Do you know that in just two years during the 1840’s Gold Rush California’s population grew from about a thousand people to over ten thousand? By 1852 two billion dollars in gold had been extracted from this territory.
However, today gold is not anywhere near being the most precious substance on the planet. As a matter of fact, gold does not even make the top ten on the list of the highest priced substances. Number one on the list is Antimatter, which is a man-made substance produced through highly sophisticated technology. It must really “matter” because its cost is about eighty trillion dollars per gram. Its use is so complex it cannot be easily described in this article.
Number two, endohedral fullerenes, costs about one hundred sixty million dollars a gram. Resources reveal that it is used for atomic clocks. Number three is Californium. This is another man-made substance that can be used for treating certain forms of cancer, and in unique mining operations. It weighs in at ten to twenty seven million dollars per microgram! Number four is one familiar to us all, diamonds, which can be worth up to one hundred eight thousand dollars per gram. Five is tritium ringing in at thirty-six thousand-four hundred dollars a gram. This glow in the dark material is used in some nuclear weapons.
Six is taaffeite stone. This rare gem, found only in Tanzania, is most highly valued for its’ red color. With only ten red stones known in existence, its price tag is twenty thousand dollars per gram. Number seven is Solaris. At thirteen thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars per gram, it qualifies as the most expensive drug in the world. It is used to treat the rare disease called atypic Haemolytictic Uraemic Syndrome or aHUS. Eight in the list of most expensive things on the planet is a very rare mineral and gemstone called grandiderite. It is only found on the island country of Madagascar, its’ cheapest form costs about ten thousand dollars a gram.
Number nine, painite, pings in at nine thousand dollars a gram for the lowest grade form. First discovered in Burma in 1950, it is considered to be the “hardest” to locate of all the world’s rarest minerals. Number ten on the list is another one most of us have heard of, namely, plutonium. It costs about six thousand dollars a gram and is used in the hearts of nuclear reactors or to power spacecraft needing long lasting power supplies.
However, by far more costly, more expensive and more precious than any of the above-mentioned substances found its way to the surface of the earth about two-thousand and twenty years ago. A baby was born of a virgin outside the town of Bethlehem seven hundred years after the prophet Micah prophesied the place of His birth. The angel Gabriel told Mary His mother that His name would be called Jesus, and that He was the Son of God, who would rule over Israel forever.
This same Jesus spent His entire life dedicating Himself to what God His Heavenly Father had sent Him to do. The most important task of all was completing the mission that “man” had failed to fulfill in the Garden of Eden. Jesus had to live a completely sin free life. The Bible tells us “He was in all points tempted like we are yet without sin.”Hebrews 4:15b(KJV) In another scripture we read “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2nd Corinthians 5:21(KJV)
God’s perfect plan to redeem mankind from the sin, which entered into the world at the Garden of Eden, was to allow His only begotten Son to come to this world and take the form of a man. As a man, Jesus had to follow God’s plan for all of mankind. He had to come and endure all temptation through the power of the Holy Spirit. He denied Himself the temporary pleasures of this world, of having a wife, children, a permanent home, a paycheck and all forms of wealth. He obtained from the perks of an earthly king, to become qualified to be the spotless Lamb of God. John the Baptist declared that he had come to “take away the sins of the world.” John 1:29b(KJV)
At thirty-three and a half years, in the prime of His life, sinless blood was flowing healthily through His veins. The night before His crucifixion, following the Last Supper He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. It was there that the most precious, costly and valuable substance this world will ever know oozed through His pores. The Bible tells us that as He agonized over what He knew He had to do the next day, He sweat great drops of blood. As that blood dripped to the ground no emerald, no gold, no silver, or man made substance no matter how rare will ever compare to the value of that sinless blood that touched Earth that day!
Even more of this most precious blood was spilled as the Romans laid thirty-nine lashes on His back, still more as the priests mocked Him, spitting upon Him and punching Him in the face to the point of being unrecognizable. More valuable than trillions and trillions of dollars to the point of being absolutely priceless was the blood that dripped from the crown of thorns rammed down on his head. The loss concluded with the rivers that ran from the nails in His hands and feet and the sword that was thrust into His side.
That same sinless blood purchases the gift of eternal life in Heaven instead of Hell for every sinner that has ever lived and choses to receive it. Please receive the gift of salvation today. Make the price, which was paid for, with that priceless blood, worth it for you eternally!