When I think about how the value of the gospel measures up to the value of a full bank account, I begin to question the allegedly glorious life that is amounted to by the dollar signs that define the American Dream. Here’s some comparison and contrast: money first, Jesus second.
I can’t buy forgiveness, but it was purchased for me.
I can’t buy unconditional validation, but it was purchased for me—at the highest cost and from the Greatest One.
I can’t buy deliverance from sin, but was I bought out of it.
I can’t buy grace, but because justice was fully paid for, I get the full benefits of grace.
I can’t buy love; but Love bought me.
I can’t buy sonship, but Love adopted me.
I can’t buy unwavering satisfaction, but I was bought to be reconciled with its Source.
I can’t buy contentedness, but the price was paid so that I could “rejoice and be content in all circumstances”.
I can’t buy rest, but because the price was paid under the banner of “It is finished”, I no longer have to strenuously work to gain right standing with God; rather, my work is fueled by my rest.
I can’t buy an unconditional, un-circumstantial joy; but my debt was paid unconditionally and my spiritual account before God is irreplaceably full.
I can’t buy a position in heaven, but You paid for my sin so that I could stand in your position of favor.
I can’t pay for others to come to salvation, but because God relinquished all He had for me, how can I not selflessly use all I have to help others know Him?
Justice is the price paid; grace is the reward given.
Living in light of the greater, eternal, unconditional, permanent value of God’s gift to us instead of the inferior, temporary, conditional, semi-fulfilling value of money—will truly empower us to give and be generous in heart and in deed.
Living in light of the greatest gift of God and the highest price He paid for us when we were undeserving compels us to graciously give to others—not out of compulsion, but from the heart. Why? Because God didn’t give us His Son out of compulsion, but out of sheer love (Jn 3:16); and so likewise, we give because He first gave to us.
The gospel is more expansive, more holistic, more relational, more personal, more adventurous, more satisfying, longer-lasting than and not subject to time or circumstance like millions of dollars. All the money in the world cannot contend to the value that Christ has deposited into our spiritual accounts.
If we live for money, then we will die by its absence or unfulfilled promises. However, when God is our functional god, we aren’t enslaved by money’s nasty and impossible demands.
Spoiler Alert: The American Dream = The American Nightmare
May Christ wake us up to the reality of true value.
