Advent 2013 – Matthew 20.28 – To Give His Life a Ransom

We were created to be owned. To be unowned is to be disowned. Contrary to our culture’s incessant preaching, freedom is not belonging to oneself. To belong to oneself is to be an orphan. It is to not belong. Freedom is belonging. In truth, there is no such thing as belonging to oneself. We can belong to the one who hates us, even Satan, which is slavery. Or we can belong to the One who loves us, even God, which is freedom. Freedom is what redemption is about. And because redemption is about freedom, it is also about ownership, and specifically about being owned by Christ who loved us and gave his life a ransom for us (Mat 20.28). “Do you not know that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price.” (1Cor 6.19-20.) Blessed truth. This is what Zacharias sang about in the very first advent season:

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, … that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, … that we … might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness … all the days of our life.” (Luke 1.68-75.)

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