The Ransom

By Heather Arbuckle –

My husband and I love to snuggle up and watch movies. It’s one of our hobbies together. Our friends tease us that we have seen every movie that has ever been made. Despite our best efforts, I am sure we have missed a few. One movie I have been thinking about a lot the past couple of weeks is the movie “Ransom.”

Imagine your child has been kidnapped. That is the gist of this 1996 thriller starring Mel Gibson. I know. It’s a nightmare none of us wants to consider. But hang with me for just a bit. Picture it now. You precious son or daughter, lost to you, can be purchased back…for a ransom. That’s what God did for you, His child, through Christ.

Scripture teaches us “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Furthermore, “there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people” (1Timothy 2:5-7). Because of sin, all mankind has been captured by an enemy who seeks our destruction. After all, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Because of the fall of man, we are all born into sin. We are told “for this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:14-16). You have been ransomed.

When I consider the fact that my Heavenly Father sent me a ransom in Christ, before I even took a breath, I am filled with wonder. Truly, His great love is too big for me to fully comprehend. But when I filter these events through a parental lens, I see more clearly. For if one of my precious children were taken from me, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to bring them home. My kids are precious to me and worth any ransom. That is who you are to God.

God, The Father, saw his children captive to sin and sent a ransom in Jesus Christ. I could not free myself. Not with good deeds. Not with charity. Not with social justice. Neither can you. Only Christ can free us from the captivity of sin. Through Christ alone, the ransom was paid in full. My ransom. Your ransom. He is the ransom for us all.