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F A
C E T S O
F S A L V
A T I O N Redemption By Jay Wegter DEFINITION:
Redemption
– to buy, to buy out, especially
of purchasing a slave with a view to his freedom. To release on receipt of ransom.
To release by paying a ransom price.
(Of Christ’s work -- He redeems us from iniquity, self-will, and bondage
to sin.) INTRODUCTION
God
has always existed - He was there
before He made this vast universe.
According to the Prophet Isaiah, it is inconceivable that God should
create the universe and not receive the glory for which it was made (Is
42-45). (God’s glory is not the same as
our glory. We may have some temporary
fame or recognition for an accomplishment - but God’s glory is different, it is
the outshining of His unchanging beauty, excellence, holiness, majesty, wisdom,
justice, mercy, and love. We were made
to find our satisfaction in His glory.)
In
all of God’s acts, whether promises, threats, wonders or self-revelation, we
should seek to know His glory. (This is only possible if you are safely
hidden in Christ.) God doesn’t need
anything to feel good about Himself.
But He does receive pleasure in revealing His excellence. He chose to form an order of creatures in
His own image to whom He would reveal Himself.
He is revealed in creation, in providence (history), in His wondrous
acts, in the Bible, in His only begotten Son, and in the work of salvation.
All
things exist for God’s glory - humanism says the very opposite. God’s
glory is the purpose we were made from the dust of the earth. We were made to run on God, to take delight
in Him, to be satisfied in Him, to find our peace, joy, significance, and
security in Him.
The
key revealer of the Godhead is man’s salvation in Christ. God’s
might, love and wisdom in saving sinners through His Son is the primary means
of making God known. Think about it -
God has chosen a way to take defiled, polluted, rebellious sinners and bring
them from dust to glory. Transgressors
who believe upon Christ and repent of sin become exhibit “A” of God’s
grace. They become eternal trophies of
God’s matchless grace. Salvation says
more about God than anything He has done since creation! Central in God’s plan is His purpose to
glorify His grace in the salvation of sinners (see Eph 1 and Ex 33:19).
What
a corrective the sovereignty of God is for our man-centered view of life. All
things exist for God. He is worthy to
be King of creation. Because He is
absolutely holy, He does all things well.
The perfection of His plan will be revealed on the last day. From our perspective, the tapestry of
history is filled with loose threads, dead ends, unpunished crimes. But on the last day, when the final second
of history ticks off the clock and all calendars are thrown away, once eternity
begins, THEN history will be bound into one giant volume of instruction. A book about the character of the Creator
and the character of His creatures, yes it will be the record of the honoring
and the dishonoring of God, and the destiny of each of those paths (life or
destruction). I.
The Message of Redemption is first of all about God. God is sovereign Creator. He is the designer, fashioner, and sustainer of all
creation (Ps 100:3; Acts 17:24-31). He called the universe into
existence by His spoken Word and He explains it by His written Word, the
Scriptures. He is revealing His mighty attributes by the creation (Rom 1:18-20).
The created universe discloses God day by day (Ps 19:1-6). He is sovereign Ruler and Lord over everything that exists (Is 14:27; Ps
24:1, 2).
He is an infallible Creator. He is light – He is the source of all truth, wisdom,
knowledge, and ethics (1 Jn 1:5; Prov 1:7).
He is holy. He made
the universe in order to demonstrate His holiness. God is unchanging in His moral majesty,
purity, and holiness (Is 6:3). He alone sets the standard for right and wrong
-- every commandment he has given is the manifestation of His holy character (1
Pet 1:16, Rom 3:19-21).
He is personal Creator. God is a personal Being – He
is self-aware, personal, holy, knowable,
omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient (Ps 139; Rom 11 :36). God is love – He created us in His image (Gen 1:27) in
order to have a love relationship with us (1 Jn 3:1; 4:7-10). We were made for communion with Him. He created us for His glory that we might
take delight in worshipping, honoring, and reflecting Him (1 Cor 10:31; Is
43:7, 21). God is worthy to be
loved. His character is
perfect, wonderful and excellent. We
were created to be satisfied in Him and all that He is for us. It is the creature’s duty to live for His
glory.
