How Much Do You Think You’re Worth?

Posted on Mar 26, 2019 Topic : Men's Christian Living
Posted by : Skip Heitzig

You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or 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. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

The world can be ruthless when it comes to the value it places on a human being. We’ve all experienced it: A person’s worth is gauged by outward beauty, personal wealth, accomplishment, or status. That’s why we so often play the comparison game and assign value to ourselves based on the perceived value of other people. The result either shortchanges us or the person we’re comparing ourselves to.

But how does God value us? He looks at us through a totally different lens. For one, He sees you as priceless—like a fine treasure.

The key word of this short passage from 1 Peter is redeem, which means “to set free by paying a price.” In the first century, this term typically referred to buying a slave in the marketplace. It also sometimes meant paying money to set free a prisoner of war. In both cases, the fact that a price was paid showed that the particular slave or prisoner being ransomed was highly valued. Thus redemption infers value.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and your Beholder sees you as beautiful!

Your value as a human being comes from the fact that God loves you. He was willing to pay the highest price possible to buy you out of your bondage, your POW status as a slave of sin. In God’s eyes, you are worth the very lifeblood of His Son. He didn’t lowball the worth of your soul; He paid the ultimate price. You cost everything to Him, and He was willing to pay it. Many Christians have a hard time believing that. I pray your eyes are opened to the greatness of your value to God.

What makes the blood of Jesus Christ so precious?

First, He is the only person who ever lived a perfect life; He was “without blemish and without spot.” A blemish is an inherent defect, while a spot is an acquired defect. Christ was not born in sin, nor did He commit a sin.

The second reason His blood is so precious is because it’s the only antidote to the sin virus we’re all infected with. As 1 John 1:7 says, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Bleach may remove everyday stains on your clothing, but the only way to get rid of sin stains is with the blood of God’s Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Do you remember what lambs were used for in the Old Testament? Substitution—a lamb died so that you wouldn’t have to. This goes all the way back to when Adam and Eve blew it in Genesis 3: God took the skin of an animal—many scholars believe it was a lamb—and covered them with it. In that case, it was one lamb for one person. At the first Passover in Egypt, the children of Israel took the blood of a lamb and put it on the lintels and doorpost of their homes. In that case, it was one lamb for one family.

Later, when the Day of Atonement was established, the high priest would sprinkle the blood of a lamb on the mercy seat in the tabernacle, and all twelve tribes were atoned for—one lamb for one nation.

When Jesus came along in the New Testament, John the Baptist said, “Check it out—it’s the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Now it had become one Lamb for one world—including you and me.

No matter what you think about yourself or what other people say about you, you are valuable to God. Through the Son’s death on the cross, the Father was saying, “You are worth everything, and I gave everything to purchase you for Myself.”

No one is too evil, and no one is too good. We all need redemption—and only His precious blood can make it possible.