Isaiah 43:4 NIVUK
[4] Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. https://bible.com/bible/113/isa.43.4.NIVUK
More than ten years ago, we bought the house where we now live. Buying a house is always stressful. I remember we went to a lot of viewings. We’d often look inside and wonder how the estate agent or the seller came up with the valuation.
Because, and this should be no surprise to us given the way prices change so much – there us no fixed value for anything at all. Its value depends entirely on how much we are prepared to pay for it. So it might appear to be junk to us could be purchased for a fortune by someone else because of the value it has to them. Whole industries are set up that make money from this – from auction houses to memorabilia sellers to antique shops.
However, when it comes to the value we place on ourselves, that is completely another story.
More often than not, our self-worth derives from the value other people place on us. This is a highly problematic approach. There will be times when we are popular and sought after. There are times when we are side-lined.
We need to have the psychological and spiritual strength to deal with both.
There is an answer to this. It is in the pages of Scripture. It is to stop building your sense of self-worth on other people and what they think of you, and instead to seek God’s opinion of you.
When you see what that is, you will be strong enough to face any situation.
We are going to explore what, at first, seems to be a relatively obscure verse prophesied for a particular situation thousands of years ago. However, hidden its depths we see the cure for our crisis in self-worth.
Let’s firstly see The Object – that is: what is that we are trying to value?
This is an important thing to do. There is a TV programme on the BBC where people bring objects of value to them to an expert, who will advise them on how much they should expect to receive if they decided to sell it. The people who provide this advice are experts in particular fields: someone who knows the market on war memorabilia well cannot advise on the sale of antique furniture, for example.
So before we estimate a value, we need to know what we are looking at.
Or in this case, who.
The answer is both encouraging and troubling at the same time.
It is the people of the Jewish Kingdoms – Israel and Judah, as it says earlier:
Isaiah 43:1 NIVUK
[1] But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. https://bible.com/bible/113/isa.43.1.NIVUK
But when this prophecy was delivered, they were on a death spiral – quite literally – towards exile, both at the hands of the Babylonians (Israel) and then the Assyrians (Judah). During these moments of extreme national crisis, they, the very people of God, would be treated as if they were worthless and had no value at all:
Lamentations 4:1-2
[1] How the gold has lost its lustre, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at every street corner. [2] How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands! https://bible.com/bible/113/lam.4.1-2.NIVUK
But what caused this truly devastating situation?
The cause is, as we saw earlier, sin:
Romans 3:10-12 NIVUK
[10] As it is written: ‘There is no-one righteous, not even one; [11] there is no-one who understands; there is no-one who seeks God. [12] All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one.’ https://bible.com/bible/113/rom.3.10-12.NIVUK
Now, there is something worth thinking about. Sin is the cause of the issue God’s people faced. We know from Genesis 2:25 and 3:7 that sin causes shame – a sense of inadequacy in who we are and what we have.
So a poor self-image is not part of God’s original design.
It entered the world after the Fall and is the result of sin: either sin committed by us or against us.
In other words, it is a clear sign that something is wrong. It is not, and never will be, normal.
Worse, sin devalues a person. It diminishes them. It cheapens them. It might make them feel on top of the world for while, but in the end it will destroy them.
Sin leads us to stop contributing to the world, and instead to take from it.
So the object in this case was God’s people, who had been cheapened and diminished through their involvement in heinous sins, and had a result become worthless.
But we should feel no sense of superiority here. As Paul said in Romans 3:10-12, ‘There is no-one righteous... There is no-one who understands... There is no-one who seeks God.. All have turned away... There is no-one who does good...’
And elsewhere:
Romans 3:23 NIVUK
[23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, https://bible.com/bible/113/rom.3.23.NIVUK
So any sense of superiority, any sense of feeling good about ourselves because other people are bad, is swept away. We have all sinned. All of us. We have all become worthless.
All of us.
Which makes this verse thoroughly surprising, because it seems like someone is paying a high price for trash.
And that someone is The Valuer.
And who is that?
God Himself:
Isaiah 43:1 NIVUK
[1] But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. https://bible.com/bible/113/isa.43.1.NIVUK
Unless you are a builder, when you are buying a house you are entirely dependent on someone else’s expertise. In the UK we have a process where a building inspector will go to the property for sale and look at issues like dampness, dry rot, structural integrity, heating systems, ventilation, insulation, windows, energy efficiency, planning permission... all manner of issues. He or she then creates a rather thick report, which anyone buying that property can read to see exactly what it is they are buying.
In the 19th century, there used to be a popular scam where someone would agree to buy a suckling pig from a farmer. They would receive this pig in a bag, or a ‘poke’. However, when they received the bag and opened it up, they would find that they had been sold a stray cat instead. Hence the popular sayings ‘never buy a pig in a poke’ (don’t buy uninspected goods) and ‘letting the cat out of the bag’ (bringing a concealed matter to light).