II. The Message of
Redemption is about man’s sinful condition. Mankind rejects God’s wonderful character. God’s laws and blessings are intended
to show us and warn us of God’s loving ownership of us (Rom 2:4). But Scripture
says that men will not live for the glory of God (Rom 3:23) -- it is because of
sin that people are uninterested and are unable to love God with all their
heart, soul, mind, and strength. God’s testimony of man’s condition reveals that all are in
rebellion against God’s moral government (Rom 8:5-7). None
of us have treasured God the way we should.
We have sought satisfaction in other things and treated them as more
valuable than God (Eph 2:1-3).
Mankind is separated from God because of sin. God has born witness to the
consequences of sin (Rom 6:23). Sin
produces guilt, death, and separation from God (Rom 5:12). Sin results in separation of our souls from
God forever (God is the only Source of light, life, goodness, and love). God is just and righteous in shutting
us out from the enjoyment of His glory forever (Gal 3:10). Hell is real, it is not a myth. Jesus addressed the subject of hell more
than any other speaker in the Bible (Matt 10:28).
Man is in bondage to sin and cannot free himself. God’s Word tell us that the human race
is dead to the things of God (Col 2:13).
Man’s will and choosing are enslaved to sin (Gal 3:22). Man’s thinking is darkened (Eph 4:18). Man is spiritually blind (2 Cor 4:4).
God’s Word tells us that sinners do not have the power to
reverse their habitual breaking of God’s laws (John 8:34). We are sinners by birth, practice,
preference, habit, bondage and rebellion (Rom 3:10-18).
God’s Word tells us that man’s soul is eternal (Heb 9:27). Physical death does not destroy the “real
you.” Christ solemnly warned that those
who refuse God’s provision for the salvation of their souls will experience
eternal destruction (Matt 25:30; Mark 8:12).
God has given us His Word to show us our sin and need of
salvation (1 Jn 3:4-6). Unbelief in God’s authority is evident in
the fact that humans do not take responsibility for their sin. They run their lives as if God does not
matter. They attempt to live lives that
are self-made, self-sufficient, and self-fulfilled. Only a correct diagnosis of man’s condition, found in the
Scriptures, can point man to the divine cure (Rom 10:1-4; Gal 3:23, 24). The
Bible tells us that we are not fit to determine the depth of our sinfulness (Jer
17:9). A hasty diagnosis has ruined
many. (EX. Would you suggest that bulldozing the ash away from Mount St.
Helens would solve the problem of future eruptions? Our sin goes deeper than the magma under that volcano.) III.
The Message of Redemption is about Jesus Christ, the Merciful Redeemer. Christ took on human nature in order to deliver us from sin
and restore us to God (Heb 2:8,9, 14-18). Jesus Christ is the “God-man.” He is the only Mediator between God and man
(1 Tim 2:5), He alone can bring a soul to God for acceptance, favor,
forgiveness, and adoption (Eph 1:4). Christ’s
obedience to the Father was an obedience to the point of death on a cross (Phil
2:6-8). Christ’s love for
sinners is demonstrated by His willingness to die for us while we were yet
enemies of God (Rom 5:8-11). Christ is the Sin-bearer and Substitute for sinners (1 Pet
3:18). The good news of
the Gospel is that Christ died for sinners like us. He offered Himself as the innocent substitutionary
sacrifice for sin on behalf of all those who acknowledge their sin. He took the guilt of sinners upon
Himself – On the cross, He bore our guilt and endured
God’s judgment against it (Is 53:6).
Christ’s payment for sin means that God can acquit sin and
still be just (Rom 3:24-26).
Christ’s offer of Himself in our place at Calvary has fully satisfied
the justice of God.
Christ’s death obtained eternal redemption (Heb 9:14, 15; 10:14;
Jn 17:2). Because of the
redemption Christ accomplished, God freely justifies the believing sinner. When God justifies, He declares a
person righteous in His sight (2 Cor 5:21; Rom 4:5-8; 24, 25).
Christ has risen from the dead; the empty tomb is proof that
Christ’s sacrifice for sinners was accepted by God on their behalf (Acts 17:31;
1 Cor 15:20). Christ rose bodily from the dead. His resurrection validates the saving power
of His death and opens the gates of eternal life and joy. Christ’s resurrection guarantees the
resurrection of the believer (Jn 14:2, 3).
