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Response
A ransom is a payment made to secure the release of a captive individual. Jesus paid the ransom to liberate us from sin, death, and hell. Throughout the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, we find God’s instructions for sacrifices. In ancient times, God instructed the Israelites to offer animal sacrifices for atonement; where an animal’s death served as a substitute for a person’s death, as death was the consequence of sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”, (Romans 6:23). Exodus 29:36a states, “Each day you must offer a young bull as a sin offering.”
God requires holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16). The Law of God demands holiness. Due to our sins “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;”, (Romans 3:23); we cannot achieve full holiness before God, thus He requires satisfaction of His Law. The sacrifices met these requirements. This is where Jesus enters the picture. Hebrews 9:12-15 explains: “He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus securing eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people ceremonially, but how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.”
That all who are invited can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.”
Also, read Romans 8:3-4, “The law of Moses could not save us because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”
Clearly, Jesus paid the ransom for our lives to God. That ransom was His own life, the shedding of His blood, a sacrifice. Due to His sacrificial death, each person on earth has the opportunity to accept that gift of atonement and be forgiven by God. For without His death, God’s Law would still need to be satisfied—by our own death.
