Redeemed With Precious Blood Series

1 Peter 1:18–21. 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (ESV)

Even a year into the pandemic, doctors and researchers are continuing to learn more about COVID-19, and that means the list of symptoms continues to grow. Most likely you’re well aware that a fever, fatigue, cough, or loss of taste and smell could mean you’ve come down with the virus, there’s another surprising symptom of COVID that doctors have been noting: high blood sugar, also known as hyperglycemia. Researchers say that when blood sugar levels are high, white blood cells are slowed down and are therefore inefficient at killing bacteria to fight off infections. (https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/blood-could-sign-covid-studies-130613316.html)

Contained within the narrative of the fist Passover of Exodus 12, the Lord told Moses: “The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.’ ” (Ex. 12:1–13). The sacrifice and use of the blood of the lamb was the price required to spare the life of the Israelite family’s firstborn child. The lamb was a divinely ordained illustration, and its sacrifice typified the sacrificial death of an innocent substitute that redeemed those in bondage. This Passover event immediately became the symbol of substitutionary redemption (1 Cor. 5:7–8). God further decreed that Israel annually celebrate Passover to perpetually remind the nation of His powerful deliverance of her from Egypt (Deut. 16:2–3, 5–7) and to point the people toward the true Lamb who would one day die and rise again as the perfect and final substitutionary sacrifice to redeem sinners with His blood (cf. Matt. 26:28; John 1:29; 1 Cor. 11:25–26; Heb. 9:11–12, 28).

As if to reemphasize the greatness of God’s salvation presented in 1 Peter 1:1-12, vs. 18-21 shows how believers are “Redeemed with Previous Blood” by provide believers with a theology of redemption. Peter does this by answering four crucial questions: 1) What did God redeem believers from? (1 Peter 1:18a), 2) What did He redeem them with? (1 Peter 1:18b-19) 3) By whom did He redeem them? (1Peter 1:20a), and finally, 4) For what did He redeem them? (1Peter 1:20b-21).

Believers can appreciate the greatness of God’s Salvation by understanding:

1) What Did God Redeem Believers From? (1 Peter 1:18b)

1 Peter 1:18a 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, (not with perishable things such as silver or gold), (ESV)

The knowing referred to in the beginning of verse 18, refers to the nature of sin and redemption. In order to be saved from the wrath of God, one must be ransomed. This is describing the process of redemption. Redemption is a term that describes one of the essential features of salvation. It deals specifically with the cost of salvation and the means by which God received payment. Because all people are helpless slaves to sin and condemned by the law, if they are to be forgiven and reconciled to God, He has to purchase them back from their condition. Only then can He release them from sin’s bondage and curse. Redeemed (lutroo) means “to purchase release by paying a ransom,” or “to deliver by the payment of a price.” To the Greeks the word was also a technical term for paying money to buy back a prisoner of war. God asserts his power to ransom when he declares in Isaiah 52:3 ‘You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.’ No-one can pay the price to redeem his soul from death; only God can redeem His people (Clowney, E. P. (1988). The message of 1 Peter: the way of the cross (p. 70). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

A feature characterizing the unredeemed, their futile ways/way of life. This identifies a vain, useless, and worthless existence. No matter what they may think, every unredeemed man or woman is living in futile ways/a futile life. Therefore, these previous “futile ways/way of life,” includes not just their religious beliefs but also their ethical values and actions (cf. 1:15). That they are described as “futile/empty,” by which Peter means that it was worthless, and empty of hope and value when viewed in the light of the gospel (1 Cor. 3:20; Eph. 4:17; cf. Rom. 1:21; 8:20; Jas. 1:26). (Davids, P. H. (1990). The First Epistle of Peter (pp. 71–72). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)