REDEMPTION
PSALM 107
1. Praise (1-1) the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy (goodness, lovingkindness)
(2-1) is eternal (everlasting).
2. Let those redeemed (special) by the Lord say so, those whom He has
redeemed (special) from the hand of the oppressor;
3. And gathered (special) them from the lands; from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
It was my original intention this morning to speak about what true Christians, redeemed people, ought to do to encourage people who practice fox-hole religion to become Christians. However, yesterday morning when I got up around 4:30 and began to review my sermon in my mind, I realized that as the result of the picnic Friday, there may be several people in our congregation this morning who may not understand the basic Biblical truths about redemption.
You see, redemption is not a word which we use very often in modern American society. When people in generations past became slaves of sin and of self, and slaves of their own desires, they would become poor and would not be able to pay their bills. At such times they might have sold some of their possessions to a pawn shop. When they were a little better off, they might have redeemed their possessions from the pawn shop.
Today most people who have become poor through slavery to their own lusts, rather than go to a pawn shop, often have a garage sale or go on welfare or both.Redeeming their own goods from pawn shops is not a common occurrence with most people who pride themselves in living in what they call the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Before Christ came in the flesh into the world which He created to redeem it from its slavery to sin, most people either owned slaves or were slaves. These people understood the terms about redemption. They understood the idea that if a person were a slave to one owner, a second person could redeem the slave by paying a price of redemption, and the slave would then become the property of the second person, either to be used as a slave, or to be set free.
The Jewish people in particular understood the language of redemption. The Jewish people, at least in theory, realized that they belonged to God because God had made them and had chosen them in Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The Jewish people realized that they had been slaves in Egypt and that God had redeemed them from slavery to Egypt. The night before God led them out of Egypt, God killed all the firstborn male cattle and children of the Egyptians. The firstborn male cattle and children of Israel would likewise have been killed if each family had not taken a firstborn male lamb without blemish, killed it, and applied its blood to the entrances of their homes. When the destroying angel saw the blood applied to the entrances, the destroying angel passed over the homes, and the firstborn male animals and children in Israel were saved from destruction.
To this very day Jewish people celebrate Passover as the main event in their calendar year. The Lord told the people of Israel that, because He had redeemed them, they belonged to Him, and they were to obey Him. The famous Ten Commandments, which God gave to Israel, begins with a reminder that the God who gave the Jews the Ten Commandments is the Lord their God Who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
God also told the Jewish people that all of their firstborn male animals and children belonged to Him. So, whenever an animal or a woman had a male firstborn, that firstborn male animal or child had a price on its head and belonged to the Lord.Although the Jewish people, like the nations around them had slaves, God reminded them to be kind to their slaves, because God had been kind to them when they were slaves, and had in fact redeemed them from slavery.
The New Testament concept of redemption goes like this. All of us have been slaves to sin, to self, to our own desires, and to Satan. All of us have disobeyed God’s laws and are under a curse. Jesus, who created us and who on that account owns us, died for our sins. With His precious blood He paid the price of redemption for our sins. We belong to Jesus. We owe Him all we are and have.
One of my favorite illustrations about redemption is the classic, old story of a young boy who made a sail boat. He spent hours and hours making and painting this beautiful sail boat. One day he took it to a river near his home to sail it. He was having a great time holding on to a rope attached to the boat. But then a sudden gust of wind got hold of the sails and ripped the boat out of the hands of the young boy. The boy tried to retrieve the boat, but it got farther and farther away from him. It soon became lost to the boy. Some one found the sailboat and took it to a local pawn shop.
The boy was passing the pawn shop one day and notice d the boat. He recognized that it was his, for he had made it. He knew every inch of that boat. So, he went into the pawn shop and told the owner that it was his boat. The owner of the pawn shop said that the boy would have to redeem the boat by paying a certain price for it. So, the boy saved up his allowances and his income from his paper route and went to the pawn shop and redeemed the boat. As he came from the pawn shop, he was heard to say in joy: “Little boat, you are mine. Twice over you are mine. Once I made you; and once I bought you. Twice over you are mine. You are mine. You are mine. I shall never, ever let you go.”
In the light of these concepts and this illustration about redemption, let me read and comment on a few passages of Scripture about redemption.
(Mat 20:17 NIV) Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them,
(Mat 20:18 NIV) "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death
(Mat 20:19 NIV) and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"
(Mat 20:20 NIV) Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
(Mat 20:21 NIV) "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."
(Mat 20:22 NIV) "You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered.
(Mat 20:23 NIV) Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
(Mat 20:24 NIV) When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.
