Measuring Up, Personal Worth, And Personal Value

Part 1 Of 3

Romans 3:21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, I through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (NIV)

Green Stamps

In the 1950’s, retailers offered S & H Green Stamps. Green stamps were called trading stamps. Depending upon the amount of your purchase, you were given green trading stamps. You would take your stamps home and paste your stamps in special books. Depending upon how you handled your stamps, the stamps could get dirty, greasy, and grimy. After you had collected the stamps, you could go to a redemption center to trade in your books for prizes or merchandise.

The item you received in exchange for your stamp collection depended upon what the stamp company was willing to pay you or give you. Some people saw the stamps as valuable, other people saw the stamps as worthless.

In the same way, two people can look at the same item and see different value. Examples of different value depending upon one’s perception are found in art, rare coins, stocks, and financial securities.

The value of a green stamp booklet depended upon what the redemption center was willing to trade you for the stamps you collected. The value of a human being depends upon the eye of the beholder. How you value yourself depends upon the eye you use when you look at yourself.

About Redemption

Many people, Christians, doubters, and non-Christians have never understood what being redeemed is all about. They don’t understand redemption. Because they don’t understand about being redeemed, they are still in prison, so to speak. The word “redeem” means reclaim or claim again.

When you take an item to a pawn shop you take your item in, they give you a claim ticket, give you your money, and you go away with only a fraction of what the item is really worth. If you want the item back (reclaiming), you take your claim ticket back to the pawn shop with more money in hand than pawn shop gave you in the beginning.

The word “redeem” also means repurchase or purchase a second time. To “redeem” also means “restore” like you restore an old piece of  furniture.

The word “redeem” also means “liberate” or set free from some kind of imprisonment. The word “redeem” also means “being saved from some kind of terrible fate.”

Questions

In God’s eyes, what are you worth?

When we want to do something our way instead of God’s way, do we still have value to God?

Does God understand when we want to go our own way, even though He might not approve?

Can God see past our rebellion?

If we were trading stamps, would God think we were valuable?

If someone tried to trade us in, what would God be willing to pay or give for our life?

A Story About Redemption

A story told by Paul Lee Tan illustrates the meaning of redemption.

When A.J. Gordon was pastor of a church in Boston , the pastor met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?" The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field."

"What are you going to do with them?"

"I'm going to play with them, and then I guess I'll just feed them to an old cat we have at home."

When Gordon offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed,

"Mister, you don't want them, they're just little old wild birds and can't sing very well." Gordon replied,

Pastor Gordon said "I'll give you $2 for the cage and the birds."

"Okay, it's a deal, but you're making a bad bargain." said the boy.

The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ's coming to seek and to save the lost -- paying for them with His own precious blood. "That boy told me the birds were not songsters," said Gordon, "but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, 'Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!"

This message appeared in July, 2009, in the Virtual Church web site at http://www.shepherdscare.net