Monday, March 3, 2014

The Price Tag God Puts On Your Head

What is a person worth to God? Is a believer more valuable to Him than an atheist? Is a righteous person more valuable than a sinner? Can the price tag that God puts on your head be calculated? After all, you must have some value to God. You must be worth something. What is your worth?

Let's step through this thought logically, and establish some facts. 

1. Our Original Value
First of all, in the big picture, the human race, human beings, are valuable to God simply because of that fact that He created them. Therefore, you are valuable to God because you, as an individual, are one of His creations. That fact in itself establishes great worth to God. You are one of His. But what is that worth? What is the measuring stick, the currency, that God uses to establish your value? 

2. The Lost Coin
Because of Adam and Eve's sin, sin entered the world, and we sin. We all sin and fall short of the Glory of God, and because of sin, we become separated from God. In this sense, we are sort of God's lost coin. The coin still has the same value, it's just separated from it's owner. And God really wants His coin back, and He will go through great effort to retrieve it. But what is the value of the coin?

3. The Buy Back
Because sin holds us apart from God, we become shackled by it. In this sense, sin holds us for ransom. It's similar to the Somali pirates who hijack ships on the ocean, bring them to port, and hold the ship and the crew until a huge ransom is paid to release them. When you think about it, Satan is the one who wants to claim ownership of the lost coin. And because we sin, we allow ourselves to become hijacked and are therefore apart from God. 

The good news is that God desires so much to have us back as one of His, He offers to pay the ransom price for our release from the bondage of sin. In other words, He is willing to pay the price to redeem us, to buy us back, since we are one of His own created beings to begin with. So He makes an offer. It's as if God is saying, "You are extremely valuable to me. I am willing to pay whatever the cost to have you back with me. Please allow me to pay the full price to have you back."

The value God puts on your head is established by the offer He makes to redeem you. Consider the case where you own a rare antique and wonder what the value is. In reality, the value, at least monetarily, is only what someone is willing to pay for it. You must be of incredible value to God because the price He is willing to pay is very, very high. It's the highest price tag that could ever be. Yet He is willing to pay it. This price He is willing to pay, the price tag that God puts on your head, is this: the life of His one and only Son! Amazing!

God is not using currency, He is using the barter system. He is willing to release someone on death row (you, because the wages of sin is death), by trading His Son's life, allowing His Son to be put to death instead of you! And what makes the offer even more valuable is that His Son Jesus is not worthy of death because He is sinless, guiltless, and perfect!

Considering this, because God's offer is the same for each and every person, everyone is of equal value in God's eyes. So valuable, He is willing to pay the highest price for your redemption, your buy back, regardless of what you've done or what your sins are. The question is, do you accept the offer? Your acceptance is sealed with your surrender and subsequent obedience to Him. Your willingness to be one of His means you are willing to live for the One who died for you. Are you ready to sell out?


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