Understanding what our salvation cost

Freedom is a word we can throw around casually. We celebrate our freedoms, we fight for our freedoms, and we take pride in living in a free society. But there's one freedom that surpasses all others—the freedom from sin that comes through Jesus Christ. And while this freedom is freely given to us, it came at an extraordinary cost.

The Slavery We Don't Recognize
In John 8, Jesus had a profound conversation with some Jews who believed in Him. He told them, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Their response reveals a fundamental misunderstanding that persists today: "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"

Jesus replied with words that cut to the heart of the human condition: "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."

This is perhaps the most difficult truth for people to accept. We can sometimes acknowledge that we sin—that we make mistakes, that we're not perfect. But to admit we are slaves to sin? That feels like a step too far. After all, don't we have free will? Don't we make choices every day?

The reality is that unsaved people do have a certain level of freedom, but it's like a truck with a governor that prevents it from exceeding a certain speed. The sin nature acts as that governor, limiting how far we can truly go in righteousness. We may choose not to commit certain sins, but we're still operating within the constraints of our fallen nature.

The Cost of Freedom
Isaiah 53 stands as one of the most remarkable prophecies in all of Scripture. Written approximately 700 years before Christ, it describes with stunning precision what the Messiah would endure. The prophecy is so accurate that even liberal scholars have argued it must have been written after the fact—unable to accept that God could reveal the future with such clarity.

The chapter begins with a sobering question: "Who has believed our message?" Isaiah knew that even with such clear prophecy, people would reject the truth. And they did. They still do.

An Ordinary Appearance
"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." The Messiah wouldn't come as a stunning physical specimen who would draw crowds based on His looks alone. He would be ordinary in appearance—just an average guy you might pass on the street without a second glance.

Why does this matter? Because the message had to be what attracted people, not the messenger's physical appearance. If Jesus had been remarkably handsome or impressive in stature, people might have followed Him for the wrong reasons. The attractiveness of Christ had to be spiritual, not physical.

Rejected and Despised
"He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain."

Before we came to Christ, this was us. We turned our backs on Him. We rejected the very one who came to save us. And imagine the heartbreak Jesus experienced, knowing He was going to die for people who would want nothing to do with Him.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem during His final week, He wept over the city. He grieved because He knew that the very people He was dying for would reject Him. Can you imagine that level of sorrow? It's like a parent who does everything right, teaches their child the right path, only to watch that child spiral into destruction. The pain isn't primarily physical—it's the crushing weight of rejection.

The Weight of Sin
"Surely he took our pain and bore our suffering." Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would bear our sins upon Himself. But for those of us who haven't lived under the Old Testament sacrificial system, it can be challenging to fully grasp what this means.

In ancient Israel, when someone sinned, they would bring an animal—a lamb, a goat—to be sacrificed. But before the animal was killed, the person would place their hand on the animal's head. This act symbolized the transfer of sin from the person to the animal. Then—and this is crucial—it wasn't the priest who killed the animal. It was the person who brought the offering. They had to slit the animal's throat themselves.

Imagine having to do that. Imagine placing your hand on an innocent animal, knowing your sins are being transferred to it, and then having to end its life. That animal was dying because of you.

Now multiply that by every sin ever committed by every person who has ever lived or will ever live. That's what Jesus bore. The guilt of humanity from Adam and Eve to the end of time was placed upon Him.

Second Corinthians 5:21 puts it this way: "God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ."

Pierced, Crushed, and Punished
"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

The punishment Jesus endured—the beating, the mocking, the crucifixion—that was what we deserved. Every stripe, every nail, every moment of agony was the price of our sin. Jesus wasn't on the cross because He deserved it. He was there in our place.

And notice what His sacrifice accomplished: peace. Not the peace of God, but peace with God. Before salvation, we were at enmity with God. We were His enemies. But through Christ's sacrifice, we have been reconciled.

Silent Submission
"He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth."

Jesus could have called down legions of angels. When Peter tried to defend Him with a sword, Jesus told him to put it away. He didn't complain. He didn't protest the injustice. He didn't cry out, "This isn't fair!"

He simply went to the cross.

And remarkably, no one protested on His behalf. The very people He came to save either rejected Him or remained silent as He was executed.

The Resurrection Hope
But Isaiah 53 doesn't end with death. Verse 10 says, "Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days."

Do you see it? The prophecy speaks of His death but also of His resurrection. He will "see his offspring and prolong his days." Death would not have the final word.

Never Take It for Granted
Here's the challenge for those of us who follow Christ: it's easy to take our freedom for granted. We didn't pay for our salvation. We didn't earn it. It was freely given to us.

But free for us doesn't mean it was free.

Politicians love to promise free things—free money, free services, free benefits. But nothing is truly free. Someone always pays the cost. And when it comes to our salvation, Jesus paid the price we could never pay.

When we forget what our freedom cost, we become vulnerable. We're tempted to give in to sin, to turn away from Christ, to exchange the freedom He purchased for a moment of pleasure. How tragic it would be to take the freedom bought at such a price and squander it.

Living in Gratitude
The antidote to taking our salvation for granted is remembering. Remembering what we were saved from. Remembering the weight of sin that Jesus bore. Remembering the physical, emotional, and spiritual anguish He endured. Remembering that He did it willingly because He loved us.

When we truly grasp what our freedom cost, it transforms how we live. We don't pursue holiness out of obligation but out of gratitude. We don't resist sin because we're afraid of punishment but because we understand the price that was paid to free us from sin's power.

You are free. But you are not free because freedom is cheap. You are free because Someone loved you enough to pay the highest price imaginable.

Never forget what your freedom cost.