DAILY BREAD, FRIDAY, 2-9-07
TRADING PLACES
Neal Pollard
Neal Pollard
Ed Leonard of British Columbia had been working about a month in the northern half of the volatile country of Columbia when he was kidnapped by guerrillas who were trying to raise money for the drug lords and revolutionaries who controlled much of the country. Leonard had been fed beans and rice for 106 days in a remote mountainous region 300 miles north of Bogota, while the guerrillas were in contact with his employers.
Negotiations took a strange turn when Leonard's boos, a Mr. Reinhart, arrived with an amazing offer. Instead of paying off these captors, Reinhart gave himself as a ransom so that Leonard could be set free. Reinhart took his place. So, day after day, Reinhart experienced what Leonard had. Both men were Canadian, worked for the same company, and they both had families. Reinhart left behind a wife and two daughters. Fortunately, Reinhart was later able to walk out of the camp alive and well. Reinhart is rightly remembered as a hero.
How clearly this illustrates, at least in some small way, man's predicament. The Bible teaches that mankind was hopelessly enslaved and held captive by sin (Luke 4:18; Rom. 6:17; 2 Tim. 2:26). Jesus taught, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34). Since all accountable persons sin (Rom. 3:23), none had any means whereby to negotiate his own salvation.
In response, God "gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). He came in a robe of flesh (Gal. 4:4; Rom. 8:3; John 1:14). Without giving up His divine nature (John 18:5), Jesus came to earth in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7). All-God and all-man all at once, the One superior to all offered Himself in the place of all (Titus 2:11; Heb. 9:14). He traded the endless glory of heaven for sacrificial sojourn, the climax of which was the suffering of the cross. The end result of heaven's scheme of redemption is that "being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Rom. 5:9). Jesus "gave himself a ransom for all..." (1 Tim. 2:6).
Negotiations took a strange turn when Leonard's boos, a Mr. Reinhart, arrived with an amazing offer. Instead of paying off these captors, Reinhart gave himself as a ransom so that Leonard could be set free. Reinhart took his place. So, day after day, Reinhart experienced what Leonard had. Both men were Canadian, worked for the same company, and they both had families. Reinhart left behind a wife and two daughters. Fortunately, Reinhart was later able to walk out of the camp alive and well. Reinhart is rightly remembered as a hero.
How clearly this illustrates, at least in some small way, man's predicament. The Bible teaches that mankind was hopelessly enslaved and held captive by sin (Luke 4:18; Rom. 6:17; 2 Tim. 2:26). Jesus taught, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34). Since all accountable persons sin (Rom. 3:23), none had any means whereby to negotiate his own salvation.
In response, God "gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). He came in a robe of flesh (Gal. 4:4; Rom. 8:3; John 1:14). Without giving up His divine nature (John 18:5), Jesus came to earth in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7). All-God and all-man all at once, the One superior to all offered Himself in the place of all (Titus 2:11; Heb. 9:14). He traded the endless glory of heaven for sacrificial sojourn, the climax of which was the suffering of the cross. The end result of heaven's scheme of redemption is that "being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Rom. 5:9). Jesus "gave himself a ransom for all..." (1 Tim. 2:6).
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