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The Blessing of Redemption

Writer's picture: Dr Alfonse JavedDr Alfonse Javed

Through redemption in Christ, God is making the unholy, holy and sinners, blameless before Himself to be His children.


Ephesians 1:7-8 - 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight

 

What makes the Christian faith unique? Last Thursday, in our small group, we discussed that often, that is the question people ask. Perhaps you have been asked the same question. So, what is so different about Christianity that cannot be found in any other religion? It is the relationship that God the Father offers through redemption in Christ by which He forgives our sins.

 

The problem is that most people seek religion for the forgiveness of their sins. They need to know that their religion may satisfy their guilty conscience, but it will never satisfy God’s just wrath against sin and sinners destined for eternal damnation. The only way out is the relationship that God chose in Jesus before the foundation of the earth through redemption in Christ.

 

Ephesians 1:7-10 outlined this self-initiated divine intervention to forgive sins to save sinners otherwise destined for eternal damnation. Therefore, in Ephesians 1:4, He elected them and then in verses 5-6, He predestined them to be adopted as children so that He may have the relationship He desires, and in verses 7-10, He planned it through redemption in Christ.

 

The big idea is that no religion, or our religious devotion, can satisfy God’s just wrath against sin and sinners destined for eternal damnation; it requires a relationship with God through redemption in Christ.

 

What is Redemption?

 

The first part of Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption.” The verse doesn’t say that we have redemption in religion but in a person— the person of Jesus.

 

Why in the person of Jesus and not in religious devotion and deeds? Today, redemption is a religious concept, but in the Old and New Testament times, it was a common term related to the marketplace.

 

In the New Testament, we see two Greek words often translated as redemption: agorazo and apolutrosis.

 

Agorazo means to buy out of the marketplace. A contemporary example that I can give you is redeeming a coupon or an offer.

 

My wife, Sarah, and I have T-Mobile and their app sends us notifications of items every week. It always says redeem by such and such date otherwise, it will expire.

 

Does it mean there is an expiration date for redemption in Christ? Yes, indeed. If you die without a relationship with God through Jesus, no matter how religious you are, you will die in eternal separation from God, that is, in sin. John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

 

Ephesians 1:7 doesn’t use agorazo for redemption. Rather it uses apolutrosis, which means two things: first, buying back from or repurchasing what was previously forfeited; and second, ransom money, usually the price to free a slave.

 

Last time, I gave you the example of the Roman adoption law and process. Now, let me walk you through the ugly image of the slave market. If a wealthy man bought a slave from the marketplace to be his bondservant or purchased his freedom to adopt him to be his legal child, or paid a ransom to rescue his freedom, all those actions are apolutrosis— redemption.

 

All of that is true in verse 7. Jesus, in John 8:34, said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” Jesus found us worthy and He paid the ransom to set us free from the bondage of sin and its consequence— death.

 

In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The question is, what was the ransom price, why was there a ransom, and who did Jesus pay it to? For that, I want to show you three angles of redemption: God’s plan, God’s process, and God’s price.

 

God’s plan. In the last two weeks, we learned that God’s plan before the foundation of the earth was to make us His children. Therefore, in Ephesians 1:3-6, God blessed, chose, and loved us by electing and adopting us in Jesus. Let’s call that the mega-sovereign plan of God. When you did not exist— no works, whether good or bad, no created thing whether in heaven, on earth, or beneath the earth— the mega-sovereign plan of God existed. This means that before we could ever sin, the mega-sovereign plan of God was already in place to redeem us from slavery to sin.

 

God’s process. A plan remains a plan unless it is executed, right? That is true for God’s plan, also. Redemption is the process by which adoption occurs, thus bringing the mega-sovereign plan of God to fruition.

God’s price. Through redemption in Christ, God is making the unholy, holy and sinners, blameless before Himself to be His children. However, that involves a ransom price.

 

First, what was the price for? The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, in their act of disobedience not only lost their innocence in the Garden of Eden, but they also lost their fellowship with God. Their sin brought separation between man and God. The Bible says that their sin created enmity between man and God. Ever since then, everyone has been born enslaved to sin except Jesus Christ the incarnate God who knew no sin. This is why no matter how hard we try, we cannot get rid of sin, whether sin of thoughts or actions. A price had to be paid to to repurchase our freedom from slavery to sin and its consequences, to set us free, to appease the just wrath of God against sinners, and to reconcile us back to God the Father.

