Teachings from India (9)
In the Old Testament, worship was always accompanied by sacrifice. Solomon once offered 22 thousand bulls and 120 thousand sheep and goats (2 Chron 7:5). The temple was primarily a place of sacrifice (2 Chron 7:12). When a person in the Old Testament sinned, he confessed his sin and took a bath of purification. Then he took an animal who was a substitute for his sins, and the animal was slaughtered as a sacrifice. A person was not allowed to offer his own animal as a sacrifice, but the priest did it for him. One of the main functions of the priest was to offer sacrifices.
According to the New Testament, we are now a royal priesthood (I Peter 2:9). The blood of Jesus has made us priests and kings (Revelation 5:9, 10). Again the function of a priest is to offer sacrifices. Paul offered the Gentiles as a living sacrifice (Romans 15:16) It was on offering of 2-legged animals who had a broken and contrite spirit (Ps 51:17). Our worship is not complete without an offering of repentant souls; it is the main business of the church.
When Abraham offered Isaac as worship to God, his main instruments of worship were a sword, fire and a sacrifice (Genesis 22:6). Today, our instruments of worship are the same: a sword–the Word of God (Eph. 6:17, Heb 4:12), fire–the Holy Spirit, and a sacrifice–an offering of repentant souls.