In September, 1997 newspapers in Wellington, New Zealand carried the tragic story of a young girl who saw a puppy that had been struck by a car. She ran to aid the injured animal and was herself struck by a car and killed. How sad that a person should lose her life in trying to save a dumb animal.

Yet the difference between a person and a puppy is no greater than the difference between Divinity and humanity. That’s why it is so amazing that the Divine Christ, the very highest form of life, knowingly and willingly sacrificed himself on the cross for the sake of a lower form of life – for us!

-Robert Shannon, Preaching January/February 1998

 


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“He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much.” (James Allen)

 


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When
we built Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam), it was the largest in the world. 
As is common on such projects, there were the inevitable accidents and some
workmen lost their lives.  When the dam was complete, they put a plaque
into the wall.  On it they inscribed the names of the workmen who had died
during construction.  The plaque begins, “These died that the desert
might rejoice and blossom as the rose.”  So Christ died that the dry
and arid souls of men might be refreshed and renewed and turned from total waste
to useful service.

 

_______________

J.
Michael Shannon is professor of preaching at Cincinnati Bible College in Cincinnati,
OH.


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Have you wondered
what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? 5 signers
were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. 12
had their homes ransacked and burned. 2 lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had 2 sons captured. 9 of the 56 fought and died from wounds or
the hardships of the Revolutionary War. There was and is a tremendous price
to pay for freedom.

________________________
Sermon’s Illustrated


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The primary purpose of the sacrificial system was worship. As Charles Ryrie has noted, the root of the word offering means to “draw near” to God. This is reflected in David’s words: “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141:2).

Burnt offerings were made voluntarily, and seem to have been the most common type of sacrifice (cf. Ex. 29:38-43). They purified a worshiper from general sin and thus prepared him to draw near to God. This offering was completely burned up to show that it was completely dedicated to the Lord.

To “make atonement” [(Lev.) v.4] meant that the animal died a substitutionary death in place of a worshiper. By laying hands on it, worshipers showed an understanding of sin and a repentant heart. We know that the blood of these animals did not actually remove sin – only the blood of Christ can do that-but the sacrifices did purify people outwardly and make it possible for them to be in the presence of God (Heb. 9:11-14).

Today in the Word, p.6


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During the 1980s the Chrysler Corporation faced a financial crisis so great that many feared that it would go bankrupt. One step that chairman Lee Iacocca took during this period was to reduce his own salary to $1 a year, following a principle that he called “equality of sacrifice.” Iacocca reasoned that he could not ask the average worker to make a sacrifice that he himself was not making. In a sense, he hoped to win over the employees in his company by showing that he was one of them.

Today in the Word, Aug. 2003, p.22


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In the fifteenth century, the Aztec people practiced human sacrifice on an unprecedented scale. They believed that human sacrifices were necessary to fuel the sun, and without such sacrifices the forces of darkness would overpower their sun god, Huizilopochtli.

The Aztecs mostly sacrificed prisoners of war, which led to continuous conflicts with neighboring peoples. Thousands of enemy prisoners might be killed in a single day!

Outside of God’s truth, the idea of sacrifice inevitably goes terribly wrong. But inside the Mosaic Law, animal sacrifices showed an awareness of sin and a truly repentant heart before the one true God.

-Today in the Word, p.9


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In September, 1997 newspapers in Wellington, New Zealand carried the tragic
story of a young girl who saw a puppy that had been struck by a car. She ran to
aid the injured animal and was herself struck by a car and killed. How sad that
a person should lose her life in trying to save a dumb animal.

Yet the difference between a person and a puppy is no greater than the
difference between Divinity and humanity. That’s why it is so amazing that the
Divine Christ, the very highest form of life, knowingly and willingly
sacrificed himself on the cross for the sake of a lower form of life — for us!


View more sermon illustrations for inspiration for your next message.