A Ransom for Many

 By Alistair Begg

Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Mark 10:45

I like paying bills. I may not like the size of the bills or the frequency with which they come, but it’s wonderful once they’ve actually been paid. Back in the days when bills were often paid in person, I found it especially satisfying to pass my bill across the counter with my payment and then receive it back marked “PAID.” In these verses, Jesus references His death with the little phrase “a ransom for many.” A few Old Testament examples provide context for Jesus’ use of the word “ransom” here. Jewish law stated that when a man’s ox killed someone, both the ox and the owner were to be put to death. However, if a ransom was imposed upon the owner, then he could pay it to redeem his life (Exodus 21:29-30). In other words, the owner of the ox could purchase his own life by paying a sum of money. The same was true of setting a relative free from servitude or releasing a field or piece of property from a mortgage (see Leviticus 25). In each case, the ransom involved a decisive and costly intervention to release someone from a form of captivity. All of these situations in the Old Testament were material plights. What Jesus was referring to, however, was a moral predicament. We are enslaved by sin and have offended God. Jesus explained that only His decisive intervention—this costly purchase of our life—could set us free and make us whole. As the hymn writer puts it, “He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them his very own.”[1] Christ is our ransom. He “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” so that we may be released from our bondage when we place our trust in Him (Galatians 3:13). By His death, Jesus settled the judgment against all who believe in Him. When He cried, “It is finished,” He used the Greek word tetelestai, which was written on a bill to declare that it had been paid (John 19:30). In His Son’s resurrection, the Father provided the receipt of the payment. The debt, which was justifiably leveled against us and too great for us to pay, is now stamped unmistakably: “PAID.” At times, the Evil One will antagonize us and our own hearts will accuse us. “Are you really forgiven? Surely this is one sin too many! Does God really love you? Do you really have a place in glory for all eternity?” When you hear these whispers, remind yourself that Christ strode up to the very bar of justice and settled the account that stood against you. The Father raised Him from the dead; therefore, you can find total security in the fact that He will never again demand payment for any of these accusations. Your account has been settled once and for all. You have been ransomed.

The Great Tribulation and the Wrath of God

 There is some confusion calling for a need to be cleared up concerning the Great Tribulation of the Church and the Wrath of God.

First let us consider that the Holy Bible is divided into three world changing events. First was the Fall in the Garden of Eden whereby Man acceded to the temptation of Satan arbitrarily switching his allegiance, a grievous sin against God. The second was the Crucifixion, Death and the Resurrection of Christ, these two main events are now behind us historically, The third event signaling the close of the age will be the Rapture of the Church with the Second Coming of Christ which is about to happen in God's timing. The Book of Revelation is written in a series of overviews much like a painting. A painter will cover the canvas with a 'wash' to create a background hue and then add other features layer by layer until it's a complete picture. Jesus presented His revelation of coming events in Matthew 24 in the same manner. 

Rather than relying exclusively on the various views of bible commentators, it is wise instead to prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand scripture and reveal truth in the context of God’s own mindset. Each time when  reexamining the scriptures He reveals yet another layer of truth that may have been seemingly hidden because it was previously difficult to understand.

In Revelation 7:9-14 we read; “I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

It becomes clear who the multitude is when one takes into account that there have already been millions who have been martyred for their faith down through the ages and in recent times tens of thousands more throughout various parts of the world. Christians living within the Western world tend to resist acknowledging the fact that the Great Tribulation is and has been in full swing for some time because it's an extremely disquieting subject that many are entirely too comfortable in their own lives to even consider. In spite of popular opinion and what people wish to think, it's descending on Western Nations rapidly indicated by the sudden uptick in slander and vile behavior against Christians and Jews alike.

Some suggest that the following verse has to do with end time tribulation "Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; " Luke 21. This is clearly a reference to 70 AD, the destruction of Jerusalem and scattering of Jews into the Diaspora and has nothing to do with the final Great Tribulation that is world wide in scope.

Revelation chapter 8 and most specifically chapter 9 deals exclusively with the Wrath of God that follows a short time after the Rapture of the church when the Lord unleashes His wrath on those who had refused to acknowledge the Sovereignty of Christ and had persecuted the Church, it is in perfect context in terms of the sequence of events to come and will be a horrifying time on earth that most people would prefer to avoid. What God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, (Acts 3: 18-20) 

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew (25: 31-34 & 41)

