As people, we usually think either too much or too little of ourselves. I doubt we often get it right the way God sees it. So, what is your real value? I believe I can help you find the answer. Even a seasoned Christian may find this answer surprisingly simple.
Let’s think about an old, very run-down house. It's near total collapse. The house--what's left of it--is small and sits on an overgrown lot. It’s not a pretty sight. Someone might even pay you to take it off their hands.
Now imagine that the old, run-down house was where a young girl was born and raised many years before. The young girl grew up, had children and then grandchildren, one of whom became a very wealthy man. That wealthy man adored his grandmother, now deceased. He decides for sentimental reasons to go back and purchase that house, preserving it in memory of his grandmother.
He doesn’t really care whether it’s run-down or whether it serves a practical purpose. He doesn’t care about the value an appraiser says it has. He doesn't care about the neighborhood’s other sales.
Let’s think about an old, very run-down house. It's near total collapse. The house--what's left of it--is small and sits on an overgrown lot. It’s not a pretty sight. Someone might even pay you to take it off their hands.
Now imagine that the old, run-down house was where a young girl was born and raised many years before. The young girl grew up, had children and then grandchildren, one of whom became a very wealthy man. That wealthy man adored his grandmother, now deceased. He decides for sentimental reasons to go back and purchase that house, preserving it in memory of his grandmother.
He doesn’t really care whether it’s run-down or whether it serves a practical purpose. He doesn’t care about the value an appraiser says it has. He doesn't care about the neighborhood’s other sales.
He DOES care about the value that house has to his heart. So, he decides to pay way, way too much for it.
The value of that house is now determined by one thing and one thing only -- the price he pays for it. If He pays one thousand dollars for it, the value of that house is now one thousand dollars. If He pays a million dollars for it, the value of that house is now a million dollars. So, the buyer decides what he will pay. He will then follow through on that decision.
When it comes to the value of that house, nothing else counts. Another thing--once he has bought the house, he will do whatever it takes to conform it to the image he holds dear in his heart. So, now what is the value of that house?
The house’s value is whatever the buyer was willing to pay, whether fixed up or not.
Daydream with me for a moment. The Lord set all of this creation up. He knew humanity would fall. He set up the way He would redeem us. He set up what He would do with us afterwards. He could have set up our redemption or our future any way that He wanted.
He could have chosen to redeem us with one of His sandals. He’d take His sandal off, throw it to earth, and BOOM, we’d all be purchased by the sacrifice of His sandal. But what would our value be when we got to heaven? We’d have the same value as that sandal. Now I imagine that God’s sandals are worth a lot, but did He choose to have an eternity's worth of little sandals in His closet? No!
Instead of a sandal, He could have chosen to redeem us with one of His angels. He’d call the angel, throw him to earth, and BOOM, we’d all be purchased by the sacrifice of that angel. But what would our value be when we got to heaven? We’d have the same value as that angel because He paid for us with that angel. Now I imagine that God’s angels are worth a lot, but it seems He didn’t want us to be angels.
Scripture is clear. He wants us to be Sons and Daughters, individuals with a special relationship to Him, a relationship not even held by the most beautiful of His sandals or the mightiest of His holy angels. That’s why He chose to pay for you with His own Son, Jesus Christ. With the sacrifice of His life, Jesus Christ became your purchase price. And in choosing to pay with Jesus, the Buyer has spoken.
He fully knows your condition. He knows all about your past and your present, your problems and your issues, including the ones you can’t seem to get past and even the ones you don't see yet.
The house’s value is whatever the buyer was willing to pay, whether fixed up or not.
Daydream with me for a moment. The Lord set all of this creation up. He knew humanity would fall. He set up the way He would redeem us. He set up what He would do with us afterwards. He could have set up our redemption or our future any way that He wanted.
He could have chosen to redeem us with one of His sandals. He’d take His sandal off, throw it to earth, and BOOM, we’d all be purchased by the sacrifice of His sandal. But what would our value be when we got to heaven? We’d have the same value as that sandal. Now I imagine that God’s sandals are worth a lot, but did He choose to have an eternity's worth of little sandals in His closet? No!
