The Price Paid For You

Roy Blizzard III © 2014

…you are not your own, 20) you are bought with a price… 1Corinthians 19&20

 

In these busy days of wild commercialism we as a nation always seem to be thinking and talking about the value of things. The new car price, how much some new highway project will cost in taxes, a new home price, maybe even a new engagement ring will cost. Every day we ask ourselves about the price of something.

And when we think about the many in heaven, blood bought and righteous, when we think of the mansions in glory and all that God has prepared for those who trust him, we are forced to think about the price. If we think about the New Jerusalem as John did on the Isle of Patmos, shouldn’t we ask ourselves, “What did all this cost Jesus?” He said, “I go to prepare you a place for you.” But what did it cost Jesus to prepare that place? May I reverently say that Jesus paid it in four “Installments”!

Four installments… So what were they?

1)The first installment was his leaving Glory for earth

Jesus existed before the world began. The Angels gathered about him to do his bidding. He was the central figure in Heaven and the highest being in Glory, as he was God. One day he looked down from heaven and saw a world seemingly lost now in sin. His heart went out to that sinful world and the men and women who fell and he turned aside from the songs of the angels, from the glory of heaven and came down to this world to save it from its sinful condition. He had all the Glory and Power, but he emptied himself of that Glory and Power. He made himself of no reputation and he took upon himself the form of a suffering servant and was made in the image and likeness of a man.

When a baby is born today, he is usually born in some spotless retreat or hospital ward. Jesus was born amid the uproar of a Bethlehem stable, crowded with animals. Yes, Jesus was born in a stable with the noise of cows and sheep and goats in his ears and the smell of animals in his nostrils. One night he was up in Glory and the next he was in a barn full of animals. One day he wore the robes of royalty, the next the garb of peasants. There wasn’t any Gradual descent. He made one great leap from the highest to the lowest!

Yes, he came all the way from the throne to the manger that we might go all the way from the manger in our sinful condition to the throne of glory in righteousness. The door of heaven swung outward to let Jesus out in order that it might swing inward to let us in. Yes that first installment of Jesus’ price was his leaving Glory for earth.

2) The second installment was Jesus’ battle and defeat of HaSatan

After Jesus’ Baptism, he went into the wilderness for 40 days and nights. In that time he fasted and prayed and sought God’s will and God’s power for his life. When he came out of the wilderness, HaSatan, the deceiver, the arch enemy of all mankind, met Jesus with three fierce blasts of temptation.

HaSatan first pointed to the stones that lay upon the ground and said to our hungry and tired Savior, “Why not turn these stones into bread?” Jesus’ reply probably stunned HaSatan. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

HaSatan then set Jesus on the pinnacle of the Temple and said to him, “Why not jump from this high point? God will take care of you. The people are watching and you will impress them with your magic power. This will be a shortcut to greatness for you.”

Jesus’ reply again was stunning, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord your God.”

Then lastly, HaSatan took Jesus to the top of a high mount and caused the worlds to pass before his eyes in panoramic view. HaSatan promised all these kingdoms of the world to Jesus if he were to just bow down and worship him for but a minute. Jesus’ final words to HaSatan sealed Jesus’ deal, “Thou shalt worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.”

This same tempter is still on the job today trying to deceive all those who let him. How can we drive him away as Jesus did? If we but ask for help from Jesus we can do all things through Christ who strengthen us! As we are told in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

Do you remember the words of that beautiful hymn, Precious Name?

“Take the Name of Jesus ever, As a shield from every snare; If temptations round you gather, Breathe that holy Name in prayer.”

When we carry the name of Jesus in our hearts and minds and pray to him without ceasing, God is faithful to help us, as God says, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

3) The third installment was Jesus’ lonely life here upon this earth.

If you remember, Jesus said one day in Matthew 8:20 “ The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”

Jesus was born in a rented stable, He preached from a borrowed boat, and was buried in a borrowed tomb! Not only poor in property, but he was poor in his relationships that usually bring us the most happiness.

We don’t see Jesus speaking of his home her on earth. He fed 5,000 men and even more women and children but afterwards he sent the disciples away in a boat and he went out alone into the Mountains to pray. We don’t see relatives telling him to come home and rest or even supporting him often. It may be impossible to measure the loneliness that Jesus felt. When arrested, all his friends fled the scene and abandoned him. One of his students betrayed him for money. One doubted everything he had told them for almost two years and one man he dearly loved cursed and denied ever knowing him!

