Sacrifice is one of the core principles of Christianity. Christ himself led the way with his own sacrifice of his body on the cross. Jesus could have taken opportunity to escape or to summon angels to defend him, but instead he went willingly, knowing it was the only way to redeem us from the power of sin.
Why is sacrifice such a big deal? Sacrificed is an unbalanced formula. Albert Einstein is one of the men responsible for discovering some of the greatest secrets of the natural universe. His most famous equation is E=mc2 . E energy equals ‘m’ (mass) times the speed of light ‘c’ squared (multiplied by itself). Light is the fastest thing in the universe, travelling at 300,000,000 meters per second. Multiplying that number by itself gives the enormous number of 90,000,000,000,000,000. This is how nuclear energy produces so much power from such a tiny amount of fuel. We need to realize that there is a spiritual counterpart to this formula. Any matter that is “sacrificed,” will produce an unthinkable amount of power spiritually. This equation is not just a law of the natural universe; it is a spiritual law also. Sacrificing matter (the flesh and finances) brings tremendous power spiritually. Every bit of matter sacrificed has a monumental release of spiritual light produced. In the second part of the article we will examine how money is really captive light and coins were created based on this principle. This latent energy is released in giving.Treasure In Earthen Vessels:
Sacrifice of Flesh
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
2 Corinthians is a book focused on suffering and the sacrifice needed for ministry, chapter 11 in particular where the apostle Paul describes the unimaginable sufferings he had to experience to bring the gospel to the world. In the above verse, Paul describes our body as an earthen vessel like cheap pottery, but which contains within itself a hidden treasure. The part of us made of matter is the flesh. The flesh is low and base, but is by no means worthless. The flesh has a massive potential when sacrificed.
Early Christianity began with continuous danger, sometimes from the Jews clinging to the old order and other times from the Romans. Despite the killings and persecutions, Christianity grew even faster instead of being stamped out. One of the early Christian fathers, Tertulian, said "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." By believers sacrificing their lives, seed was planted for the gospel to grow even faster and further than would have been possible otherwise.
We cannot predict or control whether we will have to face the choice of martyrdom, but one thing we do have to replace it to sacrifice the flesh is fasting.
The Old Testament animal sacrifices show God's desire for us to sacrifice the animal part of ourselves, the flesh, to him so we may live according to the spirit.
Leviticus 3:16-17 ...all the fat is the LORD'S. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.
All the fat belongs to the Lord. The fat is our comfort, complacency, and undisciplined lazy nature. The excess, the selfish luxury. To be a worthy living sacrifice mean to offer the fat of our life to God.
Fasting is the most obvious method of sacrificing the flesh and its fat to God. Fasting strengthens the control of the spirit over the emotions and flesh. It triggers an internal battle with the lower nature which is why you should expect some moodiness when on a fast.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Sacrifice of Finance: Money is Crystalized Light
There are three forms of energy: Light, Heat, and Motion.
When evaluating the formula E=mc2 for its spiritual purpose, we will see that money indeed is trapped crystalized light that is released upon its sacrifice.
Coins were originally made up of three kinds of "shiny" metals. You may be familiar with the pattern gold, silver, and bronze used in trophies and awards. These three metals were also used in ancient coins. Sometimes they were combined in an alloy called "electrum" and sometimes they were used separately. Why these three and not others? Gold, silver, and bronze have a special connection to the heavenly lights in order of their brightness.
Sun: Gold
Moon: Silver
Venus: Copper (or bronze)
The sun is the brightest thing in the sky and shiny yellow and so its connection to gold is obvious. The moon is the second brightest and is reflective white and so silver being paired as the second to gold comes naturally as well.
Now the Venus/Copper connection is not as obvious as the first two, but it is every bit as real. The ancients connected all seven major luminaries to the metals and copper is assigned to Venus. The Romans called the planet "Lucifer" (light-bringer) both because it is the brightest planet as well as because rises just before the sun, as if to herald the coming of daylight.
Now we know that Lucifer tried to counterfeit God's glory and usurp the place of God Most High. That's the interesting thing about bronze. Bronze is like a counterfeit gold. When Solomon's Temple had been pillaged in his son's time, with its gold stolen. Rehoboam the king used bronze in place of the gold, a cheap imitation. He did not want to admit it was symbolic of losing God's glory due to his rebellion. He just pretended the bronze equipment was equivalent to the true gold originals. Lucifer tries to get us to abandon God's true glory, the gold, by choosing the satanic cheap pleasures as substitutes to fill the void in our life.
For biblical materials, notice there is a yellow path:
Gold >>> Bronze >>> Wood
And a grey path:
Silver >>> Iron >>> Stones
The following verse hints at this connection:
Isaiah 60:17 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.
As each progresses downwards they lose light until becoming common materials. Bronze is at the middle point. Bronze is gold that has been stripped of its glory.
The three coinage metals Gold (Au), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu) are on the same column on the periodic table of the elements (column 11). They are connected in a type of natural covenant as it were.
One reason the disc shape was chosen for coins because it maximizes surface area, making it difficult for counterfeiters to conceal cheap lesser metal like lead in the center (which would be easy to do with a sphere or cube). Another reason was because the disc shape allowed more space for an image to be stamped, a form of propaganda for the ruler:
Matthew 22:18-22, But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money."
So they brought Him a denarius.
And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?"
They said to Him, "Caesar's."
