Tag Archives: redeemed

RESCUED AND REDEEMED

Bible Study, ,

RESCUED AND REDEEMED

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1: 13, 14)

How easy it is to gloss over these words like reading the newspaper and yet, what wealth and power is to be found in them!

“Rescued!” What does that mean to you? Not much, perhaps, unless you have experienced what it is like to be rescued from danger and possible death. I have never been rescued from a life-threatening situation as far as physical circumstances go, but I have been rescued from a lifestyle that was taking me deeper and deeper into darkness. If you have been involved in habits or addictions that were destroying you, you will understand what I mean.

Jesus rescued us from a situation far more dangerous and deadly even than physical death. What could be more dangerous than facing death? Jesus gives us the answer.

I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear, Fear Him who, after        your body has been killed, has the authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him. (Luke 12: 5)

Because of God’s mercy, Jesus has not only rescued us from death – He has also rescued us from the fear of death.

Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that    by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebr. 2: 15)

Jesus not only rescued us from death, i.e. shut out of the presence of God, but He also rescued us from the dominion of darkness which He called “hell” (Luke 2: 15). What does that mean?

In the Bible, “darkness” often describes the disposition of the devil and all those who are in bondage to him. Darkness is the absence of light. What is the disposition of the devil?  God is everything that he is not. God is loving – the devil is not; God is generous – the devil is not; God is merciful – the devil is not; God is pure – the devil is not; and so, we can go on. Imagine living in an environment like that – where you are completely ruled forever by and in the company of beings who are everything that God is not!

“Redeemed!” Redemption has to do with slavery. Not only were we in hell and under the dominion of darkness, under the control of an evil being and evil spirits who would completely dominate us forever, but we were also enslaved by him. He had the right to control us because he tricked the first human pair into giving him dominion over them, and all their descendants. We had no option but to serve him because we belonged to him.

The good news is that Jesus redeemed us by paying the redemption price to buy us back and free us from the devil’s dominion. How did He do that? He died our death, and took away the devil’s right to keep us in bondage to death. He paid the ransom price to redeem us so that He could forgive our sin and wipe our slate clean. Satan has no more hold over us because he has nothing more of which to accuse us. We have been freed from his clutches and removed from his power to dominate us ever again.

We have a new Master, Jesus, who is completely unlike our old master. We live under a new King, one who is our Rescuer and Redeemer. He loves us so passionately that He would not leave us to perish in the predicament in which we landed because of our sin. He came in person to get us out of slavery and back into His family where we belong.

It is for this reason that we can be a part of the people for whom Paul prayed – filled with the knowledge of His will, bearing fruit, growing in our knowledge of God and full of joyful thanksgiving because of what He has done for us.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

REDEEMED!

Pastor's Desk, ,

Dear Family
We don’t hear too much about “redemption” these days. It’s a word used almost exclusively in churchy circles by theologians which we don’t really understand. The Apos-tle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:7,8 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the rich-es of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and under-standing.”
So what is “redemption”? A diction-ary gives the definition as “the ac-tion of being saved from sin, error or evil and “the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clear-ing a debt.”
The most probable reason we don’t hear about redemption is because we don’t like hearing that we have a need for it because of our sin. We are no longer comfortable with be-ing described as sinners because, in our warped understandings, that would be judgemental and in all likelihood, politically incorrect.
The whole world is systematically moving further and further away from owning up to its ultimate re-sponsibility to Almighty God, Crea-tor of all things. People who take responsibility for their actions are being becoming increasingly diffi-cult to find. It’s always somebody else’s fault when an individual transgresses. Blame the teacher, blame the government, blame soci-ety, blame the neighbour next door, blame the rusty nail, just blame something except yourself.
Well, God blames us! He holds us accountable and responsible for our own failings against the standards that He has set. His standards do not wax and wane with society’s norms. His standards are indifferent to Hollywood or any deviant pio-neering superstar. His standards are recorded in His Word for all to see and, according to Jesus, that Word will judge all mankind for all time. We need help! Thankfully, He has provided that help. I am a sin-ner. It is my fault. I have turned my back on God’s ways. I have com-promised His Word to suit my own desires. I have chosen my own path in opposition to Him. I am in-different to His Word. When I rec-ognize I do fall short of His stand-ards (called sin), I am able to ac-cess the riches of His grace, the forgiveness of my sin, through the redemption He has provided by His death.
I am redeemed! Praise the LORD!

Redeemed By The Blood

Bible Study, , ,

REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but revealed in these last time for your sake. 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 Peter 1: 18-21).

Was Peter specifically addressing Jewish believers when he made this statement?

