I Want This One – How Much?

by László Balogh

               

               What is value? How much is something worth? It’s relative, isn’t it? When something is rare or precious, it’s usually worth a lot. When it’s easily accessible, you don’t value it much. Commodity prices show this principle clearly:

                “As late as 1880, South America and the Caribbean accounted for nearly all of world cocoa production. But around the same time, cultivation was beginning to spread to European colonies in Africa. Thanks in large part to mounds of new African supply, world production rose from 115,000 tons to 351,000 tons between 1900 and 1916. As a result, from 1907, cocoa prices drifted downwards…” (source: winton.com) 

               Value can also be subjective. Somebody could be selling a beat-up old car and in your opinion they’re asking a lot for it. Then someone comes along, looks at the car and surprisingly, this model was the first car they ever owned. All the sweet memories rush to their mind, the fun they had around that time, and all they want now is the car. They know it can be fixed up, the money doesn’t even matter anymore. They pay the price in cash on the spot. No second thoughts. It was worth it!  How interesting this is – to one man it’s a jalopy, to another, a treasure.   

                Sadly, it’s not regarded as such by everyone, but human life should be priceless. Whether believers or unbelievers, most people would agree on this. I personally think we don’t give enough credit to what humans actually are. I know humanity is in a pretty bad shape right now, but I’ll get to my point by the end of this writing, just bear with me for a moment.

               God created mankind in His image and likeness…

                What an awesome thought this is! It’s so normal and regular for us to be humans, because we were born into this. That’s what we’ve always been, we know nothing else. That’s just what it is, nothing special, right? I totally disagree. I think we ought to know that we are the image and likeness of God. We’re not animals, we’re not angels, but something much more. Our race – the human race – is the image of God. And before anybody would think that, no, I’m not on some New Age trip. I didn’t say “we are god”. We are the image of God – the Scripture says so. It’s awesome to be human. It’s an honor to be a human.

                Pretty much in the beginning, because of a bad choice, humanity got cut off of the life of God. We still remained the image of God, but without the nature of God inside of us. That should explain the mayhem the world has been in ever since. But God never lost sight of who we were. He always saw sons and daughters – His image and likeness – that somehow had to be redeemed. Somehow they had to be bought back, no matter the price. You usually value something at the price you’re willing to pay. If it’s not worth it to you, you won’t buy it. But if it is, you do. Even if it costs you a lot.

               God was willing to pay the life of His Son for you…

 

                You are worth the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You were valued at that price! That’s your worth. Scripture confirms, that “we were bought with a price” and that “the man Christ Jesus…gave himself as a ransom for all”. God didn’t force Jesus against his will. He was given a choice and he was willing to pay it. This should really make us realize what an honor it is to be a human, and how valuable and precious we are to God. Jesus was willing to do this when humanity was still in its state of being separated from God. We fully receive the nature of God back into us, when we accept Jesus’ invitation. God prepared a feast for us, Jesus sent out the invitation, but what if nobody comes to eat? The heavy price God and Jesus paid would have all been in vain, if nobody had accepted the sacrifice. This is how far God was willing to go to save humanity. This reveals our true value. But thankfully throughout the ages people have turned to Christ, and the sacrifice paid off. God was finally able to gain lost sons and daughters back to Himself.

               And here comes the best part. I am now going to provide some substance to these words, because empty words mean nothing.

 

               A person infused with the Spirit of God literally becomes a new type of human being.

               Paul in his letter to the Romans wrote that those who accept God are “…predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s son…” Those who accepted Jesus as their Savior, have unavoidably set themselves on the path of becoming like Jesus. Again, I’m not on a New Age trip. We will never be the Christ, the only begotten Son, but we can be like Him. Scripture says so. It’s time for Christians to understand what it means to be a Christian. And it’s time for people to see how much value God has placed in us. Imagine a world where people act, talk and love like Jesus. This will end all the chaos, nothing else will do. God didn’t only pay the price, but He also threw in a bunch of extra added value. In the words of the Apostle Paul:

 

     “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

All things, means all things. That’s a lot of value…