An Inside Job

 By Alistair Begg

Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James 1:14-15

Every sin is an inside job. As creatures made in God’s image, we have all kinds of desires, and our desires are not necessarily bad. As a result of the fall, though, all of our longings have an amazing potential for evil. Even God-given desires can be distorted and used for wickedness. We are masters at explaining away our propensity for evil as the fault of the devil, our peers, our heredity, or our environment. Scripture, though, says that we are tempted by our own desires. For all of us, the temptation to disobey God and indulge our desires, whether those desires are evil or distorted, emerges from within. The devil may come and entice us, but only we make the decision to disobey. Jesus made this perfectly clear: “What comes out of a person is what defiles him” (Mark 7:20). Every temptation comes to us when we are dragged away and enticed by our own desires. And temptation, when succumbed to, eventually leads to death. Temptation’s allure is seen so clearly in the folly of fish. They see bait; it shines and it sparkles; they go for it—and they get hooked! If the bait is attractive and appealing enough, fish cannot ignore the hook. Are we really much brighter than fish? If the bait looks pleasing, we try to convince ourselves that there is no hook there. But the hook is there. “Sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” The road of sin leads to the destination of judgment, and on the way it marks our lives in ways that time will never erase—though, in His mercy, God can redeem even these. As long as we live on this earth, we will never be exempt from temptation. In Genesis, God warns Cain, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). This is a telling picture: sin is always waiting inside us, ever ready to pounce upon us. Be determined, then, to deal with every encroaching advancement of sin. It’s a daily battle. Today, refuse to allow your eyes to wander to, your mind to contemplate, or your affections to run after anything which draws you away from Christ. How? By learning to question your desires, asking, “Is this a godly desire I should feed or a sinful desire I should fight?” And learn to wear the armor of God: to “take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). For it is in your faith in God’s Son as your Ruler and your Rescuer that you find both power to stand firm and forgiveness when you fall.

Staying Awake

 By Alistair Begg

The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed … Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

Romans 13:11, Romans 13:13

“Careless talk costs lives,” proclaimed a campaign by the British Government during the Second World War. The government wanted people to be aware of the danger around them: that listening enemy ears were ready to pounce on any slip of the tongue. Here, Paul gives us a similar warning for our Christian lives: carelessness can cost lives. Carelessness makes us susceptible to danger. So many of us live carelessly when it comes to our spiritual lives, walking about in a kind of moral dream, failing to stay awake and alert to the dangers around us. That leaves us vulnerable. Consider just two reasons why it is vital that we stay awake and alert in our pursuit of purity. First, the apostle Peter tells us, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Let’s not kid ourselves: sin is predatory. The enemy is a lion. Recall the way the Lord spoke to Cain when he was angry with his brother: “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). Do you know who makes for easy prey? An isolated Christian. When we’re isolated, we’re vulnerable and without accountability. We “walk properly” most easily in godly company. As children of the daytime, we must not be lured by the darkness, because darkness creates isolation. A passion for purity demands that we walk in the light and with the children of light. Second, we must stay awake and stay alert because eternity awaits. What is it that made the heroes of Hebrews 11 worthy of the title “heroes”? They were looking for a city beyond them. They looked for a city whose foundation and builder was God (Hebrews 11:10). Moses, for example, did not succumb to the lure of instant gratification. He did not sell his soul for the moment. He did not give up his ministry, future, and family for comfort and privilege. He chose instead a more difficult course. And what was the explanation? “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward” (v 26). Moses was not without blemish, and neither are we. But that must not excuse us from living for the sake of Christ in matters of purity. After all, our salvation is drawing ever closer, and we want to be found ready for the Lord Jesus when He appears. Whatever your past has been, whatever your recent mistakes and disappointments, it’s not too late to wake up and stay alert. The enemy will not sleep, and eternity will be worth it. Ask God today to write a commitment on your heart to a life of purity, so that today you would walk properly and carefully, with your head up and your eyes fixed on that glorious future day of your salvation.

He Humbled Himself

 By Alistair Begg

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth … from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

John 1:14, John 1:16

The actor Steve McQueen led an amazing, albeit sometimes sordid, life. He died in 1980, but before illness claimed him, a faithful pastor shared the gospel with him, and he bowed down and trusted in Christ. After his conversion, he had a faithful routine of Bible study and Sunday worship that went unnoticed by the public. He remained in awe of the truth that though his life was messy with divorces, addictions, and poor moral choices, God would show him such love. McQueen grew to understand that God had made him nothing so that in the discovery of his nothingness, he might then become something. God does the same with us as well. In this, we are called to follow the pattern of Jesus Himself. From the day of His birth, Christ set aside His previously uninterrupted glory in order to come to this fallen, helpless world on our behalf. He came not on a chariot but to a manger; He came not with a scepter but to a stable. Jesus was as much an earthly servant as He is the heavenly sovereign. To say that He made Himself nothing, however, doesn’t mean that He transitioned from being God to being man, and then back to being God again. When we read that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” we should reflect on the awe-inspiring paradox that our marvelous Savior poured Himself into His humanity without giving up His deity. He is fully God and fully man! Our finite human minds sometimes focus on Christ’s deity so much that we don’t remember that He was no less human than you or me; and at other times we can become so preoccupied with His humanity that we lose sight of His divinity. The Scriptures hold Christ’s two natures in perfect tension: although He was found in human form (Philippians 2:8), He was not merely who He appeared to be. There is more to Jesus than meets the eye. He may have looked just like any other man, but no other man can stand in a boat during a storm and calm the sea. Only God can heal the lame or restore sight to the blind. This man alone deserves the worship of angels and the praise of all creation. Yet Jesus didn’t approach the incarnation asking, What’s in it for Me? Instead, He arrived knowing that He “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). He was willing to leave everything and become nothing so that those who acknowledge their nothingness can be given everything. He became flesh so that He might serve, and He beautifully modeled humility to all who might follow Him. How will you look to His example in your tasks and responsibilities today?

