Read Ephesians 1:3-14 (Text of the day).
This story is reported as true ... though true or a parable ... it speaks to the importance ... of the One ... of one who can save.
It was almost 1:00 in the morning... when the phone rang.
Dr. Leo Winters, ...a highly acclaimed surgeon... was abruptly awakened ...from his night's sleep.
There had been an accident... and his skilled hands ...were needed... for immediate surgery.
The quickest route ...to the hospital...happened to be through... a rather tough area of the city, ...but with time being a critical factor, ...... it was worth ...the risk.
At one of the stoplights... his door was yanked open... by a man with a gray hat... and a dirty flannel shirt.
"I got to have your car!" ... the man screamed, ...pulling the Doctor ... from his seat.
Winters tried to explain ...the gravity of the situation ...but the man ...would not listen.
When the doctor... was finally able to get a taxi to the hospital ...... over an hour had elapsed ......and it was too late ...as the patient... had passed away ...30 minutes earlier.
The nurse told him......... that the father of the victim ...had gone to the chapel ...wondering why ...the doctor never came.
Dr. Winters ...walked hurriedly to the chapel... to explain ...what had happened... to him.
When he entered ...he saw the father kneeling in the front row, ... he was wearing a gray hat ...and a dirty flannel shirt.
Tragically... he had pushed from his life...... the "one "... The One...who could have... saved his son. (Pause)
O' Beloved......Scores of people... push from their lives ...the very...... "One" ... who can save them.
Save them... from the penalty and the power ...of their sin.
Countless numbers ...are too busy ...for the One ... The One...who can deliver them ... The One who can save them.
They cannot seem to find time ...for the One ... who can redeem ......their lives.
It is so tragic ... For life could be so different ... for so many ... if they... would only find time ... for the One.
If they would only make time ... for the One.
If they would only make time ...For Jesus.
In announcing the Savior's birth... the angel of the Lord declared to Joseph:
BIBLE "She (Mary) ...will bear a son, ...and you shall call his name Jesus, ...for he will save his people ...from their sin." END (Matthew 1:21)
And Our text... from Ephesians uses another word to address salvation: ......Redeemed.
Paul declares that we have been ... redeemed.
Redeemed How?......through the blood of the Lamb ... through the Blood of Christ.
Paul begins his letter to the believes gathered in Ephesus... rejoicing in that blessing ... that blessing of redemption. (Pause)
Now...The word redemption ...... was a commercial term... borrowed from the marketplace.
A term utilized ... from a market...where human beings ...were offered for sale... to the highest bidder.
Condemned to this state ... these slaves ...were powerless ......to escape.
Their only hope ...was redemption, ...... an uncommon process ...... whereby they were purchased ... in order ...to be set free.
Scripture uses this tragedy of slavery ...... to illustrate...... our human ...predicament.
Without God's intervention, ... we are all ...hopelessly enslaved... enslaved to self ... and enslaved to sin.
Without God's intervention ......We are condemned ...to live in bondage.
Enslaved by sin, ...... and unable ...to liberate ourselves.
Jesus said. "...... "Truly, ... I say to you... everyone who practices sin ...is a slave... to sin." (John 8:34)
Sin in traps us......Sin holds us ... rendering us ...powerless ... to escape... from Its clutches.
Consequently, ... try as we might, ... we in our own strength...are unable ...to overcome sin.
In our natural... unsaved state ...we are at the mercy ... of sin; ... powerless ...against it.
Our only hope... is in Christ Jesus... who can redeem us, ... setting us free... from sin's penalty ...and power.
Describing what God has done for us, Paul goes on to say, ... BIBLE "In Christ... we have redemption ...through his blood." END (Ephesians 1:7)
The writer of Hebrews is clear ... Without the shedding of blood...there is ..." No remission of sins." (Hebrews 9:22) (REPEAT)
Through faith in Christ ...we are delivered ...from the consequences ...of sin.
But that is only part... of what it means... to be redeemed.
For both ... our present ...and our future ...are affected.
When redeemed ... We are no longer held captive...We are delivered ...from our old lifestyle... and introduced ...to a new ... and better way.
Jesus said," If the Son sets you free...you ...are free... indeed." (John 8:36)
Through the power ...of God's indwelling Holy Spirit ...we are able to say ... "no" ...to sin. (Pause)
We are thus ransomed ... We are delivered... to live our lives ...on a higher plane.
Jesus Christ came to earth "To give His life ...as a ransom ...for many." (Matthew 20:28)
In our text ...Paul rejoices ...in the incredible blessings ...that come ...with redemption.
Paul calls our attention ...to the glorious blessing... of ... forgiveness. (Pause)
I recently read a Christian card ...that stated: "If our greatest need had been information... God would have sent us ...an educator.
If our greatest need ...had been technology, ...God would have sent us... a scientist.
If our greatest need ... had been money... God would have sent us ...a banker.
Yet our greatest need was forgiveness... So God sent us a Savior."
At the Last Supper our Lord said, BIBLE "this is my blood ........., which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." END (Matthew 26:28)
John's first epistle declares that: BIBLE "If we confess our sins, ...he is faithful and just ...to forgive us our sins...and to cleanse us ...from all unrighteousness." END (1 John 1:9)
God has promised that ... He will Forgive our iniquity ... and remember our sin No more." (Isaiah 43:25)
And Our sins will be separated... as far as the East is from the West. (Psalm 103:12)
God gives us...... what we, ... as sinners, ...could never earn.