Every firstborn son and every firstborn of the flocks and herds belonged to God. In the old order, all firstborn sons were to be redeemed by the payment of five shekels of silver to the high priest. Firstborn of the flocks and herds were to be sacrificed to the Lord.

God chose the tribe of Levi to take the place of the firstborn when the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt.

The Lord also said to Moses, ‘I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine (Numbers 3:12)

God instructed Moses to count the Levites a month or more old and to take them in the place of the firstborn of all the tribes and the firstborn of their stock in place of the firstborn of the Israelites’ stock.

The Lord also said to Moses, ‘Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their stock. The Levites are mine. I am the Lord (Numbers 3: 44-45).

When the Levites and the firstborn of Israel were counted, there were 273 more firstborn that Levites.

To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites, collect five shekels for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs 20 gerahs. Give the money for the redemption of the additional Israelites to Aaron and his sons (Numbers 3: 46-48).

In Adam we are all firstborn sons of God. As His firstborn, we belong to Him. To save us from being sacrificed as was the fate of the livestock, Jesus paid the price for our redemption by taking our place as the sacrifice.

Every firstborn son had privileges and responsibilities in the family. He represented his father in the family. He was heir to a double portion of his father’s estate but he was also responsible to be the mediator in family disputes, take care of any deceased brother’s widow and family, and to take the rap for a brother’s sins. He got the judgment while the second-born got mercy.

Peter used this aspect of God’s Law to show his readers that, as the firstborn of the human race in Adam, they all needed redemption, but not the redemption prescribed in the Torah. This was a picture of the redemption which Messiah would bring, not only the redemption from being sacrificed by the payment of a sum of money, but redemption from the problem of sin itself that was the cause of death.

Jesus’s death on the cross paid the price for sin, once and for all, and did away with the necessity for believers in Him to die. By dying, he conquered sin and death. He took away the penalty of death and bought us for God for all time and eternity.

Jesus said to her (Martha), ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ (John 11: 25-26).

Now we have every right to have the hope of being raised again from the dead, even though we will die, because Jesus is the firstborn from the dead and we are alive in Him.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Rescued And Redeemed

Bible Study, , ,

RESCUED AND REDEEMED

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the        kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1: 13, 14)

How easy it is to gloss over these words like reading the newspaper and yet, what wealth and power is to be found in them!

“Rescued!” What does that mean to you? Not much, perhaps, unless you have experienced what it is like to be rescued from danger and possible death. I have never been rescued from a life-threatening situation as far as physical circumstances go, but I have been rescued from a lifestyle that was taking me deeper and deeper into darkness. If you have been involved in habits or addictions that were destroying you, you will understand what I mean.

Jesus rescued us from a situation far more dangerous and deadly even than physical death. What could be more dangerous than facing death? Jesus gives us the answer.

I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear, Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has the authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him. (Lk. 12: 5)

Because of God’s mercy, Jesus has not only rescued us from death – He has also rescued us from the fear of death.

Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebr. 2: 15)

Jesus not only rescued us from death, i.e. shut out of the presence of God, but He also rescued us from the dominion of darkness which He called “hell” (Lk. 2: 15). What does that mean?

In the Bible, “darkness” often describes the disposition of the devil and all those who are in bondage to him. Darkness is the absence of light. What is the disposition of the devil?  God is everything that he is not. God is loving – the devil is not; God is generous – the devil is not; God is merciful – the devil is not; God is pure – the devil is not; and so we can go on. Imagine living in an environment like that – where you are completely ruled forever by and in the company of beings who are everything that God is not!

“Redeemed!” Redemption has to do with slavery. Not only were we in hell and under the dominion of darkness, under the control of an evil being and evil spirits who would completely dominate us forever, but we were also enslaved by him. He had the right to control us because he tricked the first human pair into giving him dominion over them, and all their descendants. We had no option but to serve him because we belonged to him.

The good news is that Jesus redeemed us by paying the redemption price to buy us back and free us from the devil’s dominion. How did He do that? He died our death, and took away the devil’s right to keep us in bondage to death. He paid the ransom price to redeem us so that He could forgive our sin and wipe our slate clean. Satan has no more hold over us because he has nothing more of which to accuse us. We have been freed from his clutches and removed from his power to dominate us ever again.

We have a new Master, Jesus, who is completely unlike our old master. We live under a new King, one who is our Rescuer and Redeemer. He loves us so passionately that He would not leave us to perish in the predicament we landed in because of our sin. He came in person to get us out of slavery and back into His family where we belong.

It is for this reason that we can be a part of the people for whom Paul prayed – filled with the knowledge of His will, bearing fruit, growing in our knowledge of God and full of joyful thanksgiving because of what He has done for us.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.