Children of God

 By Alistair Begg

To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:12-13

In some churches, it’s routine to speak of the universal fatherhood of God and the resulting brotherhood of man. But we ought to be mindful of the limits of such claims. While in one sense it is true that we are all God’s children by virtue of creation, the New Testament reminds us that we are also “children of wrath” who are lost and need to be adopted into God’s family (Ephesians 2:3). We don’t become God’s children by any natural process. It is not the result of human genetics or even human effort. No one is born into God’s kingdom—which is why Jesus told Nicodemus, a religious man with an impeccable Jewish lineage, that he had to be born again (John 3:3). Becoming a child of God is a spiritual process—something that God, in His mercy and grace, does on our behalf. Think about your physical birth. You didn’t have any control over it. It wasn’t something you achieved. The same is true of our new birth in Christ. When God causes someone to be born again, the new life that follows is only possible because of His authority. He alone can give us the right to become His children. It has been said that the emperor Napoleon was once nearly unseated from his horse when he dropped the reins in order to read some papers he was carrying with him. When the horse started to rear up, a young corporal quickly intervened by grabbing the horse’s bridle. Napoleon turned to him and said, “Thank you, Captain.” “Of what company, Sire?” the soldier asked. “Of my guards,” answered Napoleon.[1] In an instant, the man was promoted, received access to the headquarters of the general staff, and took his place among the emperor’s officers. When asked by others what he was doing, he could respond that he was the captain of the guard by the authority of the emperor himself. If you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are a child of God. God has stamped your life with a new identity, and nobody can dispute it. You can live with the great assurance that Jesus, the King of Kings and the captain of your salvation, has made it possible for you to be numbered among God’s children. That is the great reality that is now the heart of your identity, whoever you are and whatever is going on in your life. That is the great reality that enables you to go into each day with your head up, confident that whatever happens, you are a child of God.

Challenging God’s Authority

 By Alistair Begg

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

John 1:11

Many actors think they’re fit to play the role of Hamlet. In many instances, though, they’re simply not. They just don’t have the ability and experience to do it—though, of course, that doesn’t necessarily stop them trying! Similarly, all men and women are at some point tempted to challenge God’s authority over their lives, wrongly believing that they can play a role for which He alone is suited. We often fail to trust His divine hand in our circumstances. Instead, we question His sovereign will. We try to steal the part for which only the Creator God is fit. Resistance to God’s authority is nothing new. While Jesus came down to earth in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, throughout His ministry He was unwelcomed by His own people. Israel had been waiting for the Messiah—but once He arrived, they questioned His authority and rejected His identity. They knew these prophecies, yet they were blind to their fulfillment. Days before He died at the hands of Jewish religious leaders as well as Gentile rulers, Jesus told His parable of the wicked tenants who rejected the vineyard owner and killed his son. The Lord was graciously and boldly pointing out the blindness of the chief priests, scribes, and elders, who were demanding that He justify His actions (Mark 12:1-12). They understood that Jesus was claiming to be God’s Son. Yet having just been warned by Jesus that they were acting like the tenants who had seized the owner’s son, these men then (with tragic irony) immediately wanted to arrest Him. It is tempting to think, “How presumptuous of those religious leaders to confront the King of the universe and challenge His authority!” But each of us was once no different from them. In our own sinful nature, we didn’t want to receive the Son whom God sent. We were inclined to live in darkness. Actually, we quite liked the darkness! John captures it well when he says that light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19). People by nature are not by sitting and waiting for the light of the gospel to come into their hearts. Yet by His grace, God opens blind eyes to see the identity of His Son so that people trust and worship Him. That is why the Bible always speaks in the “now.” There is no day better than today to live for Christ. Even as believers, we are called to continual repentance and restoration in our walk with the Lord rather than choosing to play God in our own lives. As our hearts grow more sensitive to our sin and we experience His continued patience towards us, His kindness will lead us to holiness. And when you live with God at the center of your life, with Him playing the part that only He can, you find that you are able joyfully and confidently to fulfill the role He has given you—to live out the life He has gifted you and the purpose for which He invited you onto the “stage”: a life spent enjoying, knowing, and serving Him.