 

Second, to whom was it paid? It was paid to the one against whom the offense was committed, namely God Himself.

 

Third, who paid the price? Jesus, God’s Son, paid the price.

 

Finally, what was the price? Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his [Jesus] blood.” So, our redemption is the act of God in which God the Son pays the ransom price to God the Father to satisfy His wrath toward us for our sins but also to liberate us from the bondage of sin and its consequence of death.

 

Often, I hear people say that the God of the Old Testament was a tyrant and an angry God but the God of the New Testament is a loving Father. Would a tyrant and an angry God shed His own blood and give His life for a ransom to save ours? That is what God the Son did for us. Therefore, 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all.”

 

The illustration that comes to my mind is the story of Passover for the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Another word for redemption is deliverance or delivering. To deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt, God had to strike the firstborn of the Egyptians. However, God instructed the Israelites to kill a lamb for each home and put its blood on the doorposts so that when the angel of God came, he may spare their firstborn. The blood was the necessary price to redeem God’s people foreshadowing the redeeming blood of Christ.

 

Application

 

Many came before Jesus, but they came to preach works and law, which created religious people. But Jesus came to redeem those under the law to set them free from the chains of religion and to bring them into a relationship with God the Father. It was not only the work of God the Son but also God the Father. Colossians 1:13-14 says, “13 He [God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom [that is Jesus] we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” We will expand on this next time when we answer why we need redemption because Ephesians 1:7 says for “the forgiveness of our trespasses.” 

 

Imagine that you fell into a hole out of which you could not climb. A man comes by and looks down at you and tells you how foolish it was that you fell into a hole. He doesn't do anything and he walks away. Now imagine another man coming by and he also looks down at you and throws a rope for you to climb up, and he too walks away. Now imagine yet another man coming by. He looks down at you and ties a rope around the tree and he climbs down into the hole, picks you up, puts you on his back, and climbs back out of the hole. This is what Jesus did for you. All religions lecture, judge, and condemn people and give them instructions on how to get out of the hole but only in Christianity did God Himself come into the world to secure, redeem, and restore us to Himself.

 

Action Step

 

Trade in your religion for a relationship with God in Jesus who wants to be your Father. Redemption in Christ offers a father and child relationship where you do not need to do something to please the Father. I tell you, doing religion is easy, but having a relationship with God is hard. Religion is like a one-night stand that demands no commitment and satisfies only temporarily. A relationship with God is eternal; it demands commitment— not a commitment of some of our time, energy, and resources, but rather all. Do you have a relationship with God through Jesus or a religion in Jesus? Are you a religious person or a follower of Jesus? Do people see you as a religious Christian or a relational child of God who wants to introduce others to the Father through Jesus?

 

Appeal

 

Do not allow your religious deeds and practices to add or take away from the complete redemptive work of God. Do not go back to the chains Jesus came to break to set you free from slavery to sin, its consequences of death, guilt, and shame.

 

If you are a professing believer, then understand the cost that Christ paid with His blood to redeem you so that you may live for Him and not for religious deeds and practices.

 

However, if you are not a believer in Jesus yet, please know that sin is not a small thing before God. You cannot pay the penalty for any of your sins yourself because the only acceptable payment that God will receive for any sin is the blood of Christ because there is power in the blood of Jesus. When it is offered before God, it appeases His wrath toward us, grants us access to God in worship and prayer, gains forgiveness of sins, and cleanses our conscience. When it runs in our veins, it changes us from the inside out. Progressively, it makes us holy, cleanses us of ungodly desires, and causes us to pursue life in Christ.

 

Study Questions

 

1.       How would you define redemption?

 

2.       What do you understand about the process of redemption in Ephesians 1:7?

 

3.       What payment was required to redeem those whom God chose to elect and adopt in Jesus? 

 

4.       What was the payment, who paid it, and to whom was it paid?

 

Deeper Study Questions

 

1.       Ephesians 1:7 tells us that God redeemed us through the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our trespasses. Since God has forgiven us our trespasses, we ought to forgive others’ trespasses against us. Do you have someone in your life that you are struggling to forgive? What steps can you take to forgive other’s trespasses against you?

 

2.       Ephesians 1:8 says “according to the riches of his grace, which lavished on us.” Share how God has lavished you with the riches of His grace. 

 

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