In yesterday’s post I spoke of the sacrifices that are offered at the altar that we have. But, I do need to mention that the altars that are found in the various Orthodox churches are not the altar that we have, but rather are icons of the altar that we have. Just like there is, “one body and one Spirit … one hope … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,” so there is only one altar, just like the Orthodox say in the Divine Liturgy that Our Lord Jesus Christ is both the offering and the one offering the sacrifice. The altar that we have is in heaven:
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
In fact, even the Old Testament altar(s) were types of the altar in heaven. There has always been one, and only one, altar. That altar is the altar that the Book of Revelation says is located in heaven. Offerings to God are not a temporary solution, rather they are part of the permanent economy of God. But, that altar was meant for praise offerings only. It was not meant to be an altar of sacrifice for sins. Because of Adam and Eve, we assume that an altar has to do with sin. We miss that there were peace offerings, praise offerings, etc., that were also offered on the Old Testament altar. We have an eternal altar in heaven, one which the Old Testament altar cannot really share with us because the Old Testament altar was temporary and was oriented towards sin offerings. How do I know this? Please read Hebrews 9:22-24.
But, what other sacrifices do we offer? Well, there are various. Let’s look at them:
- “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” We are to offer our very selves as sacrifices to God. In other words, we are to be willing to lose control of our life in order to answer his call. Most missionaries know very well what that means as most missionaries end up being asked by the Lord to do something which they wish they would not have had to do.
- “But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.” Again, here is a Scripture that talks about our works. Saint Paul is saying that his service as a missionary is a “drink offering.” More than that, the “offering” of Saint Paul is actually built on the “sacrifice” of the Philippians! So this Scripture speaks of sacrifice built upon sacrifice. Let me remind you that this is the New Testament, not the Old Testament.
- “Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” Hmm, this is sacrificial language all over these verses. The monetary gifts of the Philippians is considered to be an offering that is “credited to your account.” These verses go radically against the Protestant idea that our works are such filthy rags that it is of no value to speak of them. Saint Paul says that their gifts are valuable and are, “an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”
- Saint Peter claims that to this day we are still actively offering sacrifices, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was not eliminated, per se. Rather, the sacrificial system of the Old Testament lost its sin-oriented focus and returned to being what it was always meant to be, a system of peace, praise, and performance offerings. In an ideal world, these offerings cause us no internal conflict. But, in a world which is fallen and damaged, these offerings are a sacrifice, a fight against our fallen nature and an affirmation of God’s image and likeness, of God’s essential goodness.
We are to give offerings to our God. That would have been true whether or not Adam and Eve had ever sinned. But, as a result of sin those offerings are no longer pain-free, but are pain-filled, even though they are not sin-offerings. It is now a sacrifice to offer to God what we would have freely offered without pain before the Fall. It should have never been that way.
In the Divine Liturgy we offer to God sacrifices. We offer to God many things that should have never been sacrifices. But, we indeed do offer sacrifices.
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