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Introduction:
What are you worth?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Chemistry and Soils our
bodies are made up of the following chemicals and minerals: Ø 65% Oxygen Ø
18%
Carbon Ø
10%
Hydrogen Ø
3%
Nitrogen Ø
1.5%
Calcium Ø
1%
Phosphorous Ø
0.35%
Potassium Ø
0.25%
Sulfur Ø
0.15%
Sodium Ø
0.15%
Chlorine Ø
0.05%
Magnesium Ø
0.0004%
Iron Ø
0.00004%
Iodine
Additionally, our bodies contain trace quantities of
fluorine, silicon, manganese, zinc, copper, aluminum, and arsenic.
When we add to that a study done by the Imperial State Institute
for Nutrition in Tokyo, Japan about the value of your skin, we
learn that to a metallurgist, interested only in the mineral
make-up of your body, you are worth about $4.50.[1]
However, to a black market body parts seller, you are worth
a great deal more. Your heart would be worth $57,000, a kidney is
worth $91,400, a lung would be worth $116,400. That however is
nothing compared to your antibodies worth $7.3 million, your DNA
worth $9.7 million and your bone marrow worth $23 million. All in
all, in the human body chop shop you are worth about $45 million.
Of course, that is completely illegal and doesn’t do you much
good because you have to die to get all that value out of your
body.[2]
You have heard all your life what you are worth to people
around you. Some of you heard, “You are worth a million bucks”
from your parents and peers. Some of you heard, “You ain’t
worth a plug nickel” from them. Sadly, this value was often
presented to you based on how well you measured up to some
standard they had developed for you. So, whether the message was
positive or negative, many of you have a mistaken sense of your
value. If you are like me, you know your performance doesn’t
really measure up to how others view you; therefore many of you
believe you simply aren’t worth much.
You need to remove these fantasy perceptions of your value
and replace them with the real value. You need to replace them
with the value God has placed on you. Matthew
27:54 delineates that real value. God placed a price tag
on your head and said, “You are worth a Son to Me.” The
soldier at the foot of the cross didn’t know why the Son of God
died there, but we do. Matthew
26:28 says Jesus poured out His blood for you for the
remission of your sins. You are worth a Son to God. Discussion: I.
You are worth a Son to God. A.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal
life” (John
3:16, ESV). Just bask in that for a moment. If you are
like me, you sometimes read that without you in that picture of
the world. The world is out there. That is how much God loved the
world out there. That is not true. That is how much God loved the
world with you in it. You were in that world God loved. You were
part of that world for whom God gave His only begotten Son. You
are worth a Son to God. B.
According to Ephesians
1:7, Jesus and His blood were our redemption. That is,
they were the purchase price to free us from our captivity and
slavery. When God delivered Israel from Egypt and allowed them to
escape the death of the first born, He set a redemption price. A
Levite for each first born son (Numbers
3:45). For every first born beyond the number of Levites,
the redemption price was five shekels (Numbers
3:47-49). The life of those first born was redeemed with
five shekels, but yours was redeemed with the blood of Jesus
Christ. You are worth a Son to God. C.
When an Israelite’s family member had become poor and
sold himself into slavery, they could redeem their family member
from that slavery (Leviticus
25:47-52). He calculated how much time of servitude the
family member had until the year of jubilee. Don’t you know the
question then was often, “How much is this
brother/cousin/nephew/uncle worth to me?” The redemption price
showed what the family member was worth. Your redemption price was
Jesus. You are worth a Son to God. D.
Let that sink in for just a moment. What are you worth to
your family? This is where many begin to struggle with so many
issues. In your family, you may have never been worth anything (or
at least it felt that way). Maybe you weren’t worth anything
unless you measured up. Perhaps to be worth anything you had to
make straight A’s, be valedictorian, earn scholarships. Perhaps
to be worth anything you had to be the star athlete, excelling in
football, baseball, basketball, cheerleading. Perhaps to be worth
anything you had to follow the family business or become a doctor
or lawyer. Perhaps to be worth anything you had to go to the
generational alma mater. None of that mattered to God. You
didn’t have to measure up for God to send Jesus. He didn’t
send Jesus because you were smart, athletic, pretty, cool,
successful. He sent Jesus because He loved you just for you. You
are worth a Son to God. II.
You are worth a Son to God despite your sins. A.
If you are like me, you can reconcile all that stuff about
being pretty, fat, smart, cool, successful. The problem is I know
how really bad I am. I know how many sins I’ve committed. I know
that better than any of you. Some of you are like that; you look
at everyone else in this room and know Jesus died for them because
they are such good people. They don’t lust, lie, cheat, steal,
gossip, have outbursts of wrath, drink alcohol, gamble, take
drugs, commit adultery, commit homosexuality, look at pornography.
God sent Jesus for them. He didn’t send Jesus for you, you
think, because you are too much of a sinner. B.
Romans
5:6-8 says
Jesus died for the ungodly. That is, we were not pious and
reverent. Jesus didn’t die because we were spiritual enough. It
says Jesus died while we were still weak. He didn’t die because
we were strong enough. It says Jesus died while we were still
sinners. He didn’t die because we measured up enough. He
didn’t look down and say, “For all of you who make the grade,
pass the final cut, stand out and measure up, I’m sending my
Son.” Jesus died for you, He died for me by virtue of nothing
about us, but about God’s love for us. God loves you. You are
worth a Son to God. C.
