance. God gives it to you as a reward for having given Him your corruptible body as a sacrifice. You will be rewarded according to what you have done with your body. We have an extremely glorious future, we who believe.