You Were Bought at a Price

The other day I remembered something my Dad preached about, years ago at our old church during the Lord's supper.  He spoke on the topic that our salvation wasn't free--we were bought at a price. I thought this would serve as a great reminder to us all. :) 

It's amazing to think that our salvation didn't come cheaply.  At any moment God could have chosen to "lower the price" instead of sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins...

(Marking us down to 50% off, or buy 1 get 2 free, etc........ ;) 

But He didn't!  Each and every individual Christian was bought at the same price.  And a very expensive price that was! 

That price was the blood of Jesus Christ.

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For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.  1 Peter 1:18-20

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How differently things would have turned out had the Lord decided that the blood of his Son was too high a price to pay...  Nothing would be the same.

 

You are not your own;

you were bought at a price.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Praise the Lord all the earth! :)

Our God is in the Business of Completing What He Starts!

You might have guessed it; my Dad preached last night. This is my interpretation of the sermon just from memory and checking my notes. Yes, I always take notes during sermons! Don't you? :)


"You were bought at a price." 1 Corinthians 6:20

Alright, you know how when you buy something really expensive like, say, a Wii (for lack of a better example), just to realize the game console doesn't come with a second remote? So, then not only do you have to go buy another remote, but you have to buy a whole other game in order to get the remote to come with it. ...Or we can use another example. Think about buying a digital camera. You can't just buy the camera and... vwwala! You have a camera! No, you have to buy the memory card, the battery, and so on. Anyway, my point is not to bash Wii games and digital cameras! My point is that the world is full of these different examples, yet it's all very contrary to the character of God.


Scripture is full of examples where God did something and carried it out to completion. Let's think about it. There's the Israelites. The Lord didn't just choose to use a few of them when He called them out of Egypt. He had Moses lead ALL of them out of Egypt. Then think about when God parted the Red Sea. He let them walk across on DRY ground. Not just damp or muddy, but dry! Here's another example: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When they were thrown into the fiery furnace they didn't come out with even a minor burn. They weren't harmed at all, even when the guards who came anywhere near the furnace fell over dead just from the heat! Another: Daniel in the lions' den. God didn't just dull the lions' teeth, or only keep them from pouncing on Daniel! :) He shut their mouths. There are still many, many more examples that I'm sure you know, and then there's the biggest example of all: Christ hanging on the cross. His last words? "It is finished!"


God finishes what He starts! The Bible mentions Him as the Author and Finisher of our faith. When we were bought at a price, God didn't just buy one little part of us and leave the other for our own sinful pleasure. He bought the whole package! Let's look at Hebrews 7:25a: "Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through him..." God's desire is to have you--completely! The problem that we so often find ourselves with today, is the fact that we may not be giving God our complete "package". We may not have completely submitted our all to Him. Which, at times, we may not even realize we're doing! I am very guilty of this myself. The thing is, we have to be careful to examine ourselves. What is it we are witholding from God and how do we bring whatever it is under the submission of Christ? I believe it is by simply giving it to God through prayer, and then allowing Him to take control of that thing. Just think about what God can do with a Church that is completely submissive to the will of the Lord and has given every aspect of their lives over to Him! With man it is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible!


"Let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:4)


I want to encourage you to sing this song to the Lord right now! It's a familiar hymn, I'm sure. If you don't know how it goes, then you can simply say it as a prayer unto God. I suggest singing all the verses first, and the chorus at the end.

All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live

All to Jesus I surrender

Humbly at His feet I bow

Worldly pleasures all forsaken

Take me, Jesus, take me now

All to Jesus I surrender

Make me, Savior, wholly Thine

Let me feel the Holy Spirit

Truly know Thy pow'r divine

All to Jesus I surrender

Lord I give myself to Thee

Fill me with Thy love and power

Let Thy blessing fall on me

I surrender all!

I surrender all!

All to Thee, my blessed Savior!

I surrender all!

(Repeat as necessary! :))

Now, we are left with this promise: "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

Our God is in the Business of Breathing Life Into Dead Things!

"The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" Ezekiel 37:1-3a

As we all know, so many times it can be easy for our spiritual lives to "dry up". A couple of weeks ago my Dad preached a sermon about this type of thing, as an encouragement not to become a lifeless, dry, dead bone! :) (He actually brought a bone he found out in the pasture that he trips over each time he feeds the chickens to use as an example! He felt like that was confirmation that the Lord wanted him to speak on this topic!) Anyway, he mentioned how many times we find ourselves becoming discouraged and downhearted by our daily "duties", tasks, or things we know we need to get accomplished but we just don't feel the desire to do it, which then has a major effect on our spiritual lives and relationships with the Lord. We may begin feeling like "we just have to" as opposed to "I want to" in a lot of situations. He quoted the verse in Psalm 51:12b which says, "Sustain me with a willing spirit." What a wonderful prayer we can pray! That the Lord would sustain us with willing spirits to accomplish His purposes through us. So many times in the Bible examples are given where God breathes life back into something lifeless. There are at least 10 examples of resurrections in Scripture, some including Lazarus, Jairus' daughter, and Jesus, of course! Though, there are many more. It's amazing that God chooses to use us to help accomplish His will. It's not in our own strength or capabilities that we can boast, because it is God's strength in us that helps to fulfill His mighty plan. The children's lesson at church tonight was on "Be Still and Know That I am Your Strength--a Way to Accomplish God's Will". That's really an awesome realization! When we're feeling upset, discouraged, or just plain lifeless, we can call on the Lord to comfort and protect us. He will strengthen us in ways we never thought possible. And it's all for His glorification! So... when you're feeling alone, depressed, or "burnt out" in life or a certain area in your life, be sure to seek the Lord and pray for His strength to be made perfect in you. He is a faithful God! And secondly, you may ask yourself this question: Can these bones live? I pray you will find this answer:

"The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’” Ezekiel 37:3b-14

(I can't help but notice that God chose to use the man to prophesy to these bones, in a situation where He was fully able of handling it all on His own. Just remember, He takes pleasure in using His servants! May we be filled with willing spirits!)