Instead of a sandal, He could have chosen to redeem us with one of His angels. He’d call the angel, throw him to earth, and BOOM, we’d all be purchased by the sacrifice of that angel. But what would our value be when we got to heaven? We’d have the same value as that angel because He paid for us with that angel. Now I imagine that God’s angels are worth a lot, but it seems He didn’t want us to be angels.
Scripture is clear. He wants us to be Sons and Daughters, individuals with a special relationship to Him, a relationship not even held by the most beautiful of His sandals or the mightiest of His holy angels. That’s why He chose to pay for you with His own Son, Jesus Christ. With the sacrifice of His life, Jesus Christ became your purchase price. And in choosing to pay with Jesus, the Buyer has spoken.
He fully knows your condition. He knows all about your past and your present, your problems and your issues, including the ones you can’t seem to get past and even the ones you don't see yet.
Your value in His eyes has nothing to do with any of that. It has nothing to do with whether you’re a great worker in mint condition or you’re simply crumpled and dirty and in the gutter.
No matter how you’ve sinned and fallen short, your value in His eyes has nothing to do with your usefulness, your location, your good deeds, your successes, your failures and misdeeds, or any other measure that may have been stamped on you by this life, by others, or even by yourself.
Your value in His eyes is determined solely by what He chose to pay for you.
Nothing can change or even cast a shadow on that value. When you really, really mess up, does that change how much Jesus paid for you? No, it doesn’t!
He paid what He paid. And it’s already been done.
When you do really, really well--by that I mean that you’ve been on a truly impressive run--does that add to the value Jesus paid for you? No, it doesn’t!
He paid what He paid. It’s already been done.
He paid what He chose to pay and you can’t change it. Period, end of story. You may actually be all that and a bag of chips, or you just may be a bag of chips. It doesn't matter. Your value in God's eyes was set by His choice to pay for you with His Son. Get it?
This is really important, life-changing important, so let’s say it again. The discussion begins and ends with “What did He pay for you?” There’s nothing you can do to add to, take away from, or change what and how much He chose to pay.
You can accept it or reject it, but you can’t change it. No matter how wrinkled, torn, and dirty you are or no matter how pristine and better than the next person you are, you can’t add to what He paid for you and you can’t take away from what He paid for you. Your value is what He chose to pay for you.
He paid what He paid. The Buyer has spoken!
That’s an idea that’s so radical that it may sound like heresy, but it’s not. It is what it is. In fact, it’s at the heart of the Gospel.
If you can place a value on Jesus’ sacrifice, you can place a value on yourself. If you can place a value on how much it cost the Father to send His Son, then you can measure your value in His eyes. That’s what your Buyer chose to pay for you and that’s what your value is to Him.
No matter how you’ve sinned and fallen short, your value in His eyes has nothing to do with your usefulness, your location, your good deeds, your successes, your failures and misdeeds, or any other measure that may have been stamped on you by this life, by others, or even by yourself.
Your value in His eyes is determined solely by what He chose to pay for you.
Nothing can change or even cast a shadow on that value. When you really, really mess up, does that change how much Jesus paid for you? No, it doesn’t!
He paid what He paid. And it’s already been done.
When you do really, really well--by that I mean that you’ve been on a truly impressive run--does that add to the value Jesus paid for you? No, it doesn’t!
He paid what He paid. It’s already been done.
He paid what He chose to pay and you can’t change it. Period, end of story. You may actually be all that and a bag of chips, or you just may be a bag of chips. It doesn't matter. Your value in God's eyes was set by His choice to pay for you with His Son. Get it?
This is really important, life-changing important, so let’s say it again. The discussion begins and ends with “What did He pay for you?” There’s nothing you can do to add to, take away from, or change what and how much He chose to pay.
You can accept it or reject it, but you can’t change it. No matter how wrinkled, torn, and dirty you are or no matter how pristine and better than the next person you are, you can’t add to what He paid for you and you can’t take away from what He paid for you. Your value is what He chose to pay for you.
