| Christian Life and Doctrine | July 1967 |
Sacrifice in the Plan of God—Section III
The Ransom Price
IT IS in the New Testament that the various pictures, types, and prophecies of the earlier times are brought together into sharp focus. Emerging from the myriad of animal sacrifices through the centuries, and particularly from the exacting rites of the atonement day services of the tabernacle, Jesus Christ appears before us in brilliant illumination. He is the Lamb of God, the ransom price, the offering for sin. He is the one charged with the responsibility of making the legal atonement for the sin of the world before the bar of God’s justice.
Paul wrote, “Wherefore when he [Jesus] cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God. … By the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”—Heb. 10:5-10
The Heavenly Father had fashioned the various offerings and sacrifices carried out under the Law Covenant, but none of these provided ultimate pleasure for him since they could not actually take away sin. All of these things were typical, pointing forward to the Lamb of God, whose sacrifice would indeed be the propitiation or satisfaction for sin. “For the Law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the corners thereunto perfect.”—Heb. 10:1
But thanks be unto God, the Law foreshadowed a plan of redemption which included the providing of the ransom price—the perfect human being needed to correspond to the first man Adam, who had sinned. In all the world, none could be found to provide a ransom for his brother, since all were imperfect and justly condemned in Adam. (Ps. 49:7)
We believe that Jesus, as the Logos in his prehuman existence, voluntarily consented to the Father’s plan and placed himself at his disposal. No doubt the attitude of Jesus was as expressed by Isaiah: “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isa. 6:8) The Logos was selected to become the antitypical Lamb of God, the one destined to offset the transgression of Adam. But first he was to undergo a change of nature—from the spirit to the human plane—in order that he might qualify as Adam’s equivalent. “A body hast thou prepared me,” Paul quoted Jesus as saying. With God as his Father, Jesus was born into the world “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” a perfect human being. (Heb. 7:26) As such, he was fully capable of providing the corresponding price needed to release Adam and his offspring from the sentence of death. Here is represented the equivalency feature of the sacrifice for sin which is termed the “ransom.”
Jesus himself taught that the main purpose of his earthly ministry was to fulfill this commitment of becoming the ransom price. He said, “the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom [“a price”—Young] for many.” (Matt. 20:28) The Apostle Paul confirmed this when he wrote of “the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom [“a corresponding price”—Young] for all, to be testified in due time.”—I Tim. 2:5,6
As also shown in Scripture, “without shedding of blood [there] is no remission [of sins].” (Heb. 9:22) It is only the shedding of Jesus’ blood and the application of its value that makes possible the actual remission or satisfaction of sins. The use or application of Jesus’ merit to make this atonement for the world is the final step in what is termed the “sin-offering.”
Jesus’ work of sacrifice began at Jordan, where he offered himself to the Father in complete consecration. There he fully surrendered himself. For three and one-half years he continued this work of laying down his life, entailing a course of suffering, humiliation, and misunderstanding by the world. It was finally completed upon the cross of Calvary by his actual death.
We believe that the daily suffering, the sacrificing, and the final death are all included in the thought of the sin-offering. In Hebrews, chapter 13, verses 11 to 13, Paul specifically included Jesus’ suffering as a part of the sin-offering picture. Whereas suffering could not atone for the sins of the world, it was an integral part of the picture from the moment the sacrifice began. Note Isaiah 53:10,12: “Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, … he hath poured out his soul unto death.” Not only at the moment of expiration of life, but for three and one-half years Jesus poured out his soul unto death.
Later we shall study in more detail the purpose of Jesus’ suffering. Briefly, for now, the Scriptures provide the following reasons: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and [thus] being made perfect … We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. … Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.”—Heb. 5:8,9; 4:15; 2:17,18
We thus see that there was room for development and crystallization in the character of the One who had been created morally perfect. By the things which he endured and the experiences encountered, Jesus was being prepared for his future work of assisting others. He will carry out his role as the great Melchisedec Priest—the kingly Priest to bless all nations—against this background of sympathy and understanding which was gained when he “was made in the likeness of men: and … humbled himself, and became obedient unto death.”—Phil. 2:8,9
For those who have come to know and to love their Lord, there is a special blessing which accrues even now in advance of the kingdom age. Yes, these realize that they have a faithful High Priest in the heavens who is ever ready to make intercession for them, to sympathize with their weaknesses, and to minister to their needs. (I John 2:1, Rom. 8:34) And for this truth we are indeed grateful!