Let me tell you something: if you struggle with your self image – like I did for much of my life – you might wander if God has it correct about you. You might ask yourself if God has somehow been conned or deceived, as if somehow you are not worth it.
You need to know that this is far from true. God loves you, more than anyone else in this world ever has or ever will. Yet He knows everything about you:
Psalms 139:13-16 NIVUK
[13] For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [14] I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. [15] My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. [16] Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Matthew 10:29-31 NIVUK
[29] Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. [30] And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. [31] So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. https://bible.com/bible/113/mat.10.29.NIVUK
There used to be an advert on TV for overpriced shampoo which had the tagine ‘Because you’re worth it’. You are worth it. But God does not love you because you are worth it – you are worth it because He loves you.
But how much are you worth?
How much was the price the valuer set on you?
The value of many things is the price someone is prepared to pay for it. So we now move from the object and the valuer to see The Price.
And what a high price it is!
Isaiah 43:3-4
[3] For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. [4] Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.
To our modern ears, these verses sound very strange, especially out of context. We could not conceive of the idea of giving anyone for anyone – except maybe during the football/soccer transfer window or during the NFL draft. Outside of these events, it all seems very bizarre – almost barbaric, especially if no consent was given.
Bible commentators believe that this verse describes a very specific event in history, when, instead of attacking Israel and Judah, the Babylonians fought a hard campaign against the peoples of the Nile: the Egyptians, Cushites and Sabeans. This campaign is also referred to in the Bible:
2 Kings 24:7 NIVUK
[7] The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the River Euphrates. https://bible.com/bible/113/2ki.24.7.NIVUK
But why did God do that? Why did He send the Babylonians past Israel and Judah and direct them to fight three mighty armies much further away?
The answer, I believe, is this:
To give His people another opportunity to repent of their sin.
And that is a beautiful, wonderful thing.
But it isn’t the last time God trades one person for another:
1 Peter 3:18 NIVUK
[18] For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. https://bible.com/bible/113/1pe.3.18.NIVUK
There is an incredible, and deeply unjust, moment in the Gospel, when Jesus is found guilty, and Barabbas is released, despite being guilty of insurrection and murder (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19; John 18:40). They release a man who has harmed community life, and sentence a man to death who had healed and brought life.
Jesus dies in the place of a sinner.
And He died in our – yours and mine – place too:
Isaiah 53:5-6 NIVUK
[5] But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. [6] We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
1 Peter 1:18-20 NIVUK
[18] For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. [20] He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. https://bible.com/bible/113/1pe.1.18-20.NIVUK
We believe that the value of an object is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it. So of someone pays £100,000 for a home, then it is worth £100,000; if they pay £1,000,000 for it, then it is worth £1,000,000.
Friend, the price God paid for you is His only begotten son:
John 3:16 NIVUK
[16] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
So if you ever wonder how much you are worth – or, indeed, if you are worth anything at all – look to the cross. That is how much God says you are worth.
Human beings really do make terrible mistakes sometimes. We compare and rate ourselves against each other. We rank ourselves by the possession – oe the lack of possession – of things that do not last, such as homes or cars or jobs or pay packets or bank balances. Such a pointless thing to do!
I had a teacher in school who used to cut down anyone who got a good mark by saying, ‘Well, in the Kingdom of the Blind the one-eyed man is king.’
Although it wasn’t a nice thing to do, he did have a point. Comparing ourselves with each other is a really stupid thing to do – much worse if we do it to obtain our sense of self-worth.
I am writing these lines from a rich country with one of the highest rates of suicide in the world, because people lose their sense of self-worth and see no value in remaining alive. So let me state this truth plainly and simply: God loves you. He made you. He values you. You are precious to Him. And that will never, ever change.
Once you let this realisation sink down deep within your soul, everything changes.
You are no longer cheap, worthless, of no value.
You are a child of God, made in the image of God, redeemed at a huge price from a lost eternity by the Son of God.
I was once heading home from the bus station in our town when a group of young girls crossed the road into oncoming traffic, and one of them almost caused an accident when a car nearly hit her.
A passing old lady, who did not know the girl, saw what had happened and gently scolded her: 'Don’t ever do that again. You're way too precious.'
The girl seemed surprised, as if no-one had told her she was precious before. She turned to the old woman and asked her, 'So am I too precious to die?'
I don't mind telling you that my heart sank to hear that. Because every one of us is precious. And not just to anyone: to Almighty God. He paid for our salvation at the cost of His Own Son.
That ought to make a tremendous difference to how we live.
How?
Because cheapening yourself with the selfish self-harm of sin is no longer an option.
Not for someone as precious as you.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for paying the highest price to redeem me. Help me to see how much You value me, and to treat myself with the same love with which You loved me, and to live my life in a worthy manner. Amen.
Questions
1. Do you see yourself as precious and valued? Why / why not?
2. Why is it so striking that God paid such a high price for the Jews? What does this mean for us?
3. Now that you know how precious God says you are, what will change for you?
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