Whoa. This same God - who "made [his only Son, Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21), who "shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8) - puts such an inconceivable value on our souls that he gives nations in return for us. Though we are merely "wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17), for some reason, he sees us as precious in his sight and gives entire peoples in exchange for our lives. All of this, just so our gracious God, "desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory" (Romans 9:22-23).For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.
There is nothing in the pangs of death or the wellsprings of life, no ancient angelic rulers in the heights of heaven above or demonic authorities in the depths of hell below, no present or future eschatological powers in the ages to come, nor anything that we can possibly imagine within the realms of creation that could possibly exhaust, thwart, disturb, or extend farther than the arms of our heavenly Father in Christ Jesus are willing and able to save and forever sustain us from. Is there anything he has withheld? Anything he wouldn't give to have us as his own?
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