WHO RECEIVED THE RANSOM CHRIST PAID

           For even the Son of Man did not come
           to be servd, but to serve, and to give
          his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

       Who received the ransom, that is, the payment Christ
paid, not with silver or gold, but with suffering and death
on the cross?

         Answering this question in the usual manner regarding
the recipient of the ransom  would  indicate  that the  Devil
received the payment. It is true that prior to Christ's offering
of  ransom for many man and the Devil were in alignment,
not man and God. The genesis of man's estrangement from
God bagan with the  first man Adam in the Garden of Eden
who disobeyed God, and caused the fall. After  the fall
every human being was born in sin and separated from God.

       But it was not the Devil who received payment from
the Son of Man who gave his life for the ransom for
many. Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as
a  fragrant offering sacrifice to God. Eph. 5:2

         Who received the ransom Christ paid? It was
God who received the ransom Christ paid to redeem
man. It was God who man had sinned against. The
death of Christ freed man from the condemnation of
God. Only the Son of Man, the sinless one, was able
to redeem man and make it possible for man to be
reconciled with God.

      God needed man to love him. Everything God
created, except man, was not capable of loving Him.
Everything He created could praise Him. Even the
rocks could praise Him. As the Psalmist declared,
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. Psa.150:6.  But man  can  praise
and love God. Only  man can say, We loved him
because he first loved us. 1Jn. 4:19. Before the
flood God was greived because of man. The Lord
was grieved that he had made man upon the
face of the earh, and his heart was filled with
pain. Gen.6.6. Only  the lost of those  loved can
cause such grief. God need man to love Him.

     With the death of Christ God was pleased.
For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only son, that whoever believes in
him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jn. 3:16.

       In Jesus' suffering and death the Devil was
defeated, man  was  redeemed  and  God was
glorified. Henceforth  God  forbid that there be
any  thought  that  Satan  received  the ransom
Christ paid in his death on the cross.

Copyright 2014 by Uriah J. Fields

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