By the Redeemer’s death and resurrection, the sinner may come
home to God, where all deep and lasting satisfaction are found (Acts 3:19, 20
ff.; Titus 3:4-7). A. Christ’s redemptive work was an effectual purchase. Redemption is
purchase – it guarantees to secure and obtain what it buys. When describing
the atonement, the Scriptures consistently use the language of
efficaciousness. By efficacious is
meant that Christ’s work on Calvary produced the effect desired by God (Heb
9:14). Christ did not lay His life down
for a reward that was indefinite (Is. 53:10-12). The promise was
made to Christ of eternal life to His own before
the world began (Titus 1:1-3; 2 Tim. 1:9).
Had the success of His work been dependent upon the ungoverned will of
man, none would have accepted salvation.
Had the security of salvation been dependent upon fickle and faithless
minds, none would have uniformly held fast so as not to be finally cast
out. BUT, Christ did not descend from
heaven and pour out His soul unto death on an uncertain enterprise. NO, He had the promise BEFORE He left the
Father’s bosom that He was entitled to a certain reward for His great work (see
Rev 5:9; 14:3, 4). Application –We marvel that God should
take us from defiled dust to immortal glory.
As a result, we increasingly magnify the Lord for so complete and great
a salvation. The success and certainty
of God’s redemptive plan is anchored in His eternal wisdom. Scripture indicates that prior to the cross,
this eternal wisdom was a MYSTERY, predestined before the ages to our glory! (1
Cor. 2:6,7). B.
Redemption
describes one of the key facets of Christ’s atonement. SACRIFICE – An offering by which the sinner is
sanctified and made perfect in God’s sight (1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 10:14; 13:12). PROPITIATION – An atoning sacrifice that turns God’s
wrath away from the sinner and makes him an object of favor (Rom. 3:25; 1 Jn.
4:10). RECONCILIATION – The removal of enmity and hostility
whereby the believing sinner is brought into the bonds of everlasting
friendship with God (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18; Heb. 2:17). REDEMPTION – The giving of Christ’s life as a ransom
purchases sinners out of bondage for God (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; Gal. 3:13; 1
Pet. 1:18; Rev. 5:9; Eph.
1;7,14). The work of Christ in these
four aspects of the atonement arise from the sinner’s need. The need for
SACRIFICE arises from the guilt of
our sins and the condemnation that our transgression of God’s Law deserves. The need
for PROPITIATION is created by our
being under the wrath of God (our liability to eternal condemnation under God’s
settled anger). The need
for RECONCILIATION arises from our
alienation from God (holy indignation on God’s side and enmity on our side). The need
for REDEMPTION is born of our bondage
to sin, our bondage to Satan and our bondage to God’s justice system (we were
bound in custody, awaiting punishment). All four of the
above terms used of Christ’s work in the Bible have a background in the common
language patterns of the day. The
Apostles did not come up with terminology that required a new dictionary in
order to understand. Salvation terms
employed by the Apostles had a place in the vernacular of everyday life. For example, redemption is a term taken from commercial transactions, propitiation is from the practice of
religion, and justification is a term
taken from the law courts. C. The meaning of redemption helps us understand what Christ accomplished
on the cross. The term, redemption, is a commercial term. It was the language used in commerce. It means to buy back or to buy out. Remember, in the ancient world, much of
the commerce had to do with the buying and selling of slaves. When used in the context of a slave market,
the term takes on the particular connotation that it has in Christian
theology. Thus, in the doctrine of salvation,
redemption means to buy out of
slavery or to set the slave free from sin by the paying of a price. A great
illustration of redemption out of slavery is found in the book of Hosea. Hosea’s wife ran away, she was unfaithful
and she sank down in the social strata of that day’s society until she was
eventually sold on an auction block in the city of Samaria. God sent Hosea to buy back his wife. Hosea 3:1-5 records the details of Hosea’s
redemption of his wife. Hosea was the
highest bidder. The acceptance of
Hosea’s bid ended the bidding. The
auctioneer declared, “Sold to Hosea.” The prophet
Hosea then says to his wife, “Now you shall abide with me many days, you shall
not be for another man, you must be faithful to me. You must not play the part of a prostitute and so also I will be
true for you.” This is a vivid
picture of redemption. This is exactly
what happens to us in salvation. We are
the adulterous slave sold on the auction block of sin. The world bids for us (with its many kinds
of currency) to keep us in its bonds. Some people sell
their souls for sensual pleasure, some for power, others for fame,
respectability and wealth, others for manmade religion. The Lord Jesus
enters the slave market of sin and says in effect, “I bid the infinite price of
my blood.” God the Father is an
auctioneer in this illustration. He
brings the gavel down and says, “Sold to my only begotten Son for the price of
His blood!” This is why
Peter can say, “You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or
gold (from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers), but with
the precious blood, as if of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of
Christ.” (1 Pet. 1:18,19). Application - What kind of redemption would it be if
the death of Christ only made redemption possible? What kind of redemption would it be if Christ’s work on Calvary
allowed the majority of those for whom He died to perish in a state of bondage
to sin, to Satan and to divine justice? It is worth
noting that even in contemporary examples of release by payment of a price
(i.e. bail bonds), freedom is secured by a payment. The payment is not a potential or hypothetical redemption, when
the bail is paid, the incarcerated party is taken out of his cell and released.
