Believe it or not, I played a few sports growing up! I played basketball and softball, loving every minute of the challenge and the comradery! In all the years of sports, I never recall seeing the size of the ball change. I never saw the length of the field change. I never saw the space from one base to the other change. They were fixed. Immovable. Sacred, if you would, to the game.
We throw words around like sacred, holy, divine, and yet, as Christians, God’s Word makes it very plain about the things God considers holy and sacred.
Holy: set apart for God’s use
Divine: “theios” which means “when anything begins to resemble the Trinity.”
Sacred: entitled to respect
Things become holy, divine and sacred when God says they are and become that personally to us when we invite God’s presence and power in.
Life is Sacred, Divine and Holy. God loved people so much that He sent His only Son to die for us to be reconciled to Him. (John 3:16) We are called a holy nation and a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). God holds life as sacred and so should we. So many people go down the road of thought of “grey” areas or specific rare instances that occur. Yes those exist, but they are just that, rare, and should never be the determination for the whole. God gives life and God takes life. God is the creator of life and therefore has the only authority to take it.
Marriage is Sacred, Divine, and Holy. God joined you together. (Matthew 19:6) The minister calls it “holy matrimony”. This isn’t a business contract, this is a lifetime covenant, representing the lifetime covenant God makes with every born again believer in Jesus. Marriage is the merging of two lives who God will use to help bring both into the fullness of Christlikeness. Spouses are to be honored and held in great respect and regard.
Sex is Sacred, Divine, and Holy. Sex is a gift from God to bring one another pleasure. He could have made it the most awkward and unpleasant experience, only for the purpose of procreation, yet He chose for it to be pleasurable and special; a secret place just for the two of you, representing His secret place in quiet time with you. Sex was God’s idea. (Hebrews 13:4) It may be said that one would never bring a large mouse trap into the bedroom but then, use sex to trap the spouse. Selfishness consumes sex for many marriages. And supplying a bride-to-be with sex toys, and other paraphernalia is abhorrent. What about candles, body washes, bath bombs, bath salts, body lotions and modest lingerie to help her ready herself for her pure day in white? Jesus wants us to be a bride who has made herself ready. This honors God.
Worship is Sacred, Divine, and Holy. In Genesis 22:5, Abraham is going to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and he tells them that they are going to worship and will return. That is the first mention of the word “worship” and means “to bow down in honor of one Who is superior”. Jesus even said that He was looking for worshippers who worship God in spirit and in truth. Worship is a big deal as it is paying homage to the only One who is worthy. Worship can be in song, in listening, in prayer, in honoring the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8), in tithing (Leviticus 27:30), and most importantly in speaking God’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7). (You never hear that Satan has prompted anyone to say “satan dammit” or “satan damn you” and yet it is common for God’s name to be used in that way.)
The world has not held any of these as sacred, divine and holy. As a matter of fact, they have done the exact opposite! They have not only committed sacrilege, but blasphemy!! And I am saddened, perplexed and frustrated that the body of Christ has succumbed to the world’s perspective as well.
I am saddened, perplexed and frustrated that the body of Christ has succumbed to the world’s perspective as well.
Sacrilege: the profanation of anything held sacred; the stealing of anything consecrated to the Lord.
Blasphemy: irreverent behavior towards that which God holds as sacred. To hurt and harm the fame of God.
Here me now, as I say this in as much loving concern as I can: when we make light of, make something pure, holy, and sacred nasty, say or do things that would not be how Jesus would speak of things nor act towards these things, then sacrilege and blasphemy has occurred. There has been a profaning, a stealing and an irreverence that has occurred. And God takes that very seriously.
(Daniel 5:3-4; Leviticus 10:1-2; Numbers 16:1-40; 2 Samuel 6:6-7)
So when life is devalued in word or deed, when marriage is minimized by cohabitating to save money (God knows and I believe that if you honor God, He will take care of you.) or some other human reasoning, when sex is made dirty by contaminating it with the filth offered in this world, and when worship is inauthentic and insincere, wanting power but not presence, we have stepped into dangerous territory in our compromising.
When God designed the Tabernacle and later the Temple, He made it much after the human race: body, soul, spirit: outer courts, inner courts, Holy of Holies. 3 parts. He made it holy and divine as His power and presence filled the place. It was a sacred place. Jesus said that YOU are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). YOU are holy, divine and sacred, as is life, marriage, sex and worship, which are all a part of your human experience.
So just as God sees all of this as holy and sacred, it is time that the Church get back to these truths and make a recommitment and stand to consider the things God says are holy and sacred as holy and sacred to us as well.
Just as the size of the ball hasn’t changed, the length of the field hasn’t changed and the space from one base to the other has never changed in sports, what God holds sacred has never changed. They are fixed. Immovable. They never have nor never will change. It is time the Church truly follows Jesus in what He holds sacred.
Join us for our FREE online summertime study in the book of Psalms and let’s learn through the writers how to navigate through our feelings and enter into sacred worship!!! To register, go to https://www.jenaforehand.com/psalms-study