You know, one of the sweetest words in the Bible is redemption. It is so rich in connotation and meaning. It addresses who we are, who God is and how much He loves us. What else matters, right?
Here are a couple of definitions in case, you are not sure of it’s meaning in Biblical context:
Redeem: When a family member pays a price to buy someone or something back. In the New Testament, our brother Jesus redeems us from our sin, or sets us free, by his death on the cross.
Redemption: Redemption simply is reestablishment of Christ’s ownership of our lives. Redemption is a past, present, and future activity. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the penalty owed for our sin, breaking its power to condemn us now and forever.
I love the connections made to family and ownership as well as to the past, present and future. Jesus obviously is at the center of it all as He is the one that has paid the price to buy us back through His sacrifice on the cross. He is our kinsman redeemer for those of you who know Jewish customs and traditions.
You see, we have all chosen to walk away from God, sinned and in need of God’s forgiveness and redemption which together is salvation in Christ.
For reference checkout Isaiah 53:6: “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.” That pretty much sums it all up.
The great news though is that by repenting and turning back to God we are not only forgiven and redeemed but we are completely cleaned, restored and made new again. It does not stop their either as part of our redemption is that we are also born again into a new covenant with God base on Jesus’ righteousness and sealed forever by the Holy Spirit never separated from God our Heavenly Father again.
Now that’s a pretty sweet deal. :)