(Mat 20:25 NIV) Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
(Mat 20:26 NIV) Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
(Mat 20:27 NIV) and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--
(Mat 20:28 NIV) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
(Acts 20:28 NIV) Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
(1 Cor 6:18 NIV) Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
(1 Cor 6:19 NIV) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
(1 Cor 6:20 NIV) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
(1 Cor 7:20 NIV) Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.
(1 Cor 7:21 NIV) Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you--although if you can gain your freedom, do so.
(1 Cor 7:22 NIV) For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.
(1 Cor 7:23 NIV) You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
(Gal 3:6 NIV) Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
(Gal 3:7 NIV) Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.
(Gal 3:8 NIV) The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."
(Gal 3:9 NIV) So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
(Gal 3:10 NIV) All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."
(Gal 3:11 NIV) Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."
(Gal 3:12 NIV) The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."
(Gal 3:13 NIV) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
(Gal 3:14 NIV) He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
(Gal 3:29 NIV) If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise.
(Gal 4:1 NIV) What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.
(Gal 4:2 NIV) He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.
(Gal 4:3 NIV) So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.
(Gal 4:4 NIV) But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,
(Gal 4:5 NIV) to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
(Gal 4:6 NIV) Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."
(Gal 4:7 NIV) So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
(Gal 4:8 NIV) Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
(Gal 4:9 NIV) But now that you know God--or rather are known by God--how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
(Gal 4:10 NIV) You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!
(Gal 4:11 NIV) I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
(Gal 5:1 NIV) It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
(Gal 5:13 NIV) You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.
(Gal 5:14 NIV) The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
(Col 1:3 NIV) We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
(Col 1:4 NIV) because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints--
(Col 1:5 NIV) the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel
(Col 1:6 NIV) that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
(Col 1:7 NIV) You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
(Col 1:8 NIV) and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
(Col 1:9 NIV) For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
(Col 1:10 NIV) And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
(Col 1:11 NIV) being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
(Col 1:12 NIV) giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
(Col 1:13 NIV) For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
(Col 1:14 NIV) in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
(Col 1:15 NIV) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
(Col 1:16 NIV) For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
(Col 1:17 NIV) He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
(Col 1:18 NIV) And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
(Col 1:19 NIV) For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
(Col 1:20 NIV) and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
(Col 1:21 NIV) Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
(Col 1:22 NIV) But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
(Col 1:23 NIV) if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
(Titus 2:1 NIV) You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
(Titus 2:2 NIV) Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
(Titus 2:3 NIV) Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
(Titus 2:4 NIV) Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
(Titus 2:5 NIV) to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
(Titus 2:6 NIV) Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.
(Titus 2:7 NIV) In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In
your teaching show integrity, seriousness
(Titus 2:8 NIV) and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
(Titus 2:9 NIV) Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them,
(Titus 2:10 NIV) and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
(Titus 2:11 NIV) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
(Titus 2:12 NIV) It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
(Titus 2:13 NIV) while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
(Titus 2:14 NIV) who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
(Titus 2:15 NIV) These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
(1 Pet 1:13 NIV) Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
(1 Pet 1:14 NIV) As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
(1 Pet 1:15 NIV) But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
(1 Pet 1:16 NIV) for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
(1 Pet 1:17 NIV) Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.
(1 Pet 1:18 NIV) For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,
(1 Pet 1:19 NIV) but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
(1 Pet 1:20 NIV) He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
(1 Pet 1:21 NIV) Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
(1 Pet 1:22 NIV) Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
(1 Pet 1:23 NIV) For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
(1 Pet 1:24 NIV) For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
(1 Pet 1:25 NIV) but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.
(Rev 5:1 NIV) Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.
(Rev 5:2 NIV) And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is
worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?"
(Rev 5:3 NIV) But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.
(Rev 5:4 NIV) I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.
(Rev 5:5 NIV) Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."
(Rev 5:6 NIV) Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
(Rev 5:7 NIV) He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.
(Rev 5:8 NIV) And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
(Rev 5:9 NIV) And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
(Rev 5:10 NIV) You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
(Rev 5:11 NIV) Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
(Rev 5:12 NIV) In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"
(Rev 5:13 NIV) Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"
(Rev 5:14 NIV) The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Do these verses in Rev. 5:9-10 describe you? Have you been redeemed? Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you a Christian? Do you practice the principles of the second chapter of Titus?
If you do, you will someday reign with Christ.
If you do not know Jesus, if you have not become His slave; and if you do not repent, and you do not accept Christ you will someday be cast into hell as a slave of sin and Satan.
The first option is obviously the best.
Have you chosen it?
If you have not, will you choose it this morning?
