Christ Died to Begin a Life of Sacrifice, Not End It

 "Sacrifice describes the essence of the Church’s mission in the world:

“You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy

priesthood, to offer up Spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus

Christ.” (1 Pet. 2:5). Notice how similar this is to Paul’s description of the

activity and life of the church in Philippi. He calls their work “the sacrifice

and priestly service that arises from your faith” (Phil. 2:17). The language

of sacrifice is used as a description of the Christian life (Rom. 12:1). The

fact that Paul speaks of “living sacrifices” should alert us to the fact that

there is a positive dimension to the sacrificial ritual in addition to the idea of

penal, substitutionary execution. The self-denying, generous lives of

Christians are sacrifices. The author of Hebrews admonishes the church,

“But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is

well pleased” (Heb. 13:16). This life of love is a sacrificial life that we live

in union with Christ’s sacrificial offering, according to Ephesians 5:2: “And

walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an

offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Augustine’s

way of linking Christ’s actions and ours is to remind us that the totus

Christus (the “total” or “whole Christ”) includes Head and Body or

Husband and Bride, if you will (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12, 27: Eph. 5:23).13

We can therefore say that both Christ and those united to Him as His Body

offer sacrifice. We are priests “in Christ” (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). We

sacrifice “in Christ” (Rom. 12:1; Heb. 13:5)." (Jeffrey Meyers, The Lord's Service).