We Present our Bodies to the Lord and to the Body to Burn with the Fire from God

In order for us to live the Body life today, we need to present our bodies to the Lord and to the Body to be a living sacrifice; even though we are many, yet our service is of the one Body in Christ for the Lord’s satisfaction (Rom. 12:1).

This week we have been enjoying the practical application of the burnt offering in our experience, which is our need to live a life of the continual burnt offering – a living sacrifice.

The sacrifices in the Old Testament were dead sacrifices, for the animals were put to death and burned for God’s satisfaction; with us, however, we are on one hand being terminated by Christ in His death, but on the other hand we live in resurrection a life for God’s purpose.

The burnt offering in particular is a type of our consecration, which is our offering ourselves to God as a living sacrifice; to consecrate ourselves to the Lord doesn’t mean that we promise Him to do many things for Him in His name, but that we offer ourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice.

To be a sacrifice means that we become nothing, we let go of everything, and we lose everything, and God as fire consumes us for His satisfaction. To be a sacrifice is to allow God to have the full control and right, not telling Him to use us in this way or that way, but being a living sacrifice.

To consecrate is not to commit or devote ourselves to do something for God, but to commit to allow God to do whatever He wants in us and with us. We belong to God, and we should offer ourselves daily to God as a living sacrifices.

We need to present our bodies to the Lord to be a living sacrifice for Him to be satisfied and nourished. Hallelujah, we are not “dead sacrifices” or robots who are mechanically doing what God wants us to do – we are living beings who offer themselves to God for His satisfaction, and we do this continually!

And because we consecrate ourselves to the Lord continually, we are His, we are separated unto Him, and we are saturated with His holy nature; we do not belong to the world, we don’t seek the things in the world, but we focus on the Lord and want to be fully one with Him.

Furthermore, we consecrate to the Lord not only individually but we have a corporate consecration – we present our bodies to the Lord and to the Body to be a living sacrifice! And the fire that burns in us and among us is not our own fire but the fire from the heaven, the fire from God.

We need to Present our Bodies to the Lord and to the Body as a Living Sacrifice

In Rom. 12:1 we see that we need to present our bodies as a living sacrifices – the bodies are plural, but the sacrifice is singular.

This indicates that, although it is many of us saints who present our bodies to the Lord, yet we all become one sacrifice; though we are many, our service in the Body of Christ is one service, for we present our bodies to the Lord and to the Body as a living sacrifice.

Our consecration should be practical and definite: we don’t only love the Lord in our heart or get into His word with our mind, but our physical body is consecrated, and we present our body to Him for the church life.

There are many bodies who are consecrated, but there is one living sacrifice.

Although we are many, our service in the Body of Christ should not be many individual services, separated and unrelated; rather, all our service should constitute one whole service, and this service must be unique because it is the service of the one Body in Christ (Rom. 12:4-5).

The goal of our consecration is to serve God – but in what way do we serve Him? Do we serve the Lord merely individually and independently, or do we serve Him in the Body?

Our consecration is not an individual matter but a corporate one; individually we have transactions with God and we offer ourselves to Him, but our consecration is of the whole Body of Christ.

It is not that we consecrate to God and then go do something for God by ourselves; our consecration is part of the corporate sacrifice to God!

Our consecration needs to be a part of the corporate consecration. In a sense, God doesn’t care for the individual consecration that much; He wants a corporate living sacrifice, which is acceptable and pleasing to Him.

Therefore, we need to present our bodies to the Lord and to the Body as a living sacrifice. The church life as a whole is a burnt offering for the satisfaction of God.

We as believers in Christ live in the Body of Christ by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice; for us to have the Body life we need to present our bodies to the Lord and to His Body.

Our body has to be in the meetings, our mouth has to be exercised to praise the Lord, and our whole body has to be serving and functioning; our consecration is definite, and it is in view of the Body life.

Our consecration is not just between us and God; it is in view of the Body of Christ.

Praise the Lord, in His salvation Christ has released our body from the usurping hand of the enemy, Satan, and now, as we are joined to the Lord organically, we simply need to present our released body to the Lord for the Body life! Amen!

