The Altar
The altar is a sacred place for sacrifice. Literally it is a raised structure made out of rock, parched earth, metal or pottery. On an altar sacrifices are made. In the bible, the items for the sacrifice were usually the parts of spotless animals. This sacrifice was usually laid on the altar by Gods’ command and sent up in smoke with a smell that pleases God. In the book of exodus God commanded that two sacrifices be made: one is the morning and one in the evening. The items to be used were two lambs along with prescribed measure of flour: the peoples’ finest flour, wine and olive oil. This combination was burned at the altar and the smell was pleasing to God.
There was another altar that God commanded to be made. This altar for the burning of incense, it was never to be used for animal grain or drink offering. Once a year this altar was to be cleansed by the high priest by smearing on its four corners the blood of an animal, which had been sacrificed for sin. One thing that must be mentioned is that an altar built unto God was sacred.
In the time of the Jews in the study of the bible, there were sacrifices that were made annually but there were also sacrifices made on a daily basis. In our experiences as believers in a new dispensation, we might wonder what the relevance of an altar is. The truth is we still build altars today but the altar we build today is not made of rock or pottery neither is it made of metal or parched earth, it is a spiritual altar built unto God, an altar where we ‘burn’ our flesh, where we give our all to God in a sweet fragrance, on a daily basis. We no longer have to sacrifice bulls and goats, we already have a perfect sacrifice, which is Jesus Christ. He gave up himself as a sacrifice for sin. Our sins were placed on him and he was offered up to God so that our sins may be forgiven us.
We should be reminded also that we are expected to make sacrifices on our altars. The sacrifice God demands from us is one of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing to Him. It is no longer just a set of rituals to perform, its no longer waiting for the high priest to present a lamb for the forgiveness of sin. God has done that through Jesus and there is no longer any sacrifice to be made. As believers we are to accept the forgiveness of our sin and live in that awareness. What this means is that we recognize we are now to become the sacrifice been offered up everyday to God, it is a painful process of ‘burning’ our flesh on the altar. The bible encourages us to renew our minds, it encourages us to put on the mind of Christ, its admonishes us to put away all filthiness, it urges us to submit to God. This whole process is what it means to build and altar and become a living sacrifice.
Building an altar and making yourself a sacrifice can be in this illustration, a 30 years old man, who has been drinking with the boys since he was a freshman in the university, has been engaging in sexual activities outside marriage, has never thought about watching his language (swears and curses) now has an encounter that changes his life, he has been told about Jesus and he suddenly realizes that it was the emptiness in his heart that drove him to live like he had been living and he now decides to make a commitment to change his life style. The process of going to church, reading his bible and praying can be likened to building an altar. When he now begins to align his lifestyle to reflect the word of God, that process is the actual laying of his life as a living sacrifice.
I encourage you today to make your life a sacrifice unto God.
posted by Michelle at 10:35 AM
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