Worth More Than Riches

 In Psalm 8:4 the question is asked: "What is man...?" The Bible gives the answer. First, humans have wonderfully-designed bodies (Psalm 139:14), which God made living beings (Genesis 2:7). This means that humans are different from rocks, water, and other nonliving things, even though we were made from "the dust of the ground." And second, God gave us a spirit or soul.

Sometimes the word "soul" refers to a person's physical life. There were people who wanted to take Jesus' "life" or soul (Matthew 2:20). At other times, "soul" simply stands for the whole person. Eight "souls" were saved in Noah's ark (1 Peter 3:20). But many times the word "soul" is used for our spiritual nature (see Matthew 10:28).

The very first mention of man in the Bible is found in Genesis 1:26-31, where we are told that he was created on the sixth day of creation. We also read that mankind was created in the image of God. No other living creature was made in God's image. The part of us created in the image of God is our spiritual being.

The Bible teaches that we have been made a little lower than angels (Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 2:7). In other words, angels aren't much higher than we are. That puts us up pretty high on God's list! The great value of a person's soul or spirit was stressed by Jesus when he stated that it would be worthless for a man to be so rich as to own the entire world, yet lose his own soul (Mark 8:36).

Because of His love and concern for us, God sent His Son to die on the cross so that we could have the forgiveness of our sins (John 3:16). Jesus willingly laid down His life for us because He too loves us (John 15:13, Romans 5:7-8). We are worth so much that He used His blood to pay the price for our sins (Revelation 5:9).

To receive forgiveness though, we must do what God asks us to do in His word (James 1:21-22). Always remember that you are worth more than all the riches in the world!

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