Ransom

Hosea 13:14
Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

In 1963 young Frank Sinatra (19 at the time) was kidnapped by three men after performing a show in Reno, Nevada. Knowing that Sinatra’s father was quite wealthy, the kidnappers made a demand for $240,000 in ransom. A drop location was agreed upon by the kidnappers and Sinatra’s father. After the money was gathered it was placed in a briefcase in-between two buses in Sepulveda, California, where the abductors would take the money and run. Out of love for his Son, Sinatra’s father willingly gave up a large sum of money (about $2 million in today’s currency), so that he could see his son again. There was no sum too large that the father wasn’t willing to pay. To him, his son was worthy of everything he had.

In the Garden of Eden, we were taken captive. It wasn’t as if we were kidnapped though, our rebellious hearts willingly gave ourselves over to sin. We walked freely of from holiness into a life of sin. We lived in complete harmony with God, enjoying his presence daily, and yet we traded it all in for a lie that we could be our own gods. We walked freely to our captors. This sin came with a price, “you [shall] return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and you shall return to dust.” (Genesis 3:19) The price of our sin was death, spiritual and physical death.  

Yet, out of His love for his most prized possessions, God willingly paid the highest price possible: the life of the Son of God. There was no sum too large that the Father wasn’t willing to pay. To Him, his creation was worth sending His Son to earth to be our ransom. Through his death and resurrection, the price held over the heads of mankind, because of our willing rejection of Him, was paid. Christ became our ransom, so that we could be given new life. In Him, our freedom has been purchased.

Reflect on the sum paid by Christ. Take time to thank him for paying the price of your sin by placing himself on a cross.

What characteristics of God can you take note of in his willingness to pay the price for our sin?


Dear Lord, we give you praise that through the ransom you paid we are set free from the bondage of sin. Thank you for taking our death so that we might have life. Thank you that you loved us so much that no price was too high to redeem us for your glory.