Was the will of the Father regarding Jesus' execution, payment (Him to be paid), or was His will the offering of a gift? To the Hebrew people, nothing about the word redemption when involving divine matters, required payment or a ransom. Redemption in divine, not human matters, required no payment of a ransom. It was freely given. That was the meaning of the Hebrew word. Grace itself, from the Hebrew chen, means basically 'loving-kindness'. Is grace (loving-kindness) then grace if it requires a payment?
Does a gift need to be paid for or can it be something given of self? The cross symbolized that man's will was no match for the will of God and that God's will would prevail beyond what man considered a final solution. All man dies and Jesus' death was used to show not only God's power over man (and the Adversary) but also became the first resurrection into the new Kingdom, a fitting action for it's King. Man can kill the body, but only God can do as He wills with the soul. By our very nature as humans God knew the outcome of Jesus' teachings would be His death at the hands of man. It's kinda how we operate when someone tells us our ways are backwards, so Jesus' demise was rather predictable. Why not use it for His purposes? Don't forget, Jesus always had choice and all through His life He chose the will of the Father over the will of man, setting the perfect example for the rest of us.
When it comes to ransom, if indeed He paid a price, who was it given to? When the Hebrew people, or groups within, found themselves or others of their tribes captive or enslaved, it was common practice to collect money to pay a ransom (seek redemption) to free the captives or slaves, or acts of redemption as they were called, were performed for such a result. Jesus sacrificed Himself as an act of redemption. Who was it paid to but the captors. So if a ransom was paid on the cross, it was paid according to human tradition, to our captor in order to free us and give us entrance to the Kingdom. Was that captor God or the Adversary? Did God die to pay off the Adversary? Any wonder Jesus taught us to repent, to chose either the Adversary's confinement and ways, or the Kingdom and it's ways, then act accordingly. If a ransom was paid, do not the captured still have to chose whether to remain under the rules of this world or instead to become free, verifying that choice by our actions? Jesus did the work. We must make a choice. Retain the world of self or focus instead on others. Allegiance is everything.
© ...timothyu
Does a gift need to be paid for or can it be something given of self? The cross symbolized that man's will was no match for the will of God and that God's will would prevail beyond what man considered a final solution. All man dies and Jesus' death was used to show not only God's power over man (and the Adversary) but also became the first resurrection into the new Kingdom, a fitting action for it's King. Man can kill the body, but only God can do as He wills with the soul. By our very nature as humans God knew the outcome of Jesus' teachings would be His death at the hands of man. It's kinda how we operate when someone tells us our ways are backwards, so Jesus' demise was rather predictable. Why not use it for His purposes? Don't forget, Jesus always had choice and all through His life He chose the will of the Father over the will of man, setting the perfect example for the rest of us.
When it comes to ransom, if indeed He paid a price, who was it given to? When the Hebrew people, or groups within, found themselves or others of their tribes captive or enslaved, it was common practice to collect money to pay a ransom (seek redemption) to free the captives or slaves, or acts of redemption as they were called, were performed for such a result. Jesus sacrificed Himself as an act of redemption. Who was it paid to but the captors. So if a ransom was paid on the cross, it was paid according to human tradition, to our captor in order to free us and give us entrance to the Kingdom. Was that captor God or the Adversary? Did God die to pay off the Adversary? Any wonder Jesus taught us to repent, to chose either the Adversary's confinement and ways, or the Kingdom and it's ways, then act accordingly. If a ransom was paid, do not the captured still have to chose whether to remain under the rules of this world or instead to become free, verifying that choice by our actions? Jesus did the work. We must make a choice. Retain the world of self or focus instead on others. Allegiance is everything.
© ...timothyu
