The Absolute Value

As humans, we place value on various things. And in doing so, we take after our Creator God who places various levels of value on the things which He has created. And God, who is love, has placed great value upon humanity, whom He created in His own image. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, showed the high value He places on us when He bled and died for us on the cross.

The difference between God and us is that He is the infinite Creator of everything that exists. He is the Maker and Owner of the universe. And so only He has the authority to determine the absolute value of anything. In fact, apart from God, nothing has any real value. He Himself is the Absolute Value, from which all real value is derived. And here, I am using the term "Absolute Value" in a slightly different way than it is used in algebra. I mean that the Creator is the Fountain from which all real value springs. He is the One who is infinitely valuable above all things. If it were not for God, nothing would exist. And without Him, there can be no real value in anything.

"Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture."

(Psalm 100:3; emphasis added).

But because of our fallen, sinful nature, we humans often place false value on things, or we value things more than they should be valued. And it is a great sin to value anything more than God Himself, the Absolute Value from which all true value is derived. "Idolatry" is what we call the sin of valuing anything over, or in place of, the one true and living God. And the object of such false value is called an "idol".

Writing to the church at Philippi, the apostle Paul describe how he used to value his accomplishments and his position as a Pharisee. He followed all the dos and don'ts of the religious law; but he didn't know that true righteousness comes from being reconciled with God by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. The whole reason that we, as human beings, even have such concepts as those of right and wrong, and love and goodness, is that we are created by, and in the image of our holy God who is love. If we are not at peace with our Creator, everything else is meaningless.

But when Paul was confronted by the Person of Jesus, he became reconciled to God through Christ, and learned to honestly say "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared to the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the Law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith." (Philippians 3:8-9).

What is it that we value? Fun times? Euphoria? Sweet music? Power? Prestige? Those things may not be bad, in and of themselves. But when we place a higher value on them than on being in harmony with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, we are sinning. In fact, having a relationship with Christ in this fallen, sinful world may cost us the comforts, and pleasures of this world. 

In fact Christ calls His followers to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). And it is by God's grace, through Jesus Christ, that we are able to do that; turning away from our fallen, sinful nature in order to live in harmony with the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). And like the apostles and many other followers of Christ, we learn to value our Creator and Savior above everything else; even our mortal lives in this world.