1 Peter Chapter 1:18-19
“knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
A few days ago I was reading this verse and it just struck me “Silver or Gold” and then following it mentions the “Precious blood of Christ” – Silver and especially Gold is viewed as so precious to us on earth, it is among the most precious materials on this earth that people will kill for it. But the word “Precious” is not applied to Silver or Gold but the word was used to apply to the blood of Christ.
The blood of our King is far more precious than Silver or Gold, and it was spilled upon this earth. It is by His blood, the blood of Jesus that we are justified and can be saved, it is by His blood that we can stand before God and be viewed as sinless spotless Lambs of Christ just as Jesus himself.
Silver can not redeem us, Gold can not redeem us but God’s blood is precious, life is in the blood of Jesus and it is the blood of the heavenly and greater than any currency but yet it was spilled to purchase us – to set us free. But then I think:
“yet what am I being such a miserable pitiful person that God would redeem me with the most beautiful precious blood of His son Jesus Christ? Seriously I mean what is going on? God sees something so precious in us – in me, that He will die for me on the cross as a sacrifice?”
It is amazing Grace that God sacrificed Himself for us – that if God’s precious blood was spilled to buy us; you and me, and in doing so – that we can now stand before the throne of God and be viewed as precious as the Son of God himself, having been covered in the blood that flowed out of Jesus, the spotless perfect Lamb who covers our sins.
Silver and Gold can corrupt people, and is behind so much corruption. In one selfish act Judas took corruptible Silver to sell our Lord to the Pharisees, who were so corrupt they engineered circumstances that led to the blood of Christ being so brutally spilled. But then amazing Grace and Mercy steps in, because God used the evil situation that led to His death for the greater good and we very much need the sinless precious blood of Christ. The blood that is the result of betrayal ends up washing us clean, all of us for eternity in Him.
I said earlier that on this earth the blood of Jesus is more precious than Silver and Gold. But even more precious is our Lord himself, our eternal God. But in God’s eyes there is something even more precious. The most precious thing is what the blood was spilled to save. It is the Human race, nothing else can come close in the eyes of God, that is why He became one of us, born in the flesh and bled to save us. God chose us and paid by his own blood, but now we need to chose Him. IF we will simply abide in Him.
Addendum:
About a week ago when semi awake I heard a voice say something. I never wrote it down so I don’t recall the precise words but it was
“Will you seek the foolish or will you mold gold”
Now I have not looked up any verses relating to what I heard but a few come to mind. I don’t really know how to take what was said and sometimes I think these messages from God are simply to make us stop and think on what direction we are heading.
But these are my thoughts. God’s ways are not Man’s ways. There are places in the Bible where God clearly indicates he has chosen the foolish things of this earth for His Kingdom. But then the Bible also warns us to not be foolish. To understand what is foolish we need to seek the Lord. If we think about Gold, when we purify Gold we smelt it to remove lots of dross. No matter how hard we try in our own efforts to mold Gold on this earth we will never make something totally pure because only in God can we find anything pure. Whenever we face trials God is refining us preparing us for one day in Heaven when God will smelter us and I very much doubt any of us will be dross free. But Jesus is dross free, out of Him came only the precious blood of Christ along with water. And by His blood our impurities and our sins are now covered. Through His righteous blood is how we can be seen righteous.
To seek riches on this earth is foolish but we should focus on the riches of Heaven which is God. By focusing on Him with all our mind, all our soul and all our heart. Us in Him and Him in us. What more could we want?
If we don’t reach the point of knowing we are pitiful miserable and that nothing good is in us, then we will never reach the point of realising how much God means to us, how much we need the blood of Christ. I know I am pitiful and miserable and not good and I am happy to say this because I know before I go to face Jesus that I am seen as washed clean by the very blood of Him that will judge me. The spotless lamb of Christ who died on the cross. Therefore I am not judged for my sins. Because Jesus bleeds for us.
The words entered my head today “I bleed for you” I thought “yes God but don’t you mean bled not bleed? it is finished? So how can you bleed?” But then I realised victory is God’s but yes indeed Jesus bleeds for us because he bled for us for all eternity. God is outside of time and what happened 2000 years ago is like the now for Him. He shed His Holy blood for all mankind for all generations. That doesn’t mean when we see Him that He will still be physically bleeding. Although we can see His wounds, He has a new Glorious body now. But He will always bleed for us, His blood is eternally sufficient so we will forever be washed clean.
Amen
Leon
All scriptures are taken from the NKJV