READINGS: PSALM 149, JEREMIAH 31:31-34; REVELATION 7:2-4, 9-12, MATTHEW 5:1-12.
INTRODUCTION
There is something about that term “Redeemed” that brings joy to our hearts. We have been saved, washed in the Blood of the Lamb, given eternal life, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus and there is no greater miracle, and no greater gift that mankind could ever receive than to be redeemed.
The old song “He Set Me Free” contains a verse that says,
Once like a bird in prison I dwelt
No freedom from the sorrow I felt
Then Jesus came and listened to me
And Glory to God, He set me Free
Freedom – what a wonderful feeling it is to be free from sin; Behold all the old things have passed away and all things have become new!
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” (Exodus 6:6). The use of redemption in the New Testament includes this same idea. Every person is a slave to sin; only through the price Jesus paid on the cross is a sinful person redeemed from sin and death.
In Scripture, it is clear every person stands in need of redemption. Why? Because every person has sinned (Romans 3:23). The following verse then reveals we are “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Hebrews 9:15 says that Jesus “is the mediator of a new covenant . . . since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”
REDEMPTION PROVIDES SEVERAL BENEFITS FOR THE BELIEVER:
CONCLUSION
When we are redeemed, we become different people. When God redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He made them a new nation and gave them a new land. Likewise, the Christian has a new identity in Christ. No longer is the Christian a captive to sin and death. Instead, he has become a citizen of God’s kingdom. Christians now live in anticipation of our eternal home with our heavenly Father.
God wants us to see Him as the One who redeems (Isaiah 43:14; 44:6, 24; 49:7). Just as Boaz was the kinsman-redeemer of Ruth (Ruth 3:9), Jesus redeems us (Galatians 3:13). Jesus paid a high price for our redemption, the ultimate sacrifice of His own life to free us from sin.