This expression is taken from 1 Corinthians 8:11 and in its context relates to a principle which should regulate relationships between believers. Yet, the truth of His sacrifice conveying value on others overleaps the contextual bounds. I come to the cross to learn, not only the awfulness of sin and the awesomeness of love, but the value God places on:
Sinners
Every individual among earth’s billions is a soul for whom Christ came. We are reminded that He came to “save sinners” (1Tim 1:15), that the “world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17), and that the God Who desires all men to be saved gave His Son Who, in turn, “gave Himself a ransom for all” (1Tim 2:5, 6).
In your city or town every soul has potential: from the homeless man on the street to the mayor in his lavishly furnished office, from the woman who is a top executive for her company to the harlot who plies her trade in the bars and byways of the city. Each soul has worth.
Saints
This great principle also means that each believer, regardless of gift, social standing, education, or wealth, is of infinite value. She or he represents an investment made by heaven in the life and eternal welfare of another. How do I treat them? How do I view them? Paul, in writing to the Colossian believers, admonished them to view each other as “elect of God, holy, and beloved” (Col 3:12). The result of this mindset would be the display of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. These virtues would result in a spirit marked by forbearing with each other’s idiosyncrasies, and forgiveness when actual wrong is done.
How much grief, heartache, and division would have been avoided, and can be avoided, by forbearance and forgiveness.
Assemblies
The value of the blood of Christ is mentioned in another sphere. As Paul exhorted the elders from the assembly in Ephesus (Acts 20), his appeal to protect, preserve, and feed the assembly was predicated upon the fact that it owed its existence to having been “purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). Every local assembly owes its existence to the purchase price given by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do I value the assembly in this light? Is it as precious to me as it is to Him? A right perspective of its value will control my behavior and contributions to the assembly. It will regulate everything in my life which reflects back on its worth.
The Church His Body
The cross of Christ also has conveyed the same infinite worth upon the Church His body. In contrast to individual sinners, saints, and assemblies, however, I cannot express this appreciation practically since most of the body is in heaven. But my estimation of the death of Christ can be expressed visibly and daily on the unsaved, fellow saints, and the local testimony.
