There are two verses, but not the only two of course, in the Scriptures that I have never truly understood. I have read men’s words on them who were far wiser than myself, and although they attempted in all humility to expound upon them, they also recognized that some parts of the Almighty are hidden from us and may always be in His Word. We accept in faith His truths and continue to follow even in those moments.
The first verse is this, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
It is inconceivable to me that the Sovereign Lord of all creation could lose something. I can understand why those angels who rebelled can never return to their first estate, I can even understand, though not completely, predestination and the free will of mankind to choose their own path. But I cannot understand how the Living God can lose the souls of men.
The choice in the garden of Eden of Adam to harken to the voice of his wife the Lord knew about long before He ever created our first parents, He knew when He created Lucifer that He would be changing his name to Satan.
“Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” (Eze. 28:15)
Who put that iniquity there?
Because something is placed before us does not mean we need to accept it. If you lose something it is either lost forever or found by another. The answer to that first verse may be found in that moment in the Garden of Eden. Nothing escapes the knowledge of the Most High, so perhaps the word “lost” may be said in this way, “Gave up willingly.”
I cannot say, this glass is just as dark to me as the second verse is.
“Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1st Tim. 2:6)
Paying a ransom is generally done to receive back what someone has stolen from you. In my mind I cannot see Satan making a deal with the Almighty, “Kill your Son and I will let you have some of them.” That is ludicrous to say the least, yet there is that word “ransom.”
If Satan stole something from Adam, then mankind has no free will, but we do, or none of us would need to give an account to the Lord, so, at least as far as my feeble brain can comprehend, it was not Satan that the ransom needed to be paid to.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)
Was it God’s wrath upon all mankind that this ransom was needed for? And if so, how do we account for verses such as Romans 8:29. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Why would those who have, in all essence, been saved by grace before the foundation of the world, yet not negating the free will of every man and woman, need to be ransomed? From what?
All the lost will be found because they have been ransomed.
To put it quite bluntly my friends, sometimes some of these letters to you bring nothing more to my mind but more questions. But I still pray quite regularly for more wisdom, for it is the only way that I know to seek the face of God, not by questioning the validity of His Word, for it is inerrant, but because I want to know Him better.
I do not do conjecture, the cost of being wrong is too high, but I do seek for knowledge, in this sense, and when these types of questions are asked, I do not need an answer, He cannot be more Sovereign, more worthy of my praise than He already is.
“I was lost, but now I am found.”
That is enough for me, I pray it’s enough for you.
