Redemption At Hand-6 Series

REDEMPTION At HAND-VI—Luke 1:67-80

TOUCHING REDEMPTION

Attention:

I Love You Guys:

After the baby dedication in church, little Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.

His father asked him three times what was wrong.

Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, & I wanted to stay with y’all."

Little Johnny knew his family needed God’s redemption!

REDEEM—To purchase or exchange in order to make something/someone what it should be...with continuously lasting results from a point in time forward.

Need:

God initiated the redemption of His people thru John’s birth.

Redemption is touched/at hand thru God’s visitation.

When is/was God’s redemption realized?

Signs that God’s redemption is at hand.

Previously we had found that Redemption is at hand when God initiates/gives...

1. INSIGHT(:67)

2. BLESSING(:68a)

3. PRESENCE(:68b)

4. STRENGTH(:69)

5. WATCHMEN(:70)

6. FULFILLMENT(:71-74a-b)

7. SERVICE(:74c-75)

8. FORGIVENESS(:76-77)

9—Redemption is at hand when God initiates/gives...

LIGHT/Guidance(:78-79)

Explanation:(:78-79)

:78—“Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;”

The forgiveness of sins(:77) will come due to the sheer “mercy”(grace) of God. His “mercy” is “tender”(Compassionate/Fatherly/Originates from Love).

“Our God”—the Lord God of Israel is a personal God.

Tenderness of compassion describes our God, the God of creation, & free will, & salvation...

Due to God’s “tender mercy” the Sunrise/Dayspring from Him who is “on high” will accomplish its/His intentions upon us(Israel/mankind/God’s people).

..Thereby He is entirely “merciful”—NOT giving you what you have brought upon yourself or what you deserve to receive.

The coming of the “Dayspring” or ‘the eastern rising’ or ‘dawning’ is the tangible presence of God Himself among men.

Mat. 1:21-23—[An angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream & told him...]—“And she[Mary] will bring forth a Son, & you[Joseph] shall call His[the baby] name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, & bear a Son, & they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.””

*The term translated as “visited” is built upon the idea of oversight or supervision. It’s also the word from which we get the term “Bishop/Overseer”—the superintendent, elder, or overseer of a Christian church.

God has a stake in humanity, to bring them into His presence. But He is not indiscriminate in doing so. He examines each of us to the degree that separates even soul from spirit. His knowledge of us is so intense that He knows our very thoughts & the very motives & intentions of our hearts(Heb. 4:12; Jer. 17:10).

Thereby He knows who are His as no one else can know. Even we can be duped into assuming, by following patterns of behavior, that we are in relationship with Him(Jer. 17:9). However the love in our hearts for God by Christ is what settles & determines our personal relationship with Him(our peace) & thus our destiny in heaven or hell. And thereby, our impact upon others is opened.

An initial peace ‘with’ God acquires the Peace ‘of’ God:

Rom. 4:25-5:2—“who was delivered up because of our offenses, & was raised because of our justification. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, & rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Php. 4:6-7—“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer & supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; & the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts & minds through Christ Jesus.”

Col. 3:14-15—“But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; & be thankful.”

“Tender”—splagcnon—1) Bowels, intestines(the heart, lungs, liver, etc.)—1a) Bowels, 1b) The bowels were regarded as the seat of the more violent passions, such as anger & love; but by the Hebrews as the seat of the tenderer affections, especially kindness, benevolence, compassion; hence our heart (tender mercies, affections, etc.), 1c) A heart in which mercy resides. Strong—probably strengthened from splhn(the "spleen"); An intestine(plural); figuratively--Pity or sympathy.

“Mercy”—eleov—1)Mercy: kindness or good will towards the miserable & the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them—1a) Of men towards men: to exercise the virtue of mercy, show one's self merciful, 1b) Of God towards men: in general providence; the mercy & clemency of God in providing & offering to men salvation by Christ, 1c) The mercy of Christ, whereby at his return to judgment he will bless true Christians with eternal life. Both words(eleov & oiktirmov) denote sympathy, fellow-feeling with misery, mercy, compassion. eleov, however, manifests itself chiefly in acts rather than words, while oiktirmov is used rather of the inward feeling of compassion which abides in the heart. A criminal might ask for eleov, mercy, from his judge; but hopeless suffering may be the object of oiktirmov, compassion. Strong—Compassion(human or divine, especially active).