Foundation of the Christian Faith

Course:  Salvation

Lesson Three

 

Title:  Redemption

 

Text:  Romans 3:24, 'Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus'.

 

Introduction:  Meaning of redemption.

Redeemed (Greek 'lutroo') means to set free upon the payment of a ransom.

The New Testament understanding of redemption is that:

1)  We are born slaves in bondage to sin.

2)  A payment must be made to set us free from bondage

3)  We have been bought with a price and now belong to Another

It is deliverance from bondage to liberty.

 

Set Free

Redemption is deliverance from being servants of sin to becoming the servants of righteousness.

Redemption is a process that will be completed when the Lord returns and the outward bodies will be changed into His likeness.

1)  We are saved from the penalty of sin (Justification)

2)  We are being saved from the power of sin (Sanctification)

3) We shall be saved from the presence of sin (Glorification)

A person who has been redeemed will seek to walk in the liberty of righteousness.

 

Paying a ransom

We associate a ransom with kidnapping.

A ransom is paid to free a person who has been wrongfully taken and is unable to free him or herself.

But ransom in the Bible refers to 'making atonement'.   

The meaning is that a ransom must be paid to reconcile man to God.

 

Question: Who demands the payment of a ransom?

A ransom had to be paid that satisfied the holiness of God.

If God ignored the demands of holiness then He would be denying Himself which He cannot do.

To redeem His people from sin God had to make a way where the sinner could be free from sin while at the same time justice was not compromised and the holiness of God fully satisfied.

The only One who could pay this price for us was the eternal Son of God who became Man and shed His blood on our behalf. 

 

Introductory Story:  Can God can do anything?

People generally have the idea that because God is all powerful, He is free to do anything He wants.

One time when I was speaking to young people, I asked the question ‘Do you believe God can do anything?’

They answered ‘Yes, God can do anything’.

Then to everyone’s surprise, I said ‘No, God cannot do anything’.

God must act in accordance with His nature and character.

The omnipotence of God can never contradict the righteousness of God.

 

We are born into slavery; slaves of sin.

A payment must be made to set us free from the chains that hold us.

But our freedom is bought so that we can be servants of righteousness.

We are not free to serve sinful desires because that is not freedom. 

Following after fleshly desires is bondage to sin.

 

Redemption in the Old Testament

The Passover (Exodus 12-14)

The story of the Passover is the story of redemption

1)      The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. 

2)      The firstborn was redeemed by the blood of the Passover Lamb.  On the night of the Passover the blood of the Passover Lamb was put on the door posts.  If the blood was not there the firstborn died. 

3)      The children of Israel were brought out of slavery in Egypt to be brought into the promised land

 

 

Main Points:

1.      The Price of Redemption, 1 Corinthians 7:23  'You are bought with a price; be not the servants of men.'

 

We have been bought with a price. 

The price of redemption is costly.  1 Peter 1:18-19,  'Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:'

 

a)     The cost of redemption was the blood of the eternal Son of God.

He alone was able to redeem us.  Revelation 5:9-10, 'And they sung a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;  And have made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.'

 

He alone is able reconcile Man to God.  He is the only Mediator between God and man.  1 Timothy 2:5-6,  'For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.'

The word ransom is the Greek word 'antilutron'.  The word ‘lutron’ refers to the price of being set free.  The prefix ‘anti’ refers to being instead of something’. 

The verse literally means that Christ Jesus gave Himself as a substitute for the price of our redemption.

It was impossible for mankind to redeem itself. 

The eternal Son of God gave Himself as a substitute to redeem us.

 

b)     Be not servants of earthly things. 

The costly price of redemption shows the foolishness of chasing earthly riches.

Wealth has limitations.  Immense wealth cannot bring redemption. 

No one can be redeemed through earthly riches. Psalm 49:6-7 'They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:'

The rich leave their riches when they die.

'Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.' (Psalm 49:11)

It is futile to trust in earthly riches.

 

Story:  Poverty does not stop people trusting in riches

I have been involved with missions in the Philippines for many years.

Many Filipinos are poor, and the ‘US dollar’ or other foreign currencies are regarded as the means of being ‘set free from poverty’.

For this reason a family will often seek to get a family member married or working in another country.

