Chuck Bridges Blog

We don’t talk very much about “Altars” in our modern presentation of THE Christian experience. Actually, while the very mention of a device that is used to “sacrifice” something appears to be a people repellant, altars play a major role in our spiritual journey.

Here are a few interesting things to know about altars:

• the Bible word literally means “a place of sacrifice”
• there are at least 429 references to altars in the Bible (406 – OT; 23 – NT)
• pagan worship has many altars — Christianity has only ONE!
• the first record of an altar built to worship God was when Noah left the Ark (Gen. 8:20)
• the Tabernacle and later the Temple had one door that led to a room where God was worshiped. Immediately inside this door was an altar. This made one thing clear: no one could approach God’s presence without sacrifice.
• The “Altar” (i.e. a place of sacrifice) declares that only God has the authority to say how we may approach Him.

Since the beginning of time, humanity has sought to devise a personalized method for obtaining God’s forgiveness, blessings, presence, etc. Cain knew the requirements for getting into God’s presence but he chose his own way and was so angry with God for not accepting his ”Customized Worship-Plan” that he killed his brother Abel. (see Genesis 4) The pages of the Bible are filled with examples of people who wanted to sing with Elvis: “I did it my way.” Altars serve to remind us that God is not interested in our ways; He only accepts us on His terms!

It is interesting to notice that “altars” don’t have a horrid reputation for those who have placed their life on the Calvary Altar because it is the place where true life begins! The more of myself that I willingly lay down on Christ’s altar, the more of His life I get to experience. It is impossible to explain this to someone who is holding on to their life out of fear, selfish ambition, or a hedonistic lifestyle (i.e. pleasure seeking/driven).

In this month’s sermon series we are going to talk about ”altars.” We will not seek to glamorize them or make them out to be fun or adventuresome. Instead, we are going to focus on the incredible LIFE that God is waiting to give those who decide out of their free will to give their life away. For too long evangelical models have taught us to focus on the benefits of just asking Jesus to come into your life and to minimize the ’sin’ thing. Friends, no matter how culturally appealing we may want to be, there is no such thing as an ”altarless” Christianity! There can be no LIFE without a death; no resurrection without a crucifixion!