WHAT IS THE COST?

Sometimes, I’ll be at a store and I’ll see something that I want, but there is no price tag on it, so I’ll say “I don’t see a price tag, so it must be free!” But, of course, I know it’s not free; besides, nothing in life is free, right? In this day and age (especially with the economy in shambles) we’re all looking for a bargain, and if it’s free, well, that’s even better.

If you are a Christian, have you ever stopped to think, I mean really think about what it cost Jesus to redeem you? The other day, I heard the song “Here I Am to Worship” by Chris Tomlin and the song begins with the words “Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness.” That got me to thinking about what Jesus; the Prince of Heaven had to give up. The second verse says “Humbly you came to the earth you created.” Can you imagine that? The CREATOR of everything humbly came to earth! The One that Heaven revolves around, the Lamb of God gave up everything and became like us, weak and frail. Why would He do that? Have you ever wondered about that, why?

We all know the verse John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” But how can anyone, even God love the world so much that He would send His one and only Son to die for it and how could Jesus love His creation so much that He would die for it? Not only did He just die, but He was betrayed by one of His own, He was beaten to a bloody pulp (within an inch of His life) and knowing the horrible death that was before Him, He was made to carry the cross that He would die on.

When I hear on the news that someone will be executed tomorrow night at 6:00PM (for instance) I can’t help but think about that person and what is going through his mind. What would I think about if I knew that my life would be taken from me at an exact time? Yet, Jesus knew before He even created anything, that He would have to leave Heaven which 1 Corinthians 2:9 tells us "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" To come here, to earth, to die!

Chris continues in his song “I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.” I have a plaque in my study that says “When He was on the Cross, I was on His Mind.” We’re told in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” and in John 15:15 Jesus tells us “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” So now I know. Jesus died for me because He had the greatest love imaginable and I am His friend, but I still don’t understand it. We’ll never fully understand why He would sacrifice Himself for us, except that He loved us so much!

This takes us full circle. I could do nothing to save myself from being eternally separated from God, but because He loved me first, before I ever even heard of Jesus, He died for me. So, the phrase, nothing in life is free, is not true. The gift of salvation is free.....all you have to do is accept it.