My Month Of Redemption

It is with great delight and joy that I welcome you to our Month of Redemption. I like the words of the Lord: "Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies." Psalm 107:2 NLT I like that question, can you confirm that in your spirit. He then urges us to trumpet it. Let The Redeemed of the Lord say so! Redemption is about salvation from the evil grip of sin and Satan. This month a new era of freshness of redemption shall blow to your heart, spiritual face and pervade and characterise all that surrounds you in Jesus name.

What is Redemption?

Growing up, when about to sleep, my parents usually gather us to have family devotion. It consists of five simple spiritual activities, sing some choruses, then a hymn, then a passage of scriptures (mostly Psalms, I don't know why and don't ask me why) then some elucidation on the bible passage and prayers. The hymns are very inspiring. Two hymns always get my attention, namely, Redemption! Oh, wonderful story and abide with me. Let me share with you the lyrics of the first stanza Of Redemption Oh Wonderful story as penned down by the Holy Ghost through S. M. Sayford

Redemption! oh, wonderful story/Glad message for you and for me/That Jesus has purchased our pardon,/And paid all the debt on the tree. Refrain /Believe it, O sinner, believe it; /Receive the glad It is message-'tis true;/Trust now in the crucified Savior, Salvation He offers to you

Redemption is the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. It is the act of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt. The synonyms include recovery, reclamation and repossession. Anytime you see the word 're' it means doing it over again usually in a better form. When God made us according to his own testimony in Genesis 1:3 - 'we were very good' But in Gen 3 - we became very deformed by sin and in need of redemption. Everyone is in need of redemption. Our natural condition was characterized by guilt: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Christ's redemption has freed us from guilt, being "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24).

Redemption is a biblical word that means "a purchase" or "a ransom." Historically, redemption was used in reference to the purchase of a slave's freedom. A slave was "redeemed" when the price was paid for his freedom. God spoke of Israel's deliverance from slavery in Egypt in this way: "I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment"

Purpose of redemption abused.

The pain in my heart and reason for this article is that humanity keeps abusing the purpose of redemption. Those who have been redeemed behave as if they are not. They waste the pains of Jesus on Calvary when they fail to appropriate redemption. But the larger pain is due to two thirds of the world that fails to appropriate the redemptive power of Jesus. Who, for one ignorance or the other, think that there is someone else that can save them based on their ideology, philosophy or revelation! To some they think it was sheer arrogance for Jesus to say: "I am the way the truth and the life" But friends Jesus is unique among all mortals! "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,[e] so that we could be made right with God through Christ." 2 Cor 5:21. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Christ Is Supreme. When one considers the price that God paid for our redemption he may ask, "Why?" Why did God plan redemption in eternity past? Why did God pay such a price as to give His only begotten Son to die a criminal's death being executed by crucifixion? Why did God allow Jesus to suffer excruciating physical pain at the whim of the Jews and by the hands of the Romans? Why would he then increase the suffering Himself pouring out the full force of His fierce wrath toward sin on Him who knew no sin? Very quickly someone turns to John 3:16 and answers, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." To which there are shouts of, "Amen! The purpose of God's redemption is to give us eternal life and take us to Heaven when we die! What a day of rejoicing that will be!" The purpose of redemption include eternal life (Revelation 5:9-10), forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), righteousness (Romans 5:17), freedom from the law's curse (Galatians 3:13), adoption into God's family (Galatians 4:5), deliverance from sin's bondage (Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:14-18), peace with God (Colossians 1:18-20), and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). To be redeemed, then, is to be forgiven, holy, justified, free, adopted, and reconciled!