Human Response 231: Offering and Sacrifice

Numbers 28:2 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season..

There follows in chapter 28 a detailed description regarding what to offer, when and how often to make sacrifices, and how to do it. Every ordinary day God’s people were to sacrifice two lambs, one in the morning and one in the evening, in addition to the several sacrifices on special days, along with a grain offering and a drink offering. The daily sacrifices were a sweet savor to the Lord, because they came from a repentant and believing heart to which God could could show unimpeded love.

We don’t make blood sacrifices any more since the One Sacrifice of Christ is once for all sins and all people of all time. However, because of that Sacrifice we gladly, thankfully, and willingly offer our goods and services to the Lord and sacrifice our time and energy for the good of others. Every good work we do carries a sweet savor to the Lord and a pleasant fragrance to others around us.

It is good, right, and salutary that we respond to Law and Gospel, Sin and Grace, by remembering, at least twice a day, the Sacrifice of Christ for our sin and for our forgiveness, life, and salvation. Our daily sacrifices remember His sacrifice through sincere repentance and trusting faith. Then we live each day.