The love of money is not just a snare for the rich, it is also the snare of the poor. 1 Timothy 6:10a 'For the love of money is the root of all evil:' Our heart can be filled with the love of money even when we are living in absolute poverty.

Money could never buy our redemption; and riches have no lasting value.

The greatest riches are ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’  Ephesians 3:8. The Lord will never allow His people to perish, but He gives strength to go through every trial.

 

 

2.      The purpose of redemption. 

We have been redeemed to be a people belonging to the Lord who glorify the Lord with our lives. 1 Corinthians 6:20 'For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.'  

We have been redeemed to worship the Lord and to produce the fruit of holiness.

 

a)     A people redeemed to be a place of worship. 

You are not your own…  1 Corinthians 6:19, 'What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?'

 

We have been purchased to be the Lord's people. 1 Peter 2:9a 'But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people'.  The word translated peculiar in the King James Bible is the Greek word 'peripoiesis' which means 'a purchased possession'. 

We are the Lord's purchased possession. 

We can no longer live as we please.  

 

We have been purchased to glorify the Lord. 1 Peter 2:9b, '  that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:' 

Our lives must bring glory to God. 

We are the dwelling place of God; the temple where His Glory dwells.  The temple is a place of worship and prayer.

 

 

b)     A people redeemed to be holy. 

We have been redeemed to be the servants of righteousness. Romans 6:17-18, 'But God be thanked, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.' 

We are been set free from the bondage of sin to live in the freedom of holiness.

 

Zacharias the father of John the Baptist prophesied concerning the deliverance of God's people from slavery to holiness.  Luke 1:73-75, 'The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.'  

The Lord came to set His people free to be holy.

 

Freedom is living in holiness.  This is does not mean religiously following a doctrine or moral code that is legalism.  We must be careful that we do not become legalistic or a moralist in our endeavour to be holy.  Holiness is having new life and living this life to the full in the righteousness of Christ.  1 Corinthians 5:17,  'Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.'   

We have been redeemed so that our lives will produce the fruit of Holiness, Galatians 5:22-23. 

A people motivated by the love of God (agape).

 

Now that we have been redeemed, we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.  Romans 12:1-2, 'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.' 

We have been redeemed to serve one another within the body of Christ.  

 

 

3.      Redemption completed.  

Luke 21:28  'And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.'

 

a)     The signs of the coming of the Lord.

What are the signs of His coming?

1) The Jewish nation dispersed among the nations, Luke 21:23-24.  The return of the nation is an end time sign.  Israel and Jerusalem are mentioned regularly on the world news.


2)  Signs in the heavens '...signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars', Luke 21:25a. 

It is not so easy to understand what is meant by 'signs in the heavens', but the 'signs on the earth' are easy to understand.  Before the Tsunami on December 26, 2004, the sign 'the sea and waves roaring' did not mean much but now it is easy to associate it with a tsunami.  The same can happen regarding 'signs in the heavens'.


3)  Signs on the earth, Luke 21:25b-26.  

     '...distress of nations, with perplexity'.

     '...the sea and the waves roaring'.

     '...Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.'

In recent years we have seen the rise of terrorism, the terrible tragedy caused by a tsunami, and a worldwide financial crisis.  The fear of the future is very likely to increase in the coming years.  We are told to lift up our heads because our redemption is near.

Powers of the heavens can mean spiritual powers.


4) Then the Lord will come '… then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.' Luke 21:27.

 

b)     The redemption of the body. 

Romans 8:23  'And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is to say, the redemption of our body.' 

Redemption will be completed when the Lord returns and those who belong to Christ will be changed into His likeness.

 

1) We shall receive an immortal, incorruptible body,  1 Corinthians 15:51-53, 'Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.'

 

2) Our glorified bodies will shine as the stars with the glory of the Lord.

If we were to see ourselves as we shall be the sight would be more glorious than anything that we have ever seen. 

Paul considered the sufferings of the present time to be nothing in comparison to the glory that awaits us. Romans 8:18,  'For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.'

 

 

Summary:

1)      The price that our redemption cost was the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The value of redemption is far greater than earthly riches.

2)      The purpose of redemption was that God would have a people for His possession who glorify Him.

3)      Redemption will be completed when the Lord returns and our physical bodies will be changed into His likeness.  The signs of His coming are appearing so we must 'lift up our heads; for our redemption draws near.' (Luke 21:28b)

 

 

Back to Index