Second, HE SACRIFICES FOR THE WILL OF GOD. The Word of God instructs man to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). When Christ was confronted by the Scribe asking “Which is the first commandment of all,” He responded from the Old Testament Scriptures that taught from the beginning that loving God required every ounce of one’s being. Mark wrote:

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these (emph. mine, TB)   (Mark 12:29-31).

Loving God with the inner most of one’s being brings forth sacrifice (John 3:16). If one loves God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength, he will sacrifice to accomplish the will of God. Ira Rice Jr. once commented on Matthew’s account of this occasion saying:

Many fanciful theories are put forward today as to what it means to love God. However, Jesus did not leave His disciples in doubt. “If ye love me,” He said in John 14:15 “keep my commandments.” In this same chapter, He said, “He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father; and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (v.21). Farther down he continued to explain: “If a man loveth me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but my Father’s which sent me” (vv.23-24). As proof of His own love of God, Jesus said, “…that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do…” (v.31; cf. 1 John 2:4-5).

The sacrifice of Jesus was the ultimate example of one’s love for God. He carried out the commands of God because of His love for Him. If man is going to serve God, He will sacrifice for the will of God by loving Him with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength.

(Lord willing, continued next week)