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Celebrate Redemption (Part 2)




Many times in Christian circles we hear the word “redeemed,” yet we do not know exactly what it means or what we are redeemed from. To be redeemed means to be bought back, repurchased, or to be rescued from captivity by payment of ransom. We were once held captive by the enemy. However, Jesus’ sacrifice set us free.

  1. As Christians, we were all in bondage until we realized our need for a Savior. We have all come to the end of ourselves.
    1. We cannot truly know what it means to be redeemed if we do not know what it means to be held captive.
    2. From what, exactly, are we redeemed?
      1. We ultimately are redeemed from the curse of the law.
      2. We are also redeemed from spiritual death and the curses that came upon mankind when Adam and Eve sinned.
      3. Those curses manifest through our past sins, mishaps, and mistakes. We are redeemed from being in bondage to the effects of those curses.
      4. We are delivered from being ruled and dominated by those issues, habits, diseases, and problems that destroy our lives.
    3. In the garden of Eden, it was Satan’s plan to keep us in captivity to continual suffering; he wanted to rob us of all God had in store for us.
      1. Satan wanted to rule over us only to keep us in bondage.
  1. Jesus didn’t just teach about the servant leader. He demonstrated it. He served His disciples and His followers. He was the type of leader He preached about .
      1. Many people focus on themselves. They want to elevate themselves above others strictly due to their own ability.
      2. However, Jesus teaches us about the heart of a servant.
    2. It is not difficult to get our focus off of God and start fighting with one another to gain status.
      1. For example, Adam and Eve stopped focusing on God. They focused on themselves, then everything went to shambles. They started blaming each other and pointing fingers. They started to fight with one another only in a failed attempt to elevate themselves as individuals.
  1. With Jesus we find ultimate redemption and forgiveness. With Him, we are not blamed or condemned.
    1. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:14).
      1. He bought us back from the curses and their effects.
      2. At times, we allow the residue of the curses to linger by not renewing our minds and learning about our true freedom in Him.
      3. To change our thinking, we should remain steadfast in the Word of God by meditating on it.
      4. We do not have to tolerate the effects of curses.
  1. The blessings overtook those who harkened to the voice of God.
    2. The curses were described in detail as well. Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee. And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free (Leviticus 19:19, 20).
      1. Under the law, which included 600 plus laws added to the original ten, people lived in bondage to intricate details about daily living.
      2. For example, people had to be careful about their animals and breeding them. There were laws concerning clothing material and food to eat.
      3. Women had no worth—for instance, there was a law that prohibited parents from prostituting their daughters.
      4. By reading the law, we can understand what was going on with the people at that time.
  1. What Jesus did already was enough to make us holy.
    1. But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come  and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation, He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found  and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us) (Hebrews 9:11, 12, AMPC).
    2. We do not have to do works in order to be holy. And although you at one time were estranged  and alienated from Him and were of hostile attitude of mind in your wicked activities, Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father’s] presence (Colossians 1:21, 22, AMPC).
    3. We belong to Him. In Him, we are made holy. We are enough because He is enough.
      1. We are all one in Him.
    4. It took His blood to heal and restore us—therefore none of us can take the credit.
    6. We needed a Savior. All of us, men, women, races, and classes.
      1. In Him, we are all viewed as one—there is no distinction.
      2. We are all restored in Him and can do whatever He wants us to do. Jesus abolished the female subordination that was operating in His time.
      3. He abolished racism and opened the door for everyone to walk in.
      4. He destroyed the walls between the classes. He restored us all to His finished work, to be His instruments without distinction or discrimination.
    8. However, we couldn’t do anything about sin. We needed a Savior to help us to live the way God wanted us to live and operate. We could not do it on our own.

Scripture References

Matthew 20:25-28

Leviticus 19:19, 20

Colossians 1:14

Hebrews 9:11, 12, AMPC

Galatians 3:13-28

Colossians 1:21, 22, AMPC

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

1 Peter 2:24