Have you ever thought about how much you cost your parents before you started earning money and living independently? How much money has the state invested in your preschool education and schooling? How much do free medical services cost someone? We constantly encounter such "free" services in life and do not even think about how much this "free" costs. But there comes a moment when the state system or situation changes, and I myself must pay for everything and everyone. And then a completely different picture opens up.
A child does not worry about their maintenance and education. They simply do not yet have the wisdom to comprehend and analyze all this. And even if they understand something, they do not have the strength or ability to earn and pay for their own care.
Such things are not customary to discuss in our society. They belong to self-evident principles embedded in consciousness from childhood, and we live this way, unable to imagine any other life.
How much do those gifts and that "freebie" cost that we are used to receiving from others, considering ourselves worthy or unworthy of such honor? Have you ever thought about how much your salvation costs, and can it be evaluated by units of measurement accepted in our understanding?
When the Soviet Union began to disintegrate, and the so-called "iron curtain" collapsed with it, unique opportunities for preaching the Gospel in new territories opened up for the entire Christian world, and streams of various evangelists poured into this country. And they came not empty-handed but brought the Bread of life with them. I experienced this time and attended spiritual events held in large halls and huge stadiums. At first, I was a curious guest whom foreign missionaries wanted to save, and a few years later, I myself met new guests and told them about Christ.
I remember once asking the brothers how much it cost to rent the sports complex where a two-week Gospel campaign was held. I was told it cost over a million dollars. At that time, this was quite a substantial sum. And someone from across the ocean brought these funds to a foreign country so that local natives could know the truth and become free in it.
And now I myself weekly or as needed donate my money for similar events, understanding that the free Gospel costs someone big money.
Take any advanced internet blogger who interestingly talks about Christ. They do not ask you for money to prepare another video and upload it to their channel for free. But usually, behind such public people stands an entire team of trained specialists who work tirelessly, improve their skills, share their revelations, and learn new, not free ways to promote these channels on social networks. And someone pays for all this.
A casual viewer does not even think about how much effort, time, and resources were invested so that they could watch something for free.
How many volunteers work everywhere to promote God's work, giving their lives to preach the Gospel? And who will evaluate their free labor?
But if you look at our entire world and collect all the resources invested in any labor, in any matter, collect all human-hours spent on various affairs and put everything together, then one saved person, just one, will be able to do and invest millions and billions of times more effort and resources than the entire world has done throughout all epochs of its existence. I cite this fact for comparison so that you understand how one saved soul is evaluated even in material terms.
Have you ever thought about what "free" costs God, which various evangelists so persistently offer you? How much was paid for salvation from death for just one soul? By what measure can one evaluate the contribution that invisible Heavenly forces make daily to our salvation and education?
How much does one, just one drop of God's blood cost, which He shed for my salvation, not requiring anything from me, but freely offering me this Gift of Heaven and expecting that I will have an extraordinary interest in it? There are many "free things" that we receive from God as a matter of course, without even thinking about how much this costs God, and how poorly we would live without this, and whether we could live at all.
God does not call us to evaluate His work, but He would be pleased to understand that we realize the high price paid for our redemption from the power of sin and death.
The law requires the death of the sinner for any sin, moreover, eternal death or, as the Bible calls it, the "second death" (Revelation 20:14). Do you have many of these deaths in stock to pay the required payment for each of your mistakes and continue to live? The answer: only one, after which there is no right to life. But Jesus, by His death, made this colossal payment for all of humanity, so that everyone who believes in Him would not perish but have Eternal life (John 3:16). God the Father gave the Most Precious He had so that I could live. And then He made this path to salvation so accessible that every sinner could find it. And what does He expect in return? My faith, so that I accept this plan and live in it! How did the world evaluate God's contribution to its salvation? Not only did it crucify the Savior, but now it also persecutes all His followers, imposing its own values and rules.
But the Lord does not stop at what has been achieved. He introduces new possibilities and development perspectives into the Salvation Plan.
It is amazing that at the very end of time, the Lord suddenly decides not to give away but to sell the most precious thing He has to make victors of those who respond (Revelation 3:18). Although it is called Heavenly trade, and the price for the goods is unusual, unfortunately, you cannot get something for the familiar "free." And this trade enters God's plan for the last time, and I cannot bypass this verse. How I would like to have all this simply, without investing anything, just believing that it is mine and receiving everything in abundance.
Essentially, we do not need to do anything to breathe freely, drink water from sources, warm ourselves in the sun, eat fruits from trees, and live in this world. But to have the weapon of a victor, one must constantly pay for it by entering into eternal trading relationships. How so? Just like this and no other way. But this is what will make us stable in the last time and grant us victory.
Once, the Heavenly Father invested a lot in our upbringing and education, and we accepted this as the norm, but now He wants us to become independent and determine for ourselves what else we need and respond to His counsel given through the Faithful Witness.
But one should always remember that although we make a certain payment for the offered blessings, their true price is immeasurably great and exceeds our imagination.
Reflection Questions for this Chapter
1. Please read Isaiah 43:4; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 7:23; Zechariah 11:13; Matthew 26:14-16; 27:3-10; Psalm 48:7-14; 71:13-14; Proverbs 3:13-18; Job 28:12-23; Isaiah 28:16; 62:11-12; Matthew 13:45-46; 1 Peter 1:17-20; Ephesians 4:30; Revelation 21:6; 22:17 in light of this chapter.
2. What other Bible verses came to your mind?
3. What did you understand from this chapter?
4. How do you evaluate yourself? How much have you cost our Lord?
5. Do you think the Lord values what He has invested so much in?
6. What good and free things in this world cost nothing to anyone?
7. How does God evaluate what He has done for us, which we sometimes do not appreciate? (Romans 3:24)
8. Why is our salvation given to us for free? (Ephesians 2:8-9)
9. Why does the Lord give everything for free (Revelation 22:17), but decided to sell something (Revelation 3:18)?
10. How to understand Isaiah 55:1: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost"?
11. How do you understand Proverbs 23:23: "Buy the truth and do not sell wisdom, instruction and understanding"?
12. Are you familiar with the meaning of the symbols from Revelation 3:18?
13. Do your loved ones appreciate the work and gifts with which you bless them?
14. What should be done to understand the true value of valuable things and always appreciate them?
15. Is it worth paying attention to what we give to others and how valuable it is? (Malachi 1:8): "When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the Lord Almighty.