For us to live the Body life today is by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. For us to have the Body life, we need to have our body presented both to the Lord and to the Body.

Lord Jesus, we present our bodies to the Lord and to the Body as a living sacrifice to be well pleasing and acceptable to God. Thank You for releasing our body from the usurping hand of the enemy, Satan. Lord, we want to be one spirit with You to present our released body to You and to the Body as a living sacrifice for the Body life! Lord, uplift our view of consecration to realize that our individual consecration is part of the corporate consecration, the corporate living sacrifice that pleases You! Hallelujah!

All our Service to God must Originate with the Fire which comes from God

According to the principle laid out in the Old Testament with all the offerings and our service to God, every service to God must be based on the fire from the altar of burnt offering, the fire which comes from God.

When the children of Israel followed the tabernacle in their journey through the wilderness, they had God’s presence and His speaking; however, their service began only when God sent fire from heaven to consume the burnt offering on the altar.

They had to build an altar, lay the wood, prepare the burnt offering (kill the animal, skin it, cut it, wash it, and place it on the altar), and then God sent the fire from heaven (see Lev. 9:24).

It was not until Lev. 9 that God’s people could serve Him, for it was then that the fire came from God to consume the burnt offering. The people of Israel were not allowed to make their own fire – that is, bring strange fire; they had to do everything with the fire that came from God.

The priests’ service to burn the incense at the golden incense altar was also initiated by the fire that came from God, for the fire that was burning on the incense altar was taken from the burnt offering altar. If someone offered strange fire, his service was not accepted by God, and he suffered the judgement of death (see Lev. 10:1-2).

God wanted the service of the children of Israel to be based on this fire (Lev. 6:13).

In the church life today, as we present our bodies to the Lord and to the Body to be a living sacrifice, we need to realize that the service we render to God must originate with the fire that comes from God. Our service to God must come out of the burning of God’s fire, and it must be the issue of this fire (Exo. 3:2, 4, 6; Rom. 12:1, 11).

We cannot and should not serve God with our own natural zeal and excitement; we need to simply present our bodies to the Lord and to the Body for the church life, and we need to let the fire of God burn in us.

Moses was zealous in himself when he was 40 years of age, ready to do something for the people of God; but God didn’t honor that, and He had to wait 40 more years until Moses was discouraged with himself, and then God appeared in the thornbush as a fire to call him – this is holy service.

God doesn’t need our natural fire, our natural zeal, and our natural excitement; He wants to be the source of the fire, and He Himself is the fire that should burn in us as we offer ourselves to Him.

Our experience of the burnt offering must result in a practical consecration that leads to God’s service, which is acceptable and pleasing to Him.

God doesn’t want us to have service from our own fire, which is actually strange fire. He wants us to simply consecrate ourselves to Him, offering ourselves to Him for His service, and He as the holy fire will come in and burn – then, there will be a holy service.

Lord Jesus, we consecrate ourselves to You for Your use, service, and satisfaction. Come in as the holy fire and burn in us as a corporate living sacrifice. Lord, save us from making our own fire with which to serve You. May we simply offer ourselves to You in a practical way for Your holy service, and may we allow You to come in to burn in us and burn us so that we may be well pleasing to You. Oh Lord, we simply want to add the wood, lay our hands on Christ as the burnt offering, and be identified with Him to be a living sacrifice, so that You may be satisfied and well-pleased!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, The Service for Building Up the House of God, ch. 2 (Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (1), week 3, The Continual Burnt Offering – a Living Sacrifice.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Lord, we praise Thee, consecration / Is nought else but Thee as food: / As we eat Thee and enjoy Thee, / We are all made one with God; / One in will and one in purpose / We become by eating Thee: / As we take and eat Thyself, Lord, / Consecrated we will be. (Hymns #1138)
  # To You, dear Lord, / I give myself afresh again / Unsparingly for Your desire, / Your economy. / O, fire from above, / Come and consume me thoroughly / That You may be my all, / My life, my everything. (Song on, To You, dear Lord)
  # Fill me, O Lord, with Thy desire / For all that know not Thee; / Then touch my lips with holy fire, / To speak of Calvary. (Hymns #160)