He paid what He paid. The Buyer has spoken!
That’s an idea that’s so radical that it may sound like heresy, but it’s not. It is what it is. In fact, it’s at the heart of the Gospel.
If you can place a value on Jesus’ sacrifice, you can place a value on yourself. If you can place a value on how much it cost the Father to send His Son, then you can measure your value in His eyes. That’s what your Buyer chose to pay for you and that’s what your value is to Him.
Think how much He must love you! Yes, you! And you can't add to or take away from what He paid. It's already been done. You can accept it or reject it, but you can't change it.
God has been pursuing you for a very long time. By paying what He paid, the Buyer has spoken! The big question is whether you’ll surrender to Him, ask His forgiveness, accept what He chose to pay for you, and trust Him to have His way as He transforms your life.
You can try to create your own value by living a really good life, but we both know that doesn’t get you nearly far enough.
Trying to establish your own your own righteousness through good works says something else, too. It says that you reject what Jesus Christ did for you. It says that you really don't trust that what He did on the Cross was enough. It says you really don't want what our vibrantly alive Lord wants to change and do in you. And, just a layer below that, it says that you're harboring stuff not yet surrendered to Him.
When I was almost 19 (a long time ago!), some teenagers came up to me and said, “Hey, Man, do you want to meet Jesus?” I didn't know the Gospel, but I'd seen the ingrained ugliness of my life and knew I couldn’t fix it. Meeting Jesus seemed like a great idea, so I said Yes.
They led me through a simple prayer that changed me and is still changing me. I don’t remember the exact words, but here’s something similar that you may want to pray. The wording isn’t official; it’s whether you mean it that counts.
“Heavenly Father, I believe that your Son, Jesus, paid the full price for my sins through His death on the cross. I believe that He has risen from the dead and is able to make my life new. I can't fix myself, so I give ownership of myself -- all of me and everything about me -- to Jesus and to you, the One who truly loves me. Please forgive all my sins and cleanse me from whatever isn't right with you. Come live your life in me! Have your way with me. Don't leave me the way you find me now."
And now pray this:
"Father, establish your life in my very core. Change me from the inside out so that everything about me reflects your rule and your character. Turn me into the person You lovingly dream about me being. I want to know You and bring your heart joy! I trust you to do this. Thank you, Lord! In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
God has been pursuing you for a very long time. By paying what He paid, the Buyer has spoken! The big question is whether you’ll surrender to Him, ask His forgiveness, accept what He chose to pay for you, and trust Him to have His way as He transforms your life.
You can try to create your own value by living a really good life, but we both know that doesn’t get you nearly far enough.
Trying to establish your own your own righteousness through good works says something else, too. It says that you reject what Jesus Christ did for you. It says that you really don't trust that what He did on the Cross was enough. It says you really don't want what our vibrantly alive Lord wants to change and do in you. And, just a layer below that, it says that you're harboring stuff not yet surrendered to Him.
When I was almost 19 (a long time ago!), some teenagers came up to me and said, “Hey, Man, do you want to meet Jesus?” I didn't know the Gospel, but I'd seen the ingrained ugliness of my life and knew I couldn’t fix it. Meeting Jesus seemed like a great idea, so I said Yes.
They led me through a simple prayer that changed me and is still changing me. I don’t remember the exact words, but here’s something similar that you may want to pray. The wording isn’t official; it’s whether you mean it that counts.
“Heavenly Father, I believe that your Son, Jesus, paid the full price for my sins through His death on the cross. I believe that He has risen from the dead and is able to make my life new. I can't fix myself, so I give ownership of myself -- all of me and everything about me -- to Jesus and to you, the One who truly loves me. Please forgive all my sins and cleanse me from whatever isn't right with you. Come live your life in me! Have your way with me. Don't leave me the way you find me now."
And now pray this:
"Father, establish your life in my very core. Change me from the inside out so that everything about me reflects your rule and your character. Turn me into the person You lovingly dream about me being. I want to know You and bring your heart joy! I trust you to do this. Thank you, Lord! In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
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