And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
And this is where Lucifer is found to have sinned, because he hoarded light in the form of glory, taking the glory unto himself that should have belonged to God. Thus the Bible also mentions Lucifer at the origin of finance in that even before the earth was created, the Bible in Ezekiel twice terms him a "trader" while he was still an angel in heaven. But what is "trading" and "finance" in the immaterial realm of spirit? Perhaps the idea of taking light (glory) captive and hoarding it comes from the devil himself and caused his fall. This is why money has become contaminated and the love of it is said to be "the root of all evil." (1 Timothy 6:10)
So Lucifer's name "light bearer," is a testament to how he held onto glory rather than reflecting back to God the source.
In the Bible some of the words for glory/honour also have alternate meanings of wealth:
The Hebrew word Kabowd (Strong's #3519) usually means glory but also has alternate meanings of wealth.
The New Testament Greek word "timae" for "wage" is the same word used for "honour" (Strong's 5092).
There is a definite connection between money and honour/glory. Satan always seeks to control the finance because this was his job in heaven. So it is no surprise he targeted Judas, Christ's treasurer, as his vessel through which to betray Christ to be killed.
When Lucifer hoarded wealth by sinning in trading he was hoarding glory, thus trying to outshine God. This is why his name means the "light bearer." He hoarded the tokens of captive light and thus he hoarded the glory that belonged to God and took it unto himself in attempt to outshine the Creator.
Perhaps this is why Jesus is so strict on finance in the New Testament, saying it is hard for a rich man to enter heaven and often commanding followers to sell their possessions and give to the poor. God is distrustful of accumulation of money because is the same spirit as what was behind the first rebellion in heaven.
At the origin of money, the metals for coins were chosen based on the idea of taking light captive on a disc, but this is not the natural state of light. Light desires to move, to create. Light cannot sit still. Light is the fastest thing in the universe after all.
Luke 8:16 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light."
The word "light" also means something that will float upwards, the opposite of heavy. Light should always come from above. The light in our houses is on the ceiling, the light outdoors is from the sun and stars high up. Light always comes from above. What is "light" also seeks to stratify upwards, in opposition to what is heavy which seeks to descend. Coins then are a paradox, filled with light yet coins are "heavy" because the light has been taken into captivity.
Psalm 19:4-5 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
As the "line" or "ray" the Psalmist mentions from the sun that goes through all the earth, light always needs to move.
Currency and Circulation:
The word "currency" comes from "current" which means "to flow." We talk about a river current for example. Money is like the blood of a nation and it must always be circulating for there to be prosperity. The Great Depression happened in part because people would not spend or invest money, everyone was trying to hoard it, fearfully holding cash idle in "savings" out rather than putting the money to work. Trying to hold back money in fear and greed blocks the flow of provision. We have a flowing current, blood, in our body and "red blood cells" are the most common cells carried in the bloodstream; wouldn't you know it but they are coin-shaped also.
These blood cells are empty vessels which can fill up to carry oxygen (ie. Air/Spirit). Money likewise is a vessel which can carry spirits, charged with our motives and intention when spending or sacrificing it. This is why the heart attitude is so important when giving. This is how the empty vessels, the coins, are filled with spirit. If a good heart, then it is a pleasing aroma unto God. If a resentful unhappy heart, then a foul odour such as was the sacrifice of Cain.
Exodus 16:31 describes manna as disc or wafer shaped. This is the inspiration for some churches using a wafer-shape style of communion bread, connecting the bread of communion with the bread of heaven, manna.
Manna was coins of provision from heaven given daily, a test of gratitude for what is "just enough" but not overflow-level blessing. A manna season is a time where you have to live by faith. In these times God always provides, but often just-in-time which can feel stressful when one's faith has not been fully developed. This is how a river functions. As water leaves, more arrives constantly replace that which left so there is never a shortage. Despite the river "giving" by flowing away to water the land, it is always replenished.
Ecclesiastes 1:7 All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.
In fear we end up choosing a mindset of "me first," to only give generously to God if we really are overflowing and have taken care of our wants/needs. Instead of the first fruits being offered to God, we give him the leftovers; what is left over after making sure the major personal goals are attained. This can be especially true when a person does not have much to give. It is easy to despite the small amount you have available for offering. One of satan's tactics he used to use on me was to always say it is more efficient for a "professional" financier to give to the gospel mission and that my small amount would be meaningless in advancing God's kingdom compared to the suffering. For this, we have to look at how Jesus evaluated the giving of a widow woman:
Mark 12:41-44 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."
Based on the above verse, it is clear that God evaluates giving not based on the total monetary amount, but based on each person's individual circumstances and how much the sacrifice affects their life. In an age without retirement plans or old age benefits, the widow was taking an enormous risk to give those two tiny copper coins. The rich men on the other hand, might have given the excess from a year of windfall profits without actually having to make lifestyle changes after giving the money. A person should never despise their giving as being too small to be valuable to God. When the widow gave Elijah the last little bit of her food, she was greatly rewarded for it, even though it was a small amount (1 Kings 17).
Summary:
Sacrificing the flesh and finances releases tremendous power. It is not an equivalent exchange but a heavily unbalanced trade as is shown by Einstein's formula where the speed of light (300,000,000 meters/second) is multiplied by itself, giving an enormous multiplier to sacrifice. And yes, although this formula was discovered for natural science, it also applies spiritually because money is captive light as we discussed, and therefore it is appropriate to use the same formula. We need to remind ourselves that we do not live for this material world. Allowing the flesh to increase with no fasting, weakens our spirit because our temple has only so much room and more space for one must come at the cost of less for the other. We must not go into bondage to the flesh and the material world.