The ransom for our life

“the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough” Psalm 49:8
When we hear the word ‘ransom’, we think of it as being a large sum of money demanded by a kidnapper in order to release their prisoner. What a fitting picture this is for us, in terms of being held captive by sin and a payment being required to release us. Under the Old Testament law, restitution could be made for certain types of sins. The theft of a sheep could be forgiven by making restitution four times over (Ex. 22:1). Certain things could be redeemed back by adding an extra 20% to their value (Lev. 27:13, 19, 27). But when a sin had been committed such that death was required, no restitution could be made (Lev. 27:28-29, c.f. Lev. 24:21). Such sins included adultery (Lev. 20:10), murder (Ex. 21:14, Num. 35:16-19), kidnapping (Ex. 21:16), cursing parents (Ex. 21:17, Lev. 20:9), blasphemy (Lev. 24:16), working on the Sabbath (Ex. 31:14-15, Ex. 35:2), child sacrifice (Lev. 20:2), homosexuality (Lev. 20:13), witchcraft (Lev. 20:27), etc. All sin separates us from God. This condemns us all, for we have all sinned, and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). We cannot redeem ourselves from this predicament. There is no ransom we can make, no bargaining that we can do with God to escape it. But there is a way out – provided by God Himself. “But God will redeem my life from the grave; He will surely take me to Himself” (Ps. 49:15). The cost of our redemption was great – it took the death of God’s own Son. This payment was the only one that could ever be enough. Now all we have to do is accept this truth, and believe that it has been applied to us.