D. The Bible speaks of redemption as a triumphant accomplishment. That triumphant
note is as follows. Though the cost of
our release is beyond calculation, Scripture proclaims Christ as having obtained the ransom price for the
release of His people (Titus 2:14; Heb. 1:3; Rev. 5:9). The very nature of Christ’s mission is to secure the salvation of all those who
are ordained to eternal life (Matt. 1:21). A redemption
that secures salvation guarantees
that not one for whom it was intended can be lost. When speaking of those given Him by the Father, Jesus said that it
was God’s will, “that of all He has given Me I lose nothing” (John 6:38-40).
The Bible treats
the death of Christ as a price paid to
make us His own. By redemption, God in
Christ acquired the Church (Acts 20:28).
The purpose of His death is to form those He ransoms into one body (John
10:16; 17:21). Because of the
efficacy of the payment, redemption is regarded as synonymous with freedom,
liberty and emancipation. Freedom
constitutes the redemption. Redemption
is deliverance by the payment of a
price or acquisition by the payment
of a price. The O.T. concept of kinsman
redeemer provides a vivid picture of Christ’s redemptive work (Deut. 25:5-10; Ruth 3:1, 9-13; 4:1-11, 14). The kinsman
redeemer was to be a close
relative in order to redeem. Christ
took on our human nature (became related to us) in order to redeem us (Heb.
2:14-18) The kinsman
redeemer was to be free of
debt in order to perform the work of redemption. Christ was sinless, He was free to redeem. He had no sinful liability in the sight of
God’s holy Law (1 Pet. 3:18). The kinsman
redeemer was to have the necessary price in order to
redeem. Scripture indicates that the
price our Savior paid was the infinite price of His own blood (1 Pet. 1:18,
19). The kinsman
redeemer was to do his redemptive work in a totally voluntary
fashion. He could not be coerced to
do it. So also, our Redeemer
voluntarily laid His life down for us.
No one took His life from Him (John 10:17,18; Phil. 2:5-8). More examples that
illustrate redemption. There is the
example of the expired pawn that is redeemed.
EXAMPLE: There was a father and son in England. The boy loved boats. His dad carved a beautiful model boat out of
wood. It had fabric sails with rigging
and carefully painted features. One
summer day, the boy told his father that he was going to sail his model ship in
the shallows of the bay. A sudden squall
came up and the wind swept the boat out to sea. The distraught boy returned home and told his father the sad news
of how the boat was lost. Six months
later the boy was walking down town when to his utter amazement he saw his own
boat for sale in the window of the village pawn shop! He ran in and told the owner that it was his boat. The shop owner told the boy that it may have
been true that it was once his boat, but that the boat would cost him twelve
pounds. The next day he returned to the
pawn shop with his father. The boy
waited outside. He father came out of
the store with the beautiful boat under his arm. He had redeemed it by paying the necessary
price that was set. Application: When the human race rebelled
against God in the Garden of Eden, their departure from God placed our first
parents under the dominion of Satan.
Under Satan’s rule, their spiritual darkness was accompanied by bondage
to sin. This enslavement to sin was
inescapable by human exertion. Only God Himself could affect our recovery. In our hostility and preferred estrangement
from God, we are captives behind the window bars of Satan’s “pawn shop.” Only a ransom of infinite value could
produce our release. Redemption BUYS US OUT of Satan’s usurped
ownership of us. (Redemption’s price is not paid to the devil. Redemption’s price is not set by devil. Redemption’s price cannot be supplied by
sinful man. The cost of redemption is
only possible if God in our nature, the nature that sinned, is sacrificed on
our behalf.)
