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| Body And Soul |
Date Posted:
1/1/2000
Author:
Jack Hayford
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In Philippians 2:17 Paul speaks of himself as being a sacrifice. When Paul wrote to the Philippians he was in prison and he knew he could be facing death. This is perhaps the most dramatic example of sacrifice. There are people in the world who face having to make that literal sacrifice of their lives, but all of us can apply that verse to our lives along with Roman 12:1: ‘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 reasonable service.’
We are directed to no less than complete sacrifice of ourselves to the Lord. When we gain that perspective we realize that all other that all other sacrifices are contained in that one. Further on in Philippians, Paul speaks about a gift that the believers had sent to him, and he says that was an acceptable sacrifice in the eyes of God. This verse echoes the sentiments of the writers of Hebrews who tell us to ‘do good and share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.’
(Hebrews 13:16) Our giving and service, both to those who preach the Gospel and to those in need, is a sacrifice to God.
Finally, Hebrews 13:15 tells us that the fruit of our lips is a sacrifice of praise unto our God. This sacrifice is perhaps the most obvious one to include in an article on worship, but it is important to see that all of these sacrifices are acts of worship. Remember that the basic meaning of ‘worship’ is ‘ascribe worth unto’. Therefore, presenting our bodies, our service and our praise is worship - acknowledging Him as God Most High.
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Jack Hayford, writer of the ever popular ‘Majesty’, says God wants us to ‘show some skin’. Are you ready for physical worship?
If man is to gain meaning and purpose and direction for fulfillment in his life, then worshiping God on God’s terms is the central point of all understanding. Intellectually, we worship God with a language of worship. Our emotions are involved in worship with appropriate humility.
But what about our bodies in worship? Just the other day I was with one of the executives in our congregation. He’s a man who works a great deal with other executives. He represents one of today’s best known corporations world-wide and he travels to help them solve their problems. I watched him in one of their seminars. As he began the seminar with these coolheaded, calculating executives, he said, ‘I’m going to ask for your response. I’m going to want you to show me some skin.’ What he meant was that he wanted them to signal with their hands when they responded. He wanted them to actuate and activate their responses. When we come to worship the Lord, I think He would say the same thing to us, ‘Show Me some skin.’ The Lord wants us to demonstrate our response to Him, and He wants us to use our bodies to do so.
The Way of Worship
What are the similarities and the differences between the Old Testament and New Testament worship? The Bible is very explicit that our bodies are to be involved in worship. In Psalm 50:5 the Lord says, ‘Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.’ In the Old Testament, worshippers offered sacrifices of animals and grain, but that is not all that was required. The worshipper also came with praise and thanksgiving. Psalm 107:22 is one passage where we are explicitly told that thanksgiving is a sacrifice to the Lord.
The New Testament also speaks of the need for sacrifice. Of course, the Old Testament system of sacrifice for atonement was fulfilled when Jesus Christ hung on the cross for us. He satisfied the justice of God with the sacrifice of Himself. It is through Him that we are granted the privilege of coming into God’s presence in worship. But don’t make any mistake - there are still sacrifices and the New Testament describes them. Five times the New Testament speaks of sacrifices, exclusive of the numerous references to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus for our sin. These five Scriptures all refer to actions or actual physical things.
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