The Greek word that Paul uses that is translated grace ...is a word that was used ... when someone was ushered ...into the presence ...of royalty.
Through grace in Christ ...the door has been opened for us ... to enter into the presence of God ... finding forgiveness and fellowship ... in spite ...of our sinful pasts.
When we come to Christ ...with a spirit of repentance, ... He redeems us ...and pours out His grace ...upon us. (Pause)
A little boy worked diligently to build a sailboat.
He took it to the lake and pushed it in hoping it would sail.
Sure, enough a wisp of breeze filled the little sail and it billowed and went rippling along the waves.
Suddenly before the little boy knew it, the boat was out of his reach, even though he waded in fast and tried to grab it.
As he watched it float away, he hoped maybe the breeze would shift and it would come sailing back to him.
Instead, he watched it go farther and farther until it was gone.
When he went home crying, ... his mother asked, "What's wrong, didn't it work?"
He replied, "It worked too well... and it sailed away."
A week later, the little boy was downtown and walked past a secondhand store.
There in the window he saw the sailboat.
It was unmistakably his, so he went in and told the proprietor, "That's my boat."
He walked to the window, picked it up and started to leave.
The owner of the shop said, "Wait a minute, Sonny. That's my boat. I bought it from someone a few days ago.
" The boy said, "No, it's my boat. I made it. See."
And he showed him the little scratches and the marks where he hammered and filed.
The man said, "I'm sorry.
If you want it, you have to buy it."
The fellow went home and grabbed his piggy bank and ran back to the store.
He broke open the piggy bank on the counter and said this everything I have.
As he left the store holding the boat close to him, he was heard saying,
"You're my boat.
You're twice my boat.
First you're my boat 'cause I made you ... and second you're 'cause I ... bought you!"
God has done for us... what we are unable to do... for ourselves.
Beloved you are God's.
Twice His.
First, you are His because He created you ... He made you.
And second, you are His because He bought you.
Jesus paid the ultimate price ... the full price to redeem you.
He redeemed us ... and makes us the recipient... of His Amazing grace.
There is a story...that may help Illustrate redemption...what Christ ...has done for us.
In 1927, ...in West Africa... a blood specimen was taken from a native man named Asibi, ...who was sick ...with yellow fever.
A vaccine ...was made ...from this original strain of the virus... obtained from this man.
In fact, ... all the vaccine manufactured since 1927 by the Rockefeller Foundation ...and other health agencies, ...are derived ...from the original strain of virus ... obtained...from this one man.
Through the creative imagination of science, ...the blood of this one man in the West Africa... has been made available... to serve... the whole human race.
Beloved ... The blood of Jesus ...has also come to serve and to save ... the human race.
For the word of God declares ... In Christ we have redemption Through His blood. (Ephesians 1:7)
We are redeemed... through the atonement ... through the Amazing Grace of Jesus.
Because of his great love ....and desire for us to be reconciled ...., he paid the ultimate price ...the full price... to clear the full debt. (1 Peter 1:18)
There is a wonderful ... yet simple song of worship ... that speaks to this.
He paid a debt ... he did not owe
I owed a debt ... I could not pay
I needed someone ....to wash my sins away.
But now I sing a brand-new song.... amazing grace.
Christ Jesus paid a debt ... that I could never pay.
Beloved ... Christ Jesus paid a debt ... that you and I ... could never pay.
He not only nullified that Debt, but he imparted righteousness ... His righteousness to us.
Hear God's Word: BIBLE "God made him who had no sin ....to be sin for us ... so that in him ... we might become ... the righteousness ... of God. END (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Years ago ...... when I was a young banker in Ohio, ... we used large leather-bound ledgers ......where all accounts... were entered by hand.
These ledgers... in a way ......remind me of God's ledgers in heaven ... and the full price .... That Jesus paid.
And we are told... these books .... These ledgers (Slow) will one day ... be opened.
Now picture... your name ...... written in the ledger, ......and in one column is the sum total ......of all your indebtedness against God.
An indebtedness so large... that it could never be paid.
Now... picture God ... taking a pen ... and transferring the sum total ......of your indebtedness ......to the account of ... the Lord Jesus Christ.
And on Jesus' account in the Ledger are the words ...... "Transferred from the account of ......and your name is written."
Now picture one thing further.
Picture.... if you can ... the total righteousness of Christ ...... the total righteousness of Christ.... and next to it ... these words are written: (Slow) "Transferred ... to the account of ......and your name is written."
Not only is your indebtedness fully transferred to Christ ......but His total Righteousness ......is fully transferred ....to you.
Beloved ...... That is a sacrificial love.
That debt, ... that eternal debt ... of spiritual and physical separation, .... is paid ... in full.
A perfect and sufficient payment and sacrifice ... for the sins ... of the whole world.
Jesus went to Calvary's cross, ... and was lifted up ... between Heaven and earth.
And when the Son of man ... looked to the Father and cried ... Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ... "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"( Matthew 27:46)
Immediately after he spoke these words a sponge soaked in sour wine was lifted for him to drink. (Matthew 27:48)
The debt was paid ... paid in full.
And then ... our Lord proclaim, ... "It is finished."
Beloved... It ... is finished.
We have a new destiny, ... a new identity ... a new eternity.
We are... a new creation... in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
(Sing):
He paid a debt ... he did not owe
I owed a debt ... I could not pay
I needed someone ....to wash my sins away.
But now I sing a brand-new song.... amazing grace.
Christ Jesus paid a debt ...that I could never pay.
Amen & Amen!
