Is Jesus Worth it?

O Lord, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I confess from my heart, that I am by nature a lost sinner. I am fully convinced that I am utterly unable to help myself. But as there is a covenant of grace, I do now again take hold of that covenant, for life and salvation to me; believing on the name of Christ crucified, who made atonement, paid the ransom, and brought everlasting righteousness for poor sinners. I resign myself, soul and body, to him, to be saved by his blood alone. I give up myself wholly unto him, to serve him for ever.

Then, as Boston came to the end of his personal covenant, he called on the very walls of his house to witness the promise he was making to Jesus Christ:

Let it be recorded in heaven, O Lord, and let the bed on which I lean, the timber, and the stones, and all other things here in my closet, bear witness that I, though most unworthy, have this second day of December, here taken hold of, and come into thy covenant of grace, offered and exhibited to me in thy gospel, for time and eternity; and that thou art my God in the covenant, and I am one of thy people, from henceforth and for ever.

This is essentially what we all need to say to God, even if we use simpler words to say it. If we want to have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, we need to say to him, “I am yours and you are mine forever.” This is the prayer of every believer.

The promise is absolute: no one who gives something up for the kingdom of God will fail to receive God’s blessing. Everyone who follows Jesus will gain what he has to offer. What Jesus offers is a double blessing—a blessing for now and a blessing for later.

The disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying, but Jesus said it anyway, so that they would understand it when the time came. He also said it so that we would understand. Do you understand what Jesus did in dying on the cross and rising again on the third day? Do you understand as well that he is offering you eternal life in himself?

If you do understand this, then you know that Jesus is worth it. Absolutely he is worth it—right now and forever. Whatever God is calling you to give up for his kingdom, do not hesitate, even for a moment; Jesus will more than make it up to you. But never forget that Jesus is worth it to us only because we were worth it to him, on the cross where he gave his blood for our sins.

1. Specific Death. After Adam’s sin in the garden, God pronounced His curses upon all of the participants. He began with the serpent, but that curse contained a clear allusion to a definite atonement:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

—Genesis 3:15

In the midst of a series of devastating judgments, there is a sparkling diamond of grace. Theologians have called it the protoevangelium, which is Greek for “the first mention of the gospel.” Here in the garden of Eden, God revealed perpetual enmity between the seed of Satan—that is, all unbelieving descendents of Satan (John 8:44; Eph. 2:2)—and the seed of the woman, namely, those believers who would be in the family of God. But God also gave a prophecy of the cross, saying that Satan would bruise, metaphorically speaking, Christ’s heel, causing Him to suffer—but not be defeated. Through His death, Christ would crush the Devil, rendering him a devastating blow and defeat. Therefore, in this first mention in the Bible of Christ’s death, there is the teaching of a definite redemption on behalf of the believing seed of the woman. The bruised Messiah would die specifically for those who would belong to His kingdom—that is, for all believers.

Concerning this first promise of a Redeemer, MacArthur writes: “The greatest blessing that is bound up in the curse is the promise of Christ, the Redeemer, the Seed of the woman—the One who would crush the serpent’s head.… First, He would be the Seed of the woman. This is significant language, because normally, offspring are spoken of as the seed of their fathers. This seems to be a subtle reference to Christ’s virgin birth. He was the offspring of a woman in a particular sense, but God was His only Father (Luke 1:34–35).… Second, there would be enmity between Him and the serpent.… This signifies the continuous conflict between Satan and Christ. Satan, the destroyer of men’s souls, opposes Christ, the Savior of the world. The evil one hates the Holy One and has therefore set himself and “his seed”—all those who belong to his kingdom (both demons and humans)—against the Seed of the woman. Third, the Seed of the woman would suffer. Satan would bruise His heel. This speaks of Christ’s suffering on the cross.… Fourth, the Savior would triumph. He would end the enmity forever by crushing the serpent’s head. Satan, the serpent, did his best to destroy Christ, but in the end it left only a bruise that would heal. Christ rose from the dead in triumph, gaining redemption … crushing the serpent’s head as promised.” Through His death, Christ would save all who believe.

2. Specific Substitution. In the garden, God also gave a symbolic picture of the future death of Christ for His chosen ones. By His sovereign initiative, He made coverings for the nakedness of the first couple:

And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

—Genesis 3:21

The Lord Himself killed an innocent animal and made coverings for the nakedness and guilt of Adam and Eve. This was the first death in God’s newly created world—a slain sacrifice. This animal was killed at the hands of God Himself, and He provided its skin freely for the first couple as an expression of His saving grace. Their garments of skin represented God’s provision for restoring Adam’s and Eve’s relationship with Himself. This bloody sacrifice pictured the coming of Christ into the world to redeem His people. God’s Son would be the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of His people (John 1:29, 36). His sacrifice alone would provide a covering for the exposed nakedness of Adam and Eve’s guilt.

In explaining this substitutionary death, Boice points out that it symbolized the shed blood and perfect righteousness of Christ. Boice writes: “In order to make clothes of skin, God had to kill animals. It was the first death Adam and Eve had witnessed, as far as we know. It must have seemed horrible to them and have made an indelible impression. ‘So this is what death is; this is what sin causes,’ they must have exclaimed. But even more important, the death of the animals must have taught them the principle of substitution, the innocent dying for the guilty, just as the innocent Son of God would one day die for the sins of those God was giving to him. When God clothed our first parents in the animals’ skins, Adam and Eve must have had at least a first faint glimmer of the doctrine of imputed righteousness.… God saved Adam and Eve from their sins by clothing them in the heavenly righteousness of Jesus Christ, which he symbolized by their being clothed with skins of animals.”