The price paid for our redemption was infinitely great—the precious blood of Christ! It is written, “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,... but with the precious blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:1818Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (1 Peter 1:18).
Thousands of gold and silver, yea, all the riches of the rich universe, would not be enough to pay the price of man’s redemption. But the precious blood of Christ was all sufficient. What its value is, we are not told; there are no balances in which it can be weighed—no equivalent treasures by which its worth can be computed. There is no language in which its value may be expressed. Only this we know, God esteems it precious.
But how was God’s Christ esteemed on earth? Men saw Him, estimated His value, and decided upon His price. “The goodly price that He was prized at of them. So they weighed for His price thirty pieces of silver.” Zechariah 11:12, 1312And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. (Zechariah 11:12‑13). A few pieces of silver was the price they paid for “The Chief among ten thousand—the altogether lovely One.” They saw no beauty in Him. They were blind to His perfections. Alas! alas! for the glory of my Lord.
This blindness as to His worth is not yet altogether dispelled, even in the Christian’s eyes, for the lust of a little worldly good, or the praise of men, will often turn us aside from beholding His glory.
May we say, with the Apostle Paul, “Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
“This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:8, 13, 148Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, (Philippians 3:8)
13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13‑14).