Jesus didn’t die for you because you got baptized enough.
He didn’t die for you because you went to church enough. He
didn’t die for you because you got clean enough. He didn’t die
for you because you were sober enough. He didn’t die for you
because you were righteous enough. He died for you because when
God looked through the history of mankind and saw you plodding
through this life, He said, “You are worth a Son to Me.” You
are worth a Son to God. III.
Your neighbor is worth a Son to God. A.
Look at the person sitting to your right and to your left.
Look at the person in front of you and behind you. God did the
same thing for them that He did for you. He sent Jesus to die. I
want you to think for a moment of the best person you know. Think
about how godly and spiritual they are. Think about how much you
think they deserve Jesus, even though you know intellectually they
don’t. Jesus died for them. Now I want you to think of the most
despicable person you can possibly think of. The vilest
sinner—whatever you might put in that category—a drunkard,
homosexual, pedophile, child molester, serial killer, unfaithful
spouse. Jesus died for them. Think of your best friend and your
worst enemy. Think of the people who have done everything to help
you and also the ones who have done everything to hurt you. Jesus
died for them. Think of the person who has caused you the most
heartache; you risked with them and they stomped on you. Jesus
died for them. They are worth a Son to God. B.
I
Corinthians 6:9-11
lists what we consider pretty heinous sins. But Paul said these
people were justified. Jesus died for them. As bad as they were,
they were worth a Son to God. C.
What are these people worth to you? Are they worth giving
up your bitterness over past hurts? Are they worth giving up your
resentment? Are they worth talking to about Jesus? Are they worth
forgiving them the sins they have committed against you and
others? Are they worth your time and devotion to help them grow?
They were worth a Son to God, just like you are worth a Son to
God? What are they worth to you? IV.
What are you worth to you? A.
You are worth a Son to God. What are you worth to you?
Jesus died so you might live eternally. What is your eternal life
worth to you? Matthew
16:24-26 says if you would save your life, you have to
lose it. You need to pick up your cross and follow Jesus. It asks
the question, what will you give in exchange for your soul. God
gave His Son for your soul. Are you willing to give your soul away
for a few minutes pleasure in some sin? Or even in a life of sin? B.
I would like to turn on its head the view we most often
have sacrificing our lives for Jesus. Far too often, far too many
of us (including myself) have viewed it as trying to please God
enough so we could go to heaven. Far too often, we have viewed our
sacrifices and our work as trying to measure up to God’s
standard so we could pass the grade and make the cut into heaven.
Because of that, far too many of us spend our lives praying,
reading our Bibles, attending the assemblies, doing all we can
think of but still saying, “I just don’t know if I’m going
to make it.” Perhaps we learned it from our parents that no
matter what we do, we just aren’t good enough. Let’s face it,
no matter what we do, we aren’t good enough to go to heaven. If
we go to heaven, it is going to be because God is good, not
because we are. But we are worth a Son to God. He wants us in
heaven so badly, He gave His Son to get us there. He wants you in
heaven so badly, He gave His Son to get you there.
The things we read about sacrificing in the Bible and the
things we read about pursuing righteousness in the Bible are not
there because God was saying, “Here is how you measure up to my
rules so you can go to heaven.”
He was saying, “I’m shining the light on how you can be
set free from sin, so you can go to heaven.” C.
God has not capriciously made up rules. All of the
principles we strive to follow in Scripture are there not to make
going to heaven a hard task for us, but to make going to heaven
easier for us. He didn’t say, “Don’t forsake the assembling
of yourselves together” (Hebrews
10:25) to cause a bind on your time. He said that because
pursuing that will help you go to heaven. God didn’t tell us to
pray without ceasing (I
Thessalonians 5:17), to establish some rule of daily
prayer so we could measure up. He said that because prayer helps
us go to heaven. He didn’t say put away malice, wrath,
bitterness and resentment but be kind and tender-hearted (Ephesians
4:31-32) because He was establishing rules of conduct for
our relationships to which we needed to measure up. He said that
because malice, bitterness and resentment trap us in mental states
that keep us locked in our sins and keep us from growing in His
grace and will doom us to eternal torment. Surrendering those
things will free us to walk in righteousness and help us go to
heaven. We won’t go to heaven because we have measured up to
God’s rules, we will go to heaven when we have surrendered our
lives to God’s will realizing only by doing that will we gain
the righteousness we so desperately need and want. D.
Thus the question comes down, what are you worth to you?
Are you worth surrendering yourself? You were worth a Son to God.
Are you worth a life to yourself? Galatians
2:20 describes what this looks like, being crucified with
Christ and simply doing what He wants. While we so desperately
hang on to the sins and improper attitudes in our life, bartering
with God over rules and regulations we miss the point. Quit trying
to measure up. Quit trying to obey your way into heaven. You
can’t do it. You won’t make it if that is your approach.
Instead, surrender you will and life to God. You were worth a Son
to God. Is God worth your life to you? Conclusion: In Acts 2:38, Peter said those who repent and are baptized will be saved. This is not our first step of obedience in a long line of steps making us measure up to go to heaven. This is the first step of surrender in a life of surrender which will free you from the sins that are keeping you out of heaven. You are worth a Son to God. What are you worth to you?
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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