Paid with a Price
This past week we released a new designed tee printed with the words "bought with a price". Here's a picture of the new tee in case you missed it!
You may have noticed that I decided to title this study "Paid with a price" instead of the term "bought with a price" like is on the new tee. This was done with intention. When you wear the new tee, I want you and others to see the message that you were bought with a price. But the entire concept is not just that you were bought with a price but that we all were bought with a hefty price. And the person who paid that price was the son of God. I want to delve into what exactly what that means for each of us and how it resulted in our salvation being bought for us.
The verse that inspired this design was 1 Corinthians 6:20. The verse reads:
"For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body"
We have all heard the term "pay the price" either in TV shows and movies, or for some of us, when we were being punished by our parents. You did xyz and now you will have to pay the price for your actions. This phrase isn't a new or foreign term at all and it isn't something that had original Biblical ties.
When you look up what it means to "pay the price" as a figurative term as it is most often used, you will see that it means to "to suffer the consequences of someone's actions".
"to suffer the consequences of someone's actions"
Like the example I used before, you may have been warned that you will have to pay the price for your actions when you were punished as a child. But that isn't the full meaning of paying the price. The price being paid, by definition, doesn't mean that the offender has to pay- just that someone has to pay. And not only that someone has to pay, but that they should suffer.
We were born sinners, offenders of trespasses we could not pay for. Someone had to "suffer the consequences of someone's actions". That someone was King Jesus. God loved us so much that He provided a way for us to receive salvation.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life". John 3:16
I'm sure you know well the story of Jesus' crucifixion, but I want to highlight an excerpt here from the book of Matthew, chapter 27.
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is Jesus, the king of the jews.
38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Did you hear all the suffering in that passage? Jesus not only suffered physically, but was mentally tormented as well. Jesus suffered the consequences of your actions and my actions that day at the cross, thousands of years before we were ever born. Because He already knew us, the things we would need forgiven for, His love for us, and the salvation He wanted extended to us.
What happens at the grocery store once you pay for your food? You get to leave the store with your food because you already bought it for the price it was listed at on the store shelves.
Jesus so badly wanted us to have the opportunity of salvation, to be able to leave this world with the treasure He laid up for us that He was willing to buy our salvation for the price of His own suffering.
It is also so important to note that Jesus paid with a price and our salvation was bought with a price, not for a price. "For" is an opposition word, placing one party above the other, while the word "with" is a word of inclusion. Jesus did not buy our salvation simply in exchange for His life, He paid the price of our salvation with His life, to later be resurrected and live with us again someday in Heaven. Yes, Jesus suffered and paid for our actions with a price that would later reunite us with Him in eternity.
The good news is, you have already been bought. Your salvation has been paid by Jesus. There is nothing else we can do to earn salvation, but we should understand and be grateful for the price that was already paid for us. There is nothing we have done to deserve our debts to be paid, yet they were. Because of this, we should be so joyful every day and shout the Lord's praises to everyone we meet- that is the good news. That you and I were sinners, but Jesus loved us so that He paid for our Salvation with His life that we might spend eternity with Him. Pretty good news, right? Now go let others know- that you both were bought with a price.
