The Million dollar nickel

How much money do you have in your pocket right now? How much do you have in your bank account? And more importantly How much is that money worth? Depending on the fluctuation of overseas markets and monetary systems, and the rollercoaster ride that often defines our own markets and lives, the money in our pockets and bank accounts may be worth considerably less than what we think. And sometimes it’s worth more. Consider the Liberty Head Nickel, In 1913 five of them were illegally minted, today two of them are in museums and two of them are in private collections, and the remaining nickel was viewed by the Bowers and Merena Galleries at a whopping $10, 000 for the first look. The nickel worth less than five cents when it was minted illegally is now valued at over one million dollars.
The Bible tells us in 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see him as He is.” The worth of our lives was depreciated by the curse of sin, Romans 3:23 reveals “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In our sinful, fallen status we were undone and worthless, but the good news of the Gospel is revealed in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” When you and I were worthless, Jesus declared that we were worthy, worthy of his life, death, and resurrection. Now as we are transformed from spiritual death to spiritual life, we can see the value of our life in Christ. A value which was exemplified by the Apostle Paul; in 1 Corinthians 15:9 Paul described himself as “…the least of the Apostles…”, in Ephesians 3:8 Paul says of himself “Unto me, who am the less than the least of the saints…”, and then finally in 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul writes “…Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” As the Apostle got nearer to the Lord, he got further from himself. He placed less emphasis on his credentials and more emphasis on the Lord’s mercy. He started out the least of Apostles but finished the chief of sinners. His value, in the end, was not defined by his ability but by God’s grace. So it is with us.
Just as the value of the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel was imposed on it by a foreign source that saw its value, so our lives have been declared valuable by the redeeming work of Christ. Now as Romans 3:24 declares we are “…justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” You may not have any million dollar nickels in your pocket, but you can have a priceless life and eternity with Christ.