When the economy goes down the drain, people often turn to the thrift stores to save money. Why not look them over and see if you can save money buying used furniture, “experienced” or re-cycled clothing. Several of us are right now wearing a shirt or other garment that was once worn by someone else.
Shortly before the turn of this last century it was announced that a special sale/auction was to occur with some possessions of the John Kennedy family to be on the “block.” You will not be surprised to find that their used golf clubs, ashtrays, clothing and jewelry were sold – not at bargain prices, but for “big bucks.”
Some may have thought they were getting bargains, but that’s not the way it looked to most of us. An old family string of fake pearls (currently selling for $45) was auctioned for – are you ready for this – $211,500. Two sets of JFK’s old golf clubs sold for over a million dollars. Ashtrays with Jacqueline’s initials, JBK, sold for $37,500. Some garage sale, eh?
It is said that the value of any object depends upon what someone is willing to pay for it. It was estimated that the entire collection of the Kennedy family possessions brought in over $30 million dollars, though even the most generous estimates indicated the true value was much less than half a million. The items were of more value because of their ownership, and because the Kennedy family was so respected by the general public.
That same principle, determining something’s worth by means of discovering what someone else is willing to pay for it, helps us see just how valuable we are to the God of heaven, the Creator of the universe.
Have you ever wondered why God would give His only Son to redeem us from sin and Satan? If you have been thinking you are of little value to anyone – think again. If you have decided no one cares if you live or die – think again. Your worth to God is seen in the price He was willing to pay for your redemption.
The century in which our Lord came to earth was characterized by a form of slavery that completely dominated the daily lives of all of its victims. It has been estimated that there were at least sixty million slaves at that time. To redeem one’s self from slavery was a virtual impossibility, for they had no way to accumulate sufficient funds to redeem themselves. On occasion some free person might pay for a slave’s freedom, and so “redemption” became the sweetest word for so many. They longed to be free, but for most it was impossible.
It is time now to go to the beautiful passage found in 1 Peter 1:18-19:
“You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” NKJV
Israel had been captives before, but the “slavery” under which they were suffering now was of the spirit, not the flesh. How could they be freed from that slavery of mind and body that is called SIN?
They could not redeem themselves, for there was no way for them to gain their freedom. Only Jesus could redeem them, and that is exactly what He came to do. He paid the highest price ever paid for anyone’s redemption. Paul wrote to Christians in Rome:
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:7-8.
Imagine yourself in chains at a local slave auction in the first century. Other slaves are being sold every minute, and you are next. You long for someone to care enough about you and your well being that they would pay for your freedom, but that is highly unlikely. Then someone who thinks you are worth saving comes along and is willing to have you as their own “peculiar possession.” But the price is high; too high, you think. To your amazement, that person pays for your freedom with the life of his own son! That is the picture drawn in the New Testament, and that is the reason John 3:16 is so well remembered:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
But wait – the story is not over. What if that story had really happened to you, that you had been freed by the life of the other man’s son? Would you then casually walk away from that one who had done such a remarkable deed on your behalf, showing no gratitude? Would you not then be the willing servant of that one who had given you your freedom? Again we see the Bible addressing this subject:
“God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin you became slaves of righteousness for holiness,” Romans 6:17-18.
Is it any wonder that it is called the Greatest Story Ever Told? You and I are worth
far more than an old set of golf clubs or a dozen ashtrays. Let us then live for the One who died for us!
