Bought With A Price

Feature 2 –April 2019 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Bought With A Price

Years ago I read about a bo y who made a toy sailboat. Once finished, he went to a lake to test it out. Suddenly, a gust of wind pushed his little ship away, out of reach. Days later, while walking with his dad, the boy was surprised to see his handiwork for sale in a second-hand store. He ran in and told the clerk that this was the boat he had made and then lost because of the wind. Now the boy wanted it back. "No," was the clerk's answer, "you need to pay the price and then you can have it." Glad he had found his boat yet discouraged that he was not able to take it back, he went home. The boy collected his savings, and with some help from his father, returned and bought his boat. He ran out of the store with his little treasure, exclaiming, "I made it and now I bought it; I own it twice!"

What God Has Done
Little did the lad realize that this is exactly what God has done with us. He created us "in Adam" (Gen. 1-2); but also in Adam, who fell into sin, "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). We were lost and under God's condemnation (5:17-19). However, through the sacrifice of God's Son � His death and resurrection � God bought and brought us who believe back to Himself. He owns us twice, and we will forever worship Him as Creator and Redeemer (Rev. 4:11, 5:9)!

Unbelievers also belong to Him because He bought them (2 Pet. 2:1) even though they do not acknowledge His rights as Creator and Redeemer. Ultimately, God will maintain these rights when He judges the whole world through the Man, the Savior-God, who will execute a righteous judgment (Acts 17:31). The indictment has been declared publicly (Rom. 3:23), but the execution of God's judgment still waits. During the time of God's waiting, a period paralleling the day of grace, He calls on everyone to repent and accept His claims with a willing heart. I hope you have already done so! Soon the time will come when God will enforce His rights, when every knee will be made to bow down before Him, the Creator-Redeemer (Phil. 2:9-11).

Recognize And Honor His Rights
In the Greek New Testament the verb "to buy" is derived from the word "market," where transactions of buying and selling are made. The apostle Paul wrote to saved people living in the Roman Empire; many were slaves, especially in cities such as Rome, Corinth and Ephesus. Paul used this familiar context to explain the rights of our Creator-God and Redeemer.* "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:19-20 ESV).

"Bought with a price" implies we should accept His ownership. This means that my body, talents, time, faculties � my everything � belongs to Him and that He put me in a position of a steward. The more we realize the immense value of this price, the better we will honor His rights. Only God knows its real value, but we may respond to Him and recognize His rights because He has introduced us into a relationship of love. He rightfully owns us, as does the Lord Jesus who gave Himself for us (Gal. 2:20) to have us for Himself. Therefore we will forever praise Him (Rev. 5:9).

A Treasure And A Pearl
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Mt. 13:44 NKJV). When the Lord Jesus came to His earthly people, Israel, He fulfilled many prophecies and showed that He was God's Messiah, the Anointed One. Nevertheless, they soon rejected Him, after which Jesus took a new position among them (v.1). From then on He spoke in parables to instruct His disciples while hiding the truth from the masses (vv.13-17). This new work started for real when the Lord returned to heaven (Heb. 1:3) and sent the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).

The parable of the sower (Mt. 13:1-9) shows various degrees in results of this new work because of human failure, whereas the second parable, of the wheat and the tares, tells of the work of the enemy, the counterfeiter (vv.24-30). The third parable speaks of the mustard seed that grew into a huge tree (vv.31-32). It explains the outward and unnatural growth of this new testimony under satanic influences � "the birds of the air" � as the world religions were incorporated into this new entity of outward greatness. The fourth parable of the kingdom of heaven speaks of a woman hiding leaven in three measures of meal (v.33), an action that symbolizes influences that corrupt God's doctrines with false ideas. This corruption will ultimately lead to "the great Babylon" (Rev. 17-18). Nevertheless, there will be something for the (rejected) King � something very precious for Himself.

As we have seen, the Lord Jesus owns the whole universe because He is the Creator and Redeemer. The fifth parable in Matthew 13 is about the field that He owns, which is the whole world (see v.38), where He hides a special treasure. He bought the field with the treasure in it because of the joy it provided for Him, and then He hid the treasure for Himself (v.44). The sixth parable reads as follows: "The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it" (vv.45-46). Despite the negative developments outlined in the earlier parables, the King finds something to His delight: the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of a great price.

Remember the expression found in 1 Corinthians 6:20 that we have been bought with "a price"? Human beings cannot calculate its true value since only God is able to fully appreciate it. Yet the King finds something of a great price for Himself as a response to His redemptive work.

Bought With A Price
The great treasure is hidden in the field. The field symbolizes the world that belongs to Him, even though His rights are not yet recognized. Only He sees and appreciates the treasure, whereas it is hidden from this world. It is something the King has found after His own people had rejected Him. In God's marvelous ways there would be disciples � redeemed ones among Israel as well as among the Gentiles � who would own His rights even during the time of His public rejection. This highlights what the special treasure means for Him. Although this truth remains unknown for the time being, in the world to come its value will be shown to an astonished universe.

Likewise, the pearl had an unfathomable value to the Lord Jesus because, according to God's eternal counsel, He had foreknown it from before the world's foundation. In due time He purchased it through His work on the cross. Historically, all this takes place before His earthly people, who rejected Him, will change their mind and repent (see Isa. 53; Zech. 12:10). He will then come back for them as well (see Mt. 23:37-39).

The Rest Of The Story
The seventh parable of the kingdom of heaven is about fish collected by a net cast into the sea and subsequently sorted out. This shows the results for the King at the end of the dispensation. At that time what is caught, real or fake, for Him in the net of the gospel will undergo a process of selection done by angels rather than men (13:47-50).

Matthew 13 ends with an eighth parable (v.52) about four basic elements characteristic of faithful disciples. First we see a scribe: one who writes down or copies the Bible text and gets familiar with it. Then he becomes an instructed disciple of the kingdom of heaven, trained during the time that the King is absent. Such a committed disciple is compared with a householder who is also a devoted steward or administrator of the treasure. He faithfully cares for His Master's interests. These four functions and qualities characterize true disciples who serve the King while He is absent from this world. God will honor them, for their commitment corresponds with a principle in God's ways. Those who listen and obey will be blessed (Prov. 1:33).

Response To The Rights Of Our Redeemer
As Creator He owns all, namely the whole universe. As Redeemer He has bought us for Himself. God, therefore, has twofold rights which we need to respect. Even unbelievers will have to honor these rights, although they deny Him now (2 Pet. 2:1; Rev. 5; Phil. 2:9-11). How much better is it to honor Him already and serve Him with devoted hearts and lives. For this reason Paul wrote: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:1-2).

ENDNOTE
* The apostle did not defend slavery, nor was he a social activist fighting against it. He confirmed that believers who are slaves, if it all possible, may use any opportunity to be set free (1 Cor. 7:17-24). Still, the challenge and privilege for every believer is to honor God in whatever situation he finds himself.

By Alfred Bouter