Our message this Sunday will be the final one on the ‘Odd Paradoxes of Our Identity in Christ.’  Our text will be taken from what is surely one of the most widely recognized verses from the Epistle to the Romans.  In Romans 12:1, we find this staggering (and paradoxical) exhortation:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

The paradoxical nature of this exhortation is discovered in the tension between the words “living” and “sacrifice.”

When we consider the Old Covenant sacrifices, we think of the animals that were slaughtered before the Lord and consumed in the fire.  A sacrifice, such as an animal, could only be offered once.  Yet, Paul picks up this sacrificial language taken from the Old Testament Levitical code and applies it to all who are now in Christ.  We are to consider ourselves to be sacrifices that are given, yet remain alive!

How can this be?  And what does the Apostle have in view for us, practically speaking?