1.10.2013

Conse - what??

We are up to the 3rd of 5 C’s in our worship service. Call, confession, consecration.

Consecration is the hardest of the 5 C’s to understand. We get call, confession, communion and commission. But consecration? What is this?

The basic progression of a service is laid out in Leviticus 9 with three different kinds of sacrifices: sin, whole (or burnt), and peace offerings.

Consecration is the whole sacrifice that is completely burned up and goes up in smoke to God. The whole animal was burned up on the altar. Leviticus 1 describes it. The focus is on the cutting and arranging of the animal pieces on the altar. We should see the animal sacrifice as fulfilled in Christ. He offered Himself completely to God.

And, if we are united with Christ and follow Him, we need to see ourselves as this whole burnt offering ascending to God. The knife that cuts us up is the word of God, as Heb 4:12 says, piercing to divide not only joints and marrow, but also soul and spirit. That doesn’t mean soul and spirit are different, but that the Word of God distinguishes our good thoughts and intentions from the bad.

That’s the sacrificial and theological angle on consecration. We’ll look at more of the practical stuff in future weeks.

No comments:

Post a Comment