Heaven Itself Imperiled

[Daily Devotional]

Heaven Itself Imperiled 

I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden
wedge of Ophir. Isa. 13: 12. 

The value of a soul, who can estimate? Would you know its worth, go to
Gethsemane, and there watch with Christ through those hours of anguish, when
He sweat as it were great drops of blood. Look upon the Saviour uplifted on
the cross. Hear that despairing cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" (Mark 15: 34). Look upon the wounded head, the pierced side, the marred
feet. Remember that Christ risked all. For our redemption, heaven itself was
imperiled. At the foot of the cross, remembering that for one sinner Christ
would have laid down His life, you may estimate the value of a soul. 

If you are in communion with Christ you will place His estimate upon every
human being. You will feel for others the same deep love that Christ has
felt for you. Then you will be able to win, not drive, to attract, not
repulse, those for whom He died. . . . The greater their sin and the deeper
their misery, the more earnest and tender will be your efforts for their
recovery. You will discern the need of those who are suffering, who have
been sinning against God, and who are oppressed with a burden of guilt. Your
heart will go out in sympathy for them, and you will reach out to them a
helping hand. 

Christ and Him crucified should become the theme of our thoughts and stir
the deepest emotions of our souls. . . . It is through the cross alone that
we can estimate the worth of the human soul. Such is the value of men for
whom Christ died that the Father is satisfied with the infinite price which
He pays for the salvation of man in yielding up His own Son to die for their
redemption. What wisdom, mercy, and love in its fullness are here
manifested! The worth of man is known only by going to Calvary. In the
mystery of the cross of Christ we can place an estimate upon man. 

How glorious are the possibilities set before the fallen race! Through His
Son, God has revealed the excellency to which man is capable of attaining.
Through the merits of Christ man is lifted from his depraved state,
purified, and made more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir. 

>From God's Amazing Grace - Page 175