What Cost? - Priceless!

 Priceless:

We've had a brief and sobering glimpse into how much the devil values us, which isn't very much. Now, what about God? How much does God value us? Just as it is difficult to comprehend the evil of the devil, it is equally difficult to comprehend the goodness of God and just how much we mean to him. When man fell in Genesis and became just body and soul, spiritually dead in the devil's new world order, God did not leave man there. He could have, but he didn't. Rather, he loved us so much he came up with a plan to get us out of the mess we had made for ourselves. That plan was Jesus Christ, a man who put his hand up and volunteered to die in our place.

Romans 3:21-24
But now [since the day of Pentecost] the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

It is through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus that we are justified freely by God's grace. Redemption refers to the price that was paid to buy us back from the devil. Here is a dictionary definition of redeem.

1. To recover ownership of by paying a specified sum.

Man at one time belonged to God, but when man fell, man became the devil's subjects, we were citizens in the world of which he was its god. To get us back, God had to redeem us, a price had to be paid. That price was paid in blood.

Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

We lost the spirit when man fell back in Genesis and became just body and soul. Jesus Christ was the price that was paid to redeem us, to buy us back from that state of death. God paid for us with his own son. He gave his only son to the devil, to die the most horrendous death ever experienced by any human being in the history of the world so that we could be redeemed. That was the price that had to be paid, and God paid it.

Romans 5:6-8
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God paid a price beyond anything we could imagine or comprehend. Does that give us value? Very much so. How much are we worth to God? He paid a very high price for us. That price was his son Jesus Christ, who died in our place. Man was a three-part being back in Genesis, but as a consequence of his disobedience man lost his spirit and became just body and soul. Since the day of Pentecost, because of the work Jesus Christ accomplished, because of the price that was paid, it is once again available for man to be a three part being of body, soul, and spirit.

Now, how do we determine value? What gives something worth? What makes something valuable? One thing that determines value is cost, how much you would be willing to pay for something.

Are your children valuable? Oh yes, but can you put a price on them? Is there a price tag you can stick on children? Would we sell our children? Would we sell them for a million bucks? 10 million? 100 million? What about for the world? Of course not. Some things in life are beyond value, beyond price, you cannot buy them, they are not for sale. Children are priceless.

Value, then, varies greatly, but generally speaking, how much you would be willing to spend on something would determine its value. If something is beyond price, if you cannot put a price on it, it is priceless. So, how valuable are we? Not very much to the devil, but what about God?

1 Corinthians 6:20
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

We were bought with a price. What price? What price did God pay for us? How much did God pay to redeem us from the god of this world? How much does he value us? God took the one thing he had that was priceless, beyond value, his son, and that was the price he paid for us. If how much we are willing to pay for something determines its value, how much then are we worth? If you're not sure how much you're worth, take a look at the price tag on you.

God paid for us with his own son. He gave his only child to the devil to die the most horrendous and tortuous death ever experienced by any human being in the history of the world so that we could be raised from the dead and have eternal life.

Are we valuable? How valuable are your children to you? To God, we are priceless. Of all God has, we are his most valuable possessions.

Romans 8:37-39
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Do you think there is anything that can take us away from God? Do you think there is a price God would sell us for? We are priceless, beyond value, beyond cost. There is no price that can separate us from this love of God. There is nothing the devil can do to take us away from God.

Knowing all this, we now have choices to make here. Are we going to believe the world's opinion of our value, or God's? See, that depends on us. If we spend our whole time watching television, playing computer games, watching movies, and reading newspapers and magazines, our perceptions of our own worth are going to reflect the god of this world's opinion of our worth, which isn't very much. However, if we keep our hearts and minds in God's word, our perceptions of our own worth will reflect our true value.

The world looks out at the universe, shows us how big it is, and tells us we amount to nothing. The bible looks out at the universe, shows us how big it is, and tells us that we are the only reason it is there. One viewpoint is a lie, while the other is the truth. What we look at is what we will believe and become.

2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

A glass is a mirror. As we look into the bible, we see the glory of God reflected from its pages and if we keep our focus there, we will be changed into that same image. If we hold our minds in the world, then that's what we will reflect in our hearts and lives. Where we keep our thoughts is up to us. It's a choice we make.

God paid a high price for us. Jesus Christ was the price that was paid to redeem us from death so we could freely enjoy eternal life. Do you know what eternal life really is? It is being born again of God's seed and becoming his child.

1 Peter 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

This isn't make believe, this isn't Aesop's fables, this isn't a myth or a fairy tale, this is the truth - we literally are born of God's seed, incorruptible seed. We are his children, he did pay that price for us, and he did redeem us from the devil and death.

Galatians 4:6,7
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Now, to give you a little more sense of your worth, here's a thought that once saved my life. Before the day of Pentecost, from Genesis to the day of Pentecost, God had no guarantee that anyone would believe his word and be born again. Sure, he has foreknowledge and he knew we would, but he had no guarantee of that. What if God knew in his foreknowledge that you would be the only person to ever be born again, that you would be the only one to ever believe his word? Would God have still paid that price just for you? He paid the price without any guarantee of anything, before anyone was ever born again, so yes, you really are that precious to God, that priceless. He paid that price just for you.

God paid a price so high for us that it's beyond human comprehension. Eternal life may be free to us, but trust me, it cost God everything. To the god of this world we are worthless, but to God we are priceless. Which God are you going to serve?