Galatians 4:4-5 KJVS. [4] But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, [5] To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
1 Corinthians 7:23 NLT. [23] God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.
Anyone who has ever prepared ground, planted seeds, fertilized the growing plants and picked a crop knows that there has to be a cost involved in having a harvest. Sometimes the price of planting and reaping can add up to a significant amount of money, time and effort. The harvest may be plentiful, but you can rest assured that an abundant harvest has a high price.
There was a price paid so there could be a harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God. The price that had to be paid for you and me to be forgiven involved the death of a perfect sacrifice that took our place so we wouldn’t have to die ourselves. The price was so great that no regular animal would work as the offering for our sins. There had to be a holy, absolutely sinless sacrifice made. So God Himself sent His own Lamb, His own Son, to be the sacrifice.
God the Father knew what the price for the harvest would be. God had arranged a plan to send the sacrifice and set it into motion before He created this universe in which we live. He knew the harvest of souls into eternal life would require the death of the Lamb of God, His Son Jesus. He knew the only way for mankind to get back into right relationship with Him after mankind disobeyed and rebelled against His command was for them to trust in the perfect price that God the Father would send so they could be forgiven and have a new life through that faith in what His Lamb would achieve.
God had hinted about His plan through the life of Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac, and God had provided the sacrifice that saved Isaac’s life. God had sent prophecies about the one who would redeem the world and become its king and judge. God had given visions and dreams to people to let them know about the price for the life He would offer to mankind. And, all the while, God the Father knew what the price would be.
God the Son, Jesus, was willing to pay the price for the harvest to occur. Jesus knew that, as the Lamb of God, He was going to have to set aside the glory He shared with the Father in heaven so He could be born physically and experience what we experience as humans. He knew He was going to face temptation, hunger, and fatigue. He knew He would feel emotions like frustration and anger, compassion and pity, and pain and sorrow.
He also knew He would be putting His life into the hands of people. He was willing to live in subjection to a couple named Joseph and Mary. He was willing to seek out and train a handful of people to carry on His work after He had completed His purpose as the price for the harvest. He was willing to be betrayed by one of those disciples who had eaten, ministered and traveled with Him.
Jesus, the Lamb of God, was willing to be arrested, questioned and rejected by the spiritual leaders of the nation He had chosen to be His physical family. He was willing to be blindfolded and slapped, to have His beard pulled from His face, and to be cursed by the ones He sought to redeem from slavery to sin.
Jesus was willing to be placed on trial and be acquitted by the Roman Pilate, only to be rejected and condemned by a crowd of His own people. He was willing to be flogged, beaten and, finally, crucified by Gentile soldiers. He was willing to suffocate and die on a cross as the sacrifice for all mankind’s sins. Jesus knew what the price was for the harvest, the price for your soul to be reborn into new life, and He was still willing to pay it.
God the Holy Spirit confirmed the price of the harvest was paid in full. The Father had sent His only Son to pay the price. The Holy Spirit had inhabited Jesus without measure and had testified to His sonship. The Holy Spirit had anointed Jesus to be able to pay the price for our sins. When that sacrifice was completed on the cross and Jesus was laid in that borrowed tomb, the power of the Holy Spirit moved on that human corpse and brought it back to life as the first one to be the harvest of the resurrection from the dead. Jesus had laid His life down for you, and the Holy Spirit empowered Him to be able to pick it back up again in newness of life.
Jesus ascended back to the Father forty days after His resurrection, asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to fill and anoint His disciples, and the Father did just that ten days later on the Day of Pentecost. The arrival of the Holy Spirit was proof that the Father had accepted the price Jesus paid for your forgiveness.
The arrival of the Holy Spirit anointed and empowered the disciples to be witnesses for Jesus. Listen to the final words of Peter’s first message to the people after the price for the harvest had been paid by Jesus and their response:
Acts 2:22-24,36-40 NLT. [22] “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. [23] But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. [24] But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. [36] “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” [37] Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” [38] Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away-all who have been called by the Lord our God.” [40] Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
Are you part of the harvest yet? Do you believe you can be forgiven of all your faults, bad decisions, wrong actions and wrong words by believing that Jesus paid the price for you? Do you believe you can be born again spiritually and have eternal life through faith in what Jesus did for you on the cross? Are you willing to repent of your sins and ask God to forgive you and help you accept Jesus as your personal savior? If you want to be part of the harvest, ask Jesus to renew your life today.