The Ransom

(the names of Jesus series)

1 Timothy 2:5-6 “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time”

The revelation of Truth has been and always will be centered in Jesus Christ. The Son of God is far more than the man He became or in the little information we have regarding His ministry. Having existed before time began, His legacy extends deeper than we ever could imagine. His disciples have reported that many more events happened in Jesus’ ministry that were not recorded.

John 21:25 “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.”

Is there a way to know Jesus beyond the red letter version we all know and love? Is there a way to see Him and touch His majesty as it has extended throughout His eternal existence and into the future by which He will reign?

If there is a way to know more about Christ, I believe it will be found in the revelation of His name.

I might be taking on more than I can handle but I’ve been doing that for a long time and here I am, so my prayer is “Lord, all revealed Truth comes from You, show me your Truth”. I’m starting with Jesus as our ‘Ransom’ for no particular reason other than I like the idea of what this represents.

Prologue of Peace

Why would the Lord create such a world as ours? We who remain and know His righteousness can see the destructive nature of evil growing all around us.

Recently in church our pastor interviewed a teacher in our district. He is a social studies teacher who taught advanced placement classes. The curriculum touched upon the gender dysphoria which is defined as a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. His teaching only touched on the subject matter and a student brought accusations against him that painted a picture of abuse. After a lengthy investigation they found he had done no wrong and yet the local school board still decided to have him removed from his position as a social studies teacher and plugged him into a math regiment at a lower level where he could apparently ‘do no harm’.

There is an all out assault against our children in the public school system and those who support the evil agenda of the growing cancel culture are holding all the positions. Particularly in my state of Washington, where it seems atheism has congregated, the attacks on those who live by faith in Christ are increasingly becoming more evident.

There is a ransom for the souls of mankind, the enemy has entrapped those held by the scourge of sin in a spiral of impending destruction. The enemy has removed all boundaries, everyone is a target and children seem to be a priority focus in the crosshairs of Satan’s fiery arrows.

The destructive nature of those who walk in darkness reflects the heart of God’s enemies. Sometimes the attacks are forthright and other times very sinister in nature, the hope for God’s enemies is to entrap as many people as possible.

How do we rescue those who have been lured into a false pretense of reality? What can be done to to draw those from the darkness of sin and rebellion into an understanding of God’s redeeming hope?

The enemy lays hold of it’s captives and has no plans to relinquish control.

Isaiah 35:10 “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.“

The ransom note says, “a life for a life”, yet no man qualifies for such a price…

Well, except One.

The Answer

How did God’s Creation come to this? Evil gaining such prominence, apathy and hatred swelling among the nations, and with darkness no longer relegated to the shadows but rather being celebrated in the public domain, the need for men and women of righteousness has never been more critical.

Today in the island country of Haiti is a dilemma has transpired that has been kept relatively quiet. The headlines read “A group of 17 Christian missionaries, including five children, were abducted by an armed gang in Haiti on October 16 while returning from a visit to build an orphanage. The missionaries, who traveled to the country with the U.S.-based Christian Aid Ministries, were seized when the gang set up roadblocks in Ganthier, east of the capital, Port-au-Prince.”

The ransom note for the missionaries—one million dollars for each person.

Psalm 49:5-9 “Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me?They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches. Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God. Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and never see the grave.”

The ransom amount determines the value of those being ransomed. Jesus’ life determined the value of people, the value for life that a world gone astray holds little value for.

Love Personified

God’s love was expressed at the cross.

Matthew 20:25-28 “But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He is God and He came to die as a ransom price for the souls of mankind. The captors are death and Hell and the price to be redeemed from such a fate is steep, but the circumstances have been shifted in favor of those who had no hope.

The captors have been granted their freedom, they only need to accept the only price that could be paid. No one else can pay the price for your life, no other life will do. Every person who has lived has been held by the same cruel oppressor, no one has known freedom from the constraints of sin.

Job 33:23-24 “If there is a messenger for him,
A mediator, one among a thousand,
To show man His uprightness,
Then He is gracious to him, and says,
‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
I have found a ransom’

To find life is to accept the ransom that has been paid for your life. Eternal life is not cheap, anyone can live by this world’s standards and fill themselves up with it’s riches, but in the end what have they gained?

Freedom is a choice to follow Christ with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. It means to leave behind the delusion of this world and all it’s false promises and receive the gift of life that Jesus purchased with His blood.

Until His people are taken home, the Lord has placed a certificate of freedom within the hearts of those who are now His.

Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Until the day of redemption arrives, stay strong, walk in the freedom which you have now received, and do not be encumbered again by a yolk of slavery.