How does an efficacious
redemption affect our message? A definite
atonement gives us the confidence to boldly preach the accomplishments of the
cross. We proclaim a cross that is
mighty to save because its
accomplishments are certain. Too often
one hears a watered-down version of the gospel that places all the emphasis
upon the sinner’s response and little upon the victory of the cross. These diluted offers sound something like
the following, “God will do this if you’ll do that.” “Won’t you add Christ
to your life?” When Scripture
describes the nature of Christ’s cross work, it presents it as a triumphant
accomplishment. Redemption,
reconciliation and propitiation are said to have happened when Christ
died. Death was abolished there (Acts
2:24; 2 Tim. 1:10). Jews and Gentiles
were made one at the cross (Eph. 2:14-16). When speaking of
triumph of Christ’s death, these blessings were as good as accomplished there.
The power of Christ’s death is such that it will certainly produce
salvation in those for whom it is offered.
Victory is inherent in our proclamation of the gospel. The glorious
benefits of Christ’s redemption belong only to those who repent and trust Him
(Mk 16:16; Jn 3:36; 8:24. The person
who savingly believes trusts in nothing
he can do – when he believes, he transfers all trust away from self to
Christ alone (Rom 10:9, 10, 13). Saving
sinners is the mission for which Christ came to earth (Luke 19:10). God commands all men
everywhere to repent (Acts
17:30). To repent is to agree with God
that we have sinned and deserve eternal judgment. To repent is to turn from all known sin and take Christ as Lord
and Master in humble obedience. It is
to turn from the deceitful promises of sin so as to despise sin our sin natures
(Matt 10:38, 39; 16:25, 26). IV. The Message of
Redemption is intended to transform our walk with God and worship of God. The very nature
of Christ’s mission is to secure the salvation of all those who are ordained to
eternal life. Therefore, the cross is
efficacious to produce a pure BRIDE, a bride already known and loved by Christ
(Eph. 5:25-27). Christ’s particular
love for His bride is also evinced in His all wise and loving discipline of her
(Heb. 12:6; Rev. 3:19). Therefore the
Christian has every right and duty to glory in Christ’s particular love. The believer
reasons as follows, “He specifically set His love upon me from all
eternity. He thought of me, His heart love for me motivated the atonement. The joy set before Him of being with me
forever moved Him to endure the cross (Heb. 12:2). In eternity, He thought upon
me, 2000 years ago He bought me, in
time He sought me and made me His
own.” Knowledge of
completed salvation is of special comfort to God’s people. It was the heartbeat of the Apostle Paul’s
faith (Gal. 2:20). Paul rejoiced that
his life was bound up in Christ and His work.
The Apostle viewed the atonement in a most personal way and so should
we. Our life, our purpose, our hope,
our future and our destiny are all wrapped up in Christ. Our security, comfort, praise, love and
devotion are by union with Christ. We
celebrate the oneness He has with His people. Application: To be SAVED is to be
purchased by God. To be owned by God is
to live as His possession. You are
no longer your own, you are bought with a price, therefore, glorify God in your
body (1 Cor 6:19, 20). All progress in
your Christian life is a function of you giving yourself back to God –
continually entrusting yourself to God so as to be transformed by His Word. It is such an immeasurable privilege to
be God’s own treasured possession – to hold fellowship and intimate communion
with the holy, majestic God of the universe so as to know Him better each
day. The cost on your side will be a
life of dying to sin and self – a life of putting to death your lusts. It will be living unto God and being satisfied
with all that He is toward you in Christ. A plea to
come to Christ for salvation People who stop short of God’s all
sufficient remedy for man’s ruin by sin can be counted in the millions. The darkness of men’s hearts causes them to
turn to works, religious deeds and experiences. Let’s consider a question that can cut through all of this: What if God asked you on the last day, “Why
should I let you into my heaven?” What
would you say? What is your
qualification to be here? The born
again believer would whole-hearted answer that his entire right to be in heaven
is found in Christ alone, not himself. Christ is Savior and
Lord. The
issue of coming to Christ always deals with the subject of “who will be in
charge of your life.” Countless people who
know the facts of the Gospel assume that they are right with God, yet in their
hearts they are not ready to be owned and possessed by God as His
property. But there is no salvation
unless the person is the purchased possession of God! |
