But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God
— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
1 Corinthians 1:30
To modern Americans, redemption is little more than buying back a wedding ring or set of power tools from the pawn shop. There is not a lot of risk involved, and losses are not disastrous. However, in past history, failure to pay off a debt could result in years in prison, a lifetime of slavery, or worse.
In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Antonio, a cash-poor but wealthy ship owner cosigns a loan from a businessman who holds deep resentment towards him. The loan is without interest, but if it isn’t paid back in full by a certain date, the adversary demands a “pound of flesh.” Antonio loses his ships in a storm and has nothing to pay with on the day of reckoning. Even when others offer double the original sum, the lender is not satisfied and demands that the contract be followed to the letter.
Satan wants far more than a pound of flesh from every man, woman, and child. He wants their souls to suffer the torments of hell along with him forever. Sinful man is the property, and the redemption price is unimaginable torment and suffering. When Christ was rejected by His nation, betrayed by a friend, mocked and beaten by thugs, whipped until His back was raw, and then nailed to a cross to die, He redeemed the whole human race. Our freedom from hell and the bondage of sin wasn’t cheap.
People blame God for eternal judgment in the lake of fire, but He is not the responsible one. Sinners are debtors to Satan, and he is the one who demands that the wages of sin be paid in full. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, on the other hand, who offers to be their Redemption.
March 24
