The tension between Truth and mercy: Dust might be of little worth, but in the hands of the Maker, what is made, is priceless!
Mankind: we are of inestimable value. What God has made is good, and is a reflection of His Triune Self. And as a reflection of God’s Self, it reflects His glory - though, a lesser glory, it, we, reflected His glory nonetheless. But this good thing, fell from its original and intended glory, through selfishness and sin. Though still reflecting God’s glory, it is now broken, and tarnished, fading in sin.
Now, not good, and its glory, now fading… God still sees in this making, value, a value that He Himself ascribes, a value declared by His good mercy. And because of the value God has placed on His fallen making, us, our good Maker, in Christ, looks to bring our good making back to its original glory, restored. But then, not just back, but beyond its original glory. Being purchased back, God now commits Himself to make us beautiful, more beautiful, than before, restored to an even greater glory than in the beginning:
And so we must ask, who in their right mind, would want to pay such a high price for such a broken-down, deplorable thing - such as mankind? Romans 3:10-20 “10As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
Worthless – become sour, as in milk, I am good for nothing, rendered useless, I have become corrupt; unprofitable, without utility – moths and rust, corroded and faded – broken-down. Unserviceable of character – not trustworthy.
And yet, we see God’s love expressed in inexplicable mercy…. You see, we see the word “worthless” and we assume “without worth”, when in fact, in the right hands, under the right circumstances, that dilapidated deplorable thing, when seen through the right Lens, is ripe for the picking. (Ps 8; Heb 2; Eph 2)
Made good and with some glory
Sinned and marred, beaten, bruised, dented and dilapidated, that glory is tarnished by sin, but not gone - no longer “good”
The One who sees through the right Lens, sees what that dilapidated and deplorable thing was in its former glory, and having the right tools and skills, sees through the brokenness, yes, to its former glory, but knows, now, redeemed, in His hands, He can restore this thing to an even greater glory, and bring it ultimately to its final and future glory!
God’s declaration of reclamation!
Hebrews 2:6-10 “what is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? 7You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor… But, (now) we see Jesus - the great Restorer, who was made lower than the angels for a little while now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone - setting and paying the price, their worth, purchasing them. 10…bringing many sons and daughters to glory…”
Ephesians 2:3 “...we were dead in our transgressions and sins… gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts… like the rest, were by nature deserving wrath - broken-down, dented and bruised. But because of His great love for us, God - the great Restorer, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ - the goal of our restoration even when we were dead - it is by grace you have been saved seen, loved, and purchased.
Why? What did we do? The “made and created” turned its back on its Maker and Creator, AND/by turning on its own design and making - making ourselves objects of wrath as we sunk deeper into our own depravity - worthless, unable - does not prove itself to be such as it ought, it has become sterile soil - in which no good thing grows - in essence: unserviceable of right thinking: Romans 1:18-32
Yet, all is not lost! A righteousness of God made known to us in Christ, by His mercy!
Romans 3:21-26 21But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
25God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, (John 10:17-18) through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished (see: Rom 2:1-4)— 26he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus - who would believe in His name! (John 1;3;6)
Atonement: propitiate: “I have mercy on”, show favor to, with regard to, the object of sin: I forgive, pardon. Jesus showed mercy by satisfying the wrath of God for our sin.
Jesus has offered to appease an angry party, His Father, and in essence, barter forgiveness and peace for us - He is our mediator, our envoy for peace, this by His mercy.
And here is where our worth is declared! What we are alluding to is mankind’s value: an inherent value as ascribed by God. Our value is so inestimable, God would pay the most exorbitant price, the blood of His Son - the great and ridiculous exchange of our sin, for His righteousness (2Cor ).
John 3:16-19 16For 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. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son (John 6:28-29). 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Though we are made in God’s image and likeness, fearfully and wonderfully made, this does not mean that man is basically good, it means that mankind has a God-declared value – the Purchaser, Buyer, the Redeemer, having established a price for the purchase of that thing for Whomsoever would desire to make that purchase.
As we were all objects of wrath (Eph 2), because of sin, we stood condemned (Jn 3:17-18), because we loved darkness and evil (Jn 3:19). But God reveals to us a love, through His restraint (Ro 2:1-4), that is His loving mercy that can save.
This is a love that appeals to the one who will receive it, (Jn 1:12) it appeals to the heart of that one more than the temporary pleasures of sin (Heb 11). When we see HIm “lifted up” on our behalf (Jn 3:14-15), and, it speaks to our soul, that this is love, at that moment, we realize that the ruler of the kingdom of the air hates us (Eph 2), but God, in Christ, loves us, and instead of taking my life, as sin does and the enemy – stealing, killing and destroying (Jn 10:10), Jesus came to give us life, and He gave His own life (Jn 10:11), becoming sin (2Co 5:21), so that I may live, now and in eternity, like Him more and more, glory to glory, ending in, glory.
And here is where we see our glory restored and increased - in and by Jesus…
1Corinthians 3:16-18 So, “16…whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil the cloudy distorted lens through which we see cannot rightly see God is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate - the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
Romans 8:18 “18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
God, now rightly seen, our having been restored we now can see rightly our Purchaser, Restorer, properly, correctly, in truth, we see the truth of our good God and His hood making and creating - in light of Him - humbled and astonished, and now, we cannot help but worship Him…
