“I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
I shall redeem them from Death.
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.”
– Hosea 13:14
These words of the ancient prophet Hosea find their ultimate fulfillment in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus sacrificed His innocent life for ours. He suffered in physical and spiritual agony on the cross, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose from the dead victorious over death and sin!
To ransom someone is to pay for their release. To redeem them is to buy their freedom from bondage. Jesus ransomed and redeemed us, paying for our freedom with His shed blood and broken body. Because He paid that terrible price, all who put their faith in Him are ransomed and redeemed forever! We’re set free from the terrible power of sin in our lives, we are free from the terrible eternal penalty for our sin, and we are free from death, for we will rise in Christ!
At a time when death is more prominently visible than usual in our modern world, let us remember that for all those redeemed by the blood of Christ, death has no sting, it is merely our passage into the presence of God forever!