What comes to mind when you hear the word “redeem?” Redeeming a coupon at the checkout to get a few cents off your grocery bill? Well, I don’t think that is the concept God was going for in our focus statement today — I am REDEEMED by God.
Before we can truly appreciate being “redeemed by God”, we need to unpack the definition of the Hebrew word for redemption (apolytrōsis). Did you know that that Hebrew word was formed by two separate root words being joined together? (Apo) speaks of any kind of separation of one thing from another by which the union or fellowship of the two is destroyed, and (lytron), which means something to loosen with, i.e. a redemption price (figuratively, atonement):—ransom.
Since the fall in the garden of Eden, the sinful choice of Adam and Eve created a separation between mankind and God. As a result, they were cast out of the garden, no longer having access to God. Mankind was (apo) from God and in need of a (lytron) to pay the ransom for our sin and restore fellowship with God.
In Exodus, God gave Moses a set of standards to obey. The Old Testament refers to those standards as the Law, but there was one big problem – sinful man was incapable of perfect obedience to the Law. The purpose of the Law was in fact to prove to us that we needed something better to atone for our sin and restore us to fellowship with God.
So because of the penalty of sin, coupled with man’s inability to obey, God set up a system of sacrifice, carried out by priests because “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). As sacrifices were offered every year, man’s sin was atoned for, but only temporarily because “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:1, 4).
ENTER JESUS!!!
God sent to earth Jesus, His only Son, to be the perfect sacrifice. Jesus left heaven, came down to earth, took on a human body, and He did what we could never do on our own. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, and He became the perfect sacrifice for the atonement of our sin.
Hebrews 7:27 states that because of the work of Jesus, there is “no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since (Jesus) did this once for all when He offered up Himself”.
Because we are redeemed by God…
- We have forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7).
- We have been bought by God and no longer have the right to live as we please. We are to glorify God in our body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
- We are no longer slaves to sin, but we are children of God who have an inheritance in heaven (Galatians 4:3, 7).
- We have with God the intimate relationship of Daddy and child (Romans 8:15-16).
- We have been delivered from the power of darkness and now have the freedom and power to choose to live life God’s way (Colossians 1:13-14).
When you go through hard times or dark nights of the soul, REMEMBER the truths that, because I am in Christ…
- I am CHOSEN by God
- I am CALLED by God
- I am REGENERATED by God
- I am JUSTIFIED by God
- I am RECONCILED to God
- I am REDEEMED by God.
I hope you will join me next Tuesday as we unpack the truth, “I am ADOPTED by God”.