Held For Ransom

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace"

Ephesians 1:7 

We all seen the movies where a child is kidnapped, held for ransom, and the parents tell the negotiator that they will pay "Whatever it takes" to have their child returned safely. Let's face it, it's a pretty intense aspect of the storyline which usually leads to the kidnapper being chased until they are eventually captured and brought to justice.  Makes for intense and exciting drama.  While such story plots make for interesting films and books, the truth of the matter is that we have also been held for ransom and it was a ransom that only could only be paid by God. 

Think about it, how many times have we doubted our worth because of our past?  How many times have we had great intentions but because of being reminded of our own sinfulness we gave up?  How many times have we looked at our past and believed that we had no future that would be worth anything?

You know that I love words.  I love to figure out why a particular word was used by an author.  And today's passage is no exception.  It's interesting that the Apostle Paul chose to use the word "apolytrosis" which has been translated "redemption."  "Apolytrosis" literally means "a releasing effected by payment of ransom; liberation procured by the payment of a ransom."  Christians like to say that we were "bought with a price" which, to me, could mean that we were on sale at the store and we were purchased much like a soda or a butter.

We were held captive and a ransom was demanded.  God, being the loving Dad that He is, held nothing back and would pay ANY price for us.  That price was the very blood of His ONLY Son!  That ransom was paid so we would be freed from the captivity of our sin, and we would be united with God for all eternity! We have been set free by the ransom God paid for us through Jesus Christ!  Therefore, our past can no longer hold us hostage!  Our sinful nature no longer keeps us captive!  

Because of the ransom paid, we are FREE! Think about that!

It's Done!

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:20 

 

Have you ever considered why Jesus chose to say "It is finished" when the time came for His death?  I have heard sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon on those three words, and they didn't really answer my question.

 

So after years of pondering and contemplating, here's my perspective on "It is finished."  The term used by Jesus was used by merchants.  You see, merchants had a price they wanted for their goods and the customer had a price they were willing to pay, so when the merchant and the customer agreed on an price, the merchant would say "It is finished" because the price had been accepted.  

 

God set standards for His people.  We have failed to meet His standards from the very beginning.  God set a standard for acceptable sacrifices to pay for our failures (unspotted, unblemished, pure and perfect lambs were the acceptable payment).  When Jesus died, the perfect price for each of our failures was paid in the ONLY accepted currency.  In reality, God paid the perfect sacrifice for us and declared our debt to Him PAID IN FULL.

 

Therefore, God our Father paid the price for our failures in full!  May we be truly grateful to Him for that!