Compelling Love

To redeem means theologically “to deliver from sin and its consequences by means of a sacrifice offered for the sinner”.  The Bible describes both the redemption of Israel as a people, and the redemption of individuals through the Messiah, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Describing the redemption of Israel, the Bible declares in Isaiah 54:5 (NIV), “For your Maker is your husband— the Lord Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” 

The redemption of individual believers is exemplified in Job’s declaration of faith in his coming Redeemer who would one day stand on the earth:

Job 19 (NKJV)
²⁵ For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
²⁶ And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

Job was trusting that the Redeemer who would one day stand on the earth would raise him up into eternal life with God.  In the fullness of time, the Son of God who is the living Word became a human being and made his home with us:

John 1:14 (NKJV)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Describing the purpose of His coming, Jesus declared:

John 3:16 (NKJV)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Jesus sometimes described the purpose of His coming using the word “ransom”:

 Mark 10:45 (NKJV)
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

To clarify the Biblical usage of the word “ransom”, Bruce A. Demarest writes:

“In the Old Testament, a ransom was the price paid to secure a slave’s release (Isaiah 45:13).  Thus Christ’s death somehow may be likened to the price paid to obtain the sinner’s release from the slavery of sin and death (Matt. 20:28, 1 Tim. 2:6).

“Christ’s death is also represented as a redemption.  The idea here is the slave’s release from bondage (Ex. 21:8).  Thus the Apostles taught that Christ’s blood shed on the cross effectively secures our release from the domain of Satan (Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19).”
(Bruce A. Demarest, “Jesus Christ: the God-Man”, Victor Books, 1978, p. 110)

Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)
¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

John the Immerser testified about Jesus’ coming work of atonement:

John 1 (NKJV)
²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

In His atoning death on the cross, Jesus took the judgment for the sins of the world upon Himself.  In the aforementioned book, Bruce Demarest writes:

“In the Old Testament the mercy seat, in the Holy of Holies, was the place where the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled.  As a result of the blood God’s wrath was appeased.  Similarly, the blood-sprinkled body of Christ became for all time the “mercy seat” for sinners.  Through Christ’s death on the cross, all the demands of a holy and just God were satisfied.  The divine anger was turned into kindly favor.” (ibid, p. 110)

“Christ’s atonement has removed every obstacle to salvation except willful resistance to the Gospel.  As Matthew Henry put it, the Atonement “is sufficient for all, but effectual for many.” (ibid, p. 112)

Jesus, the Son of God, releases us from bondage to sin, so that we can be the kind of person God created us to be, as He declared to his detractors in John chapter 8:

John 8 (NIV)
³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Jesus Christ delivers us from being enslaved by the fear of death.  Death holds no fear when you know you have Jesus.

Hebrews 2 (NIV)
¹⁴ 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— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 

The devil and his minions have no power or authority over those who trust in Christ.  We can live life to the full as the people God created us to be.  Jesus taught in John 10:10 (NIV), “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  We read in Luke 10 that even demons are subject to the power of Jesus’ name:

Luke 10 (NIV)
¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

¹⁸ He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ²⁰ However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Authority over the power of the enemy continues to reside in those who walk faithfully with the Lord, as Paul assures:

Romans 16:20 (NKJV)
And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

 John 1:4 (NKJV) declares, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”  Those who receive Jesus Christ and believe in his name are born again into the family of God:   

John 1 (NKJV)  ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 6/10/2018, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbc_jUEADok
(2) http://bibleoutlines.com/blog/marveling-incarnation-word-god-john-114-18/
(3) http://www.kcisradio.com/2017/01/27/1-peter-11819/
(4) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/156077943310855335/
(5) https://www.versaday.com/Months/07/0719.aspx