The Wednesday Word
A GREAT RANSOM!
by D.G. Miles McKee
I Timothy 2:6 tells us that Jesus “gave Himself as a ransom.”
Now, to ‘stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance,’ a ransom is a price paid to purchase someone's freedom. And that’s what Jesus did for His people when He died on the cross.
In A.D. 1193, the King of England, Richard I, also known as Richard the Lionheart, was returning from leading a crusade to the Holy Land. As he journeyed through Europe, Leopold V of Austria captured him and demanded a ransom for Richard's release. The ransom price demanded was to be the equivalent value of three tons of silver … an enormous demand. But the people of England loved their king and they submitted to extra taxation, and many nobles donated their fortunes for Richard's release. After many months, the money was raised, paid and King Richard returned to England. That's where we get the expression, “a King's Ransom.”
But to believers, the term “a King's Ransom” could better be applied to the tremendous price Jesus, the King of Kings, paid for us on the cross. King Jesus wasn't being ransomed. He wasn’t being held in captivity. It was His people who were in prison. This King paid the ransom so that His people would be set free.
Jesus said, “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10: 45). In saying this, He not only showed His love for us but also declared one of the great purposes of His incarnation. Up to this point in man's history, the solemn word of the Psalmist had been true, “None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him” (Psalm 49:7). Every man was a captive servant of sin and needed redemption. But no one could redeem his brother before God, for he himself needed redemption. So, in due time, the Saviour arrived. Being Himself sinless, He was free from the sentence of death. He was uniquely qualified to become the ransom.
He came.
He died on the cross.
He bore our sins.
He sustained our judgment.
He drank the cup of wrath to the very dregs.
In being our ransom, Jesus made atonement for sin before God, defeated Satan in his own domain … death … broke the bonds of the tomb, arose victorious, and ascended in righteousness to the very throne of God, where, as a Man, He now sits.
This is good news indeed! Jesus promised He would give His life “a ransom for many.” The ransom has been paid and the believer is delivered from going down to the pit; (Job 33:24). So, let me ask you, “Are you ransomed?" If not, or if you are not sure, let me urge you to believe the gospel. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to be your Saviour.
It is with sadness I tell you that those who die without Christ will taste the wrath of God. Are you prepared to face the inevitable consequences of rejecting Christ?
I urge you flee from the wrath to come (Romans 5:9)! There has been a great ransom paid for believers by the Lord Jesus Christ. His word to us is “Come to Me and I will give you rest.” He is our Ransom. We have been paid for in full!
“Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom
Shed for us His precious blood.”
-William Rees
And that’s the Gospel Truth!
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