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The Sacrifice of Jesus Introduction: We often speak of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as He was crucified. We want to look at His sacrifice understanding what He really sacrificed for us and what He accomplished by dying on the cross. I) What Is A Sacrifice? A) Many do not understand what a true sacrifice is. 1. Going to school is not a sacrifice it is a privilege. 2. Working to provide for your family is not a sacrifice it is a duty. 3. Being kind to your neighbor is not a sacrifice it is commanded. B) Difference between sacrifice and being inconvenienced 1. Inconvenience -- when you have to go out of your way, dealing with something difficult. a. A car not starting is an inconvenience. b. A road being closed due to construction may be an inconvenience. 2. Sacrifice -- an offering, the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim. To give up something of value. a. A batter being told to sacrifice his at bat so as to advance a runner b. A person giving up a kidney or other organ so as to help someone else. c. You cannot make a sacrifice that cost nothing. II) Jesus Experienced Inconveniences And Sacrifices A) Inconveniences 1. Dealing with His disciples 2. Being interrupted while teaching. B) But Jesus made sacrifices 1. Left heaven to come here, John 1.18. a. Speaking to Nicodemus, John 3.9-13 b. How big of a sacrifice was it for Jesus to leave heaven? c. Ex. How big of a sacrifice is it for our soldiers to leave home and fight in a foreign country? d. How big of a sacrifice is it for a young man to go to a foreign country to peach the Gospel? 2. He left the presence of God. a. On one sense we say God is everywhere and that is true, He is omnipresent. b. But in another sense we can say that God abides in heaven. Matthew 10.32,33. c. The beauty of heaven is nothing without God. Revelation describes God upon His throne, chapter 5. God "illuminating" heaven, chapter 21. NIV "the glory of God gives it light" d. When we talk about going to heaven do we talk about the streets of gold or of being in God's presence? Hopefully both with the emphasis on God. 3. He emptied Himself to take on a body of flesh, John 1.14; Phil. 2.1ff a. The Bible does not reveal a lot to us about Jesus' birth. He know who gave Him birth, we know He was born in the city of David, born in a manger. b But we do not see this from heaven's point of view. As Revelation points out to us there is a lot we do not and may never know. c. Jesus had to grow, Luke 2.52. d. Jesus had to endure temptations, to suffer, Hebrews 2.17. e. We often write stories of a prince or a king who becomes a pauper or gets mixed up at birth to find out later on who he really is. He comes to take his rightly place on the throne and is elevated. f. Jesus was deity before His birth and became a servant. So we can be elevated. 4. His sacrifice on the cross. a. Shed His blood on the cross, John 19.34. b. Think of this, He was perhaps 33 years old, and He was crucified. c. He was sinless and yet He was crucified. e. He was the Son of God, the lineage of David, the creator of the world, and yet He was crucified. Conclusion: A sacrifice is when something of value is given up for something which is prized or desirable.
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