The Bible says that Jesus came unto his own and his own received him not. The prophets had foretold of his coming. Singers had sung about him in the Psalms. The people had looked forward to his day, but when his day came and he appeared, they failed to even acknowledge him.

Surely that was the hardest of all. If you left your home for a while and came to a place that had awaited your arrival and then no one recognized you or even cared that you were there, surely that would be a tremendous disappointment to you. Jesus however, was also lonely in another way. He lived a perfect life amid imperfect people. This had to be a huge source of loneliness, a loneliness in spiritual connection, which is harder to bear in many ways than any other type of loneliness. But Jesus had to bear this third installment for your salvation!

4) The fourth installment was Jesus’ suffering for us.

a)      We see him yonder in The Garden of Gethsemane. His friends have deserted him and gone to sleep. His foes are out searching for him and crying for his blood. He goes to the garden and falls upon his face and sobs in prayer, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” He was in such terrible agony and suffering within his spirit that he sweat drops of blood. Do you remember the hymn, I Stand Amazed in the Presence?

For me it was in the garden He prayed,
“Not my will, but thine”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

No one ever spent such an hour as Jesus spent in the Garden, but the decision was made, “not my will but thine” and Jesus gladly paid this as a part of the great transaction to redeem you back to God form your sins.

b)      I see him next in a sham trial. This is the most unfair and indecent trial in the court records of the world. He had no time to summon any advocates after being dragged from his place of prayer at about 2 am. They stood him in a corner as his countrymen acted like enemies and swarmed about him. They struck him, spit on him and pronounced judgment upon him for crimes he did not commit.

Have you suffered? Oftentimes, in our suffering we sometimes think Jesus has forsaken us. There is one though who has suffered more than tongue can tell and he can sympathize with you in your suffering.

Do you have troubles? Are clouds hovering about your pathway. Jesus knows all about it. He knows what is hurting you. He promised never to leave you or forsake you. Has Jesus forgotten the turmoil of the early morning betrayal? Has he forgotten his crown of thorns? Has he forgotten the stripes he took for our healing? Has he forgotten being nailed to the cross for you? Not on your life. Jesus will never forget what he has done for you!

c)      Then came Jesus’ death on the cross. This old world has seen some dark days, but it was darkest when Jesus died upon the cross. It was a dark day when untold numbers were swept away in the days of Noah. It was dark days when untold numbers were killed in earthquakes and tsunamis. It was dark days when fires swept through an area and killed scores of people. It was dark days when the Volcanoes have blown their tops and killed whole towns. But, the day was the darkest the world has ever seen when Jesus died upon the cross.

I wish I could describe that day to you, but a thousand words in a thousand human tongues could not bring to your mind the agony and tragic suffering of it all. They took his tired body, bleeding from his scourging; They led him to Calvary with the crossbeam upon his bloody back; They drove large nails through his wrists and feet; They lifted him up upon the tree to the cries and jeers of his own fellow men.

Leaving Glory was not enough

His lonely life upon the earth was not enough

His battle with HaSatan was not enough

His agony in the Garden was not enough

The crown of thorns and the scourging was not enough

No, Jesus had to pay the supreme price and be plunged from life into death that he might lift us from spiritual death into everlasting life!

Oh my friends, we belong to Jesus. “You are not your own, you are bought with a price.”

We are his by every right of purchase in the world. When those nails pierced his wrists, he was buying our hands and their power to work and serve him.

When the nails pierced his feet, he was buying our feet to go and carry his good news to the entire world.

When he died and the spear pierced his side he was buying our hearts and minds with all their power to love and lift and serve God.

Are we His; every bit of us? He died for us all. The question is, do you have the same love for him?

 

Here are some beautiful words from a hymn that describe for us the love of Jesus.

I Saw One Hanging on a Tree

I saw One hanging on a tree, In agony and blood,
Who fixed His languid eyes on me, As near His cross I stood.

Sure, never to my latest breath, Can I forget that look;
It seemed to charge me with His death, Though not a word He spoke.

My conscience felt and owned the guilt, And plunged me in despair,
I saw my sins His blood had spilt, And helped to nail Him there.

A second look He gave, which said, “I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid; I die that thou mayst live.”

O, can it be, upon a tree, The Savior died for me?
My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled, To think He died for me!

About 2100 years ago all the power of the enemy of us all fought against God and man for the control and ownership of our souls. Luckily for us there was one who came saying I will give my life in order to free you from your sinful nature.

You are not on your own. You have been bought with a price and that price was the blood of God!

The final question you have to answer is, “will you come under this blood and be baptized and be free from your sins?”

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