What would you say is the most valuable substance in all of Creation? What pops into your mind when I asked that question; would it be gold? Would it be silver? Would it be platinum? Maybe it would be titanium. Some might say it would be diamonds or other precious stones or jewels. There are some in the world that would hold that stocks and bonds, or real estate are the most valuable substance of all. In fact, today we see people scrambling to hedge their bets in times of chaos, to move their money into a medium that is more stable, or to maximize their benefit.
On a more practical level as we ask the question, “What is the most valuable substance of all?”
Maybe it would be the traveler who is making his way through the desert, who is thirsting to death. Maybe to him, a glass of water would be the most valuable substance.
Maybe to a sick person, they would insist that the most valuable substance is medicine.
Maybe, for the astronaut, who is disconnected from a spacecraft, or for the submariner who is trapped in his submarine, maybe they would hold that the most valuable substance of all is oxygen.
To the Jew some 3,400 years ago, perhaps they would assert that the blood of a sacrifice was indeed the most valuable as it would place them in right standing before Yahweh.
Though all of these may have their merits at a particular point in time, may I suggest that the most valuable substance ever created by the God of all Creation is the blood of Christ?
Hebrews 9:11-12 says, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. That is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the Holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
By means of His own blood He entered – through no other means, but the perfect blood of the lamb of God. That blood is more valuable than any other substance. The blood, which flowed from Jesus’ veins; it was the most valuable as it alone provided eternal redemption. The blood that flowed is the only substance that could do that for all who would place their faith in him, nothing else could accomplish such a great feat.
The pattern was established early on. Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”
The reason that nothing else is as valuable is that all those other things, gold, stocks, bonds, even oxygen affects those things in this life; their benefits are limited to this present life. Blood of a typical sacrifice did affect sin in the time of sacrifice as it placed one in right standing for a limited amount of time, but it did not secure eternal redemption – only the blood of Christ did that. And yet, how many people do we see even today willing to dedicate their lives in a quest for gold and riches and diamonds? And yet, they’re all too willing to surrender their souls.
It is good to reflect that we have a right perspective of values in our lives, and in our hearts. It is right that the blood of Christ is what we see as the most valuable substance, because it, and it alone has placed every single one of us, as we have faith in Christ, it has placed us in right standing to gain eternal redemption. That is something that nothing else can buy.
We read the words of Christ in John 6:50-51, where he says, “This is the bread, which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
He goes on to say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
These words sound severe, and they are. They communicate the intimate identification we are to have with Christ if we are to taste of that eternal redemption.
May we never forget what God has provided for us through His son? No other substance could even come close to purchasing eternal redemption and eternal life. We walk in grace; we walk in assurance through no measures of our own, but in Christ.
