In him we have redemption …
Summary: What does it mean to be redeemed? When it comes to spiritual matters, we may never fully understand them. But we can know this much; we need it!
When I was a kid, there was something called S&H Green Stamps. They were a kind of promotional currency designed to entice people to shop at the stores that gave them away. If you saved up enough stamps, you could trade them in for “free” stuff in a catalog. Everybody loves “free stuff,” so in theory, everybody loved S&H Green Stamps. For the most part, that was true.
When you traded in your stamps for something, it was said you “redeemed” them. By themselves, the stamps were no good to anybody. Only when you collected enough of them could you redeem them for something in their catalog. What that meant was that the company who issued the stamps, Sperry & Hutchison, would trade you something you wanted for a certain number of stamps. The catch was that you had to save enough stamps.
When the Serpent enticed Adam and Eve to rebel against God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-7), he had what he wanted. God’s creation was torn away from its Creator and had unwittingly joined forces with the Chief Rebel, Satan. God wanted his creations back, and Satan knew it. Satan wanted something, too. He wanted to kill God. (I don’t fully understand why all of this was necessary, but God does.)
God wanted his creation back, and he was willing to pay the price. The price to redeem us was high. It was higher than anyone else could pay. Instead of trading stamps, the price for the redemption of creation had to be paid for in blood. And not just any blood. It had to be paid for in God’s own blood.
Killing God was no small thing. Being perfect in love, God is without fault. Everything he does is perfect, so there is no justification for harming Jesus. But Evil doesn’t care. Evil got caught up in its blood lust for killing God, and using the Roman’s expertise in torture, it succeeded.
Jesus was dead.
The implications of God being killed by his own creation are staggering. For a brief moment, Satan believed he had won. His gambit with Adam and Eve had paid off. The Creator had become the creation and in so doing, had become vulnerable to pain and death. And then the impossible happened; Jesus rose from the dead.
From the first sin, the flesh had been the master. The spiritual nature had been enslaved, and at the same time, estranged from God. When Jesus became subject to the flesh, something changed. The flesh did not have the upper hand. Even when it came to facing death, Jesus forced his flesh to submit. When he died; the flesh was defeated, but God was not.
For those of us who want to escape from Satan’s grasp, we need to follow Jesus. We need to submit to Jesus instead of our flesh. (Romans 8:1-17) When that happens, the power of the risen Lord allows us to live by God’s Spirit. We have been redeemed — “we,” meaning our spiritual selves, are reunited with God. To use Jesus’ words, we are “born again” (John 3:3).
The day God died was a dark day for all of creation. The day he rose from the dead was the day creation was redeemed.
Application: Live as if your life were worth a billion bucks, because it is.
Food for Thought: What do you think of when you hear the word “redeemed?”
I think of being bought back from slavery to sin and death. In the Greco-Roman world, when a slave was bought out of slavery, they were redeemed. The redemption price for us was high. We now owe our lives to the one who bought us. Romans 6: 15 – 23; 1 Corinthians 6: 19 – 20.
Rich,
Classic! Buying our freedom is a great example. In a modern sense, retirement from work is the contemporary version of buying our freedom.
Amen, R. My mind goes right to 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 and to Calvary. It’s a purchase that compels the redeemed one to righteous action. Ephesians 2:8-10.
JEC,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts this morning. “… you were bought at a price” (1 Cor 6:20) and “by grace you have been saved” (Eph 2:8) are like two pieces of a puzzle. The first tells us what happened, the second tells us why. Our Maker loves us deeply! We all were born into the garbage pail of sin. Before the trash was taken out, our God reached into the filth to pull us out. Like a piece of garbage that is “repurposed” for something new, we, too, are repurposed for a new life in Christ.
02-09-2023, What do you think of when you hear the word “redeemed?”
Webster devotes a great deal of space to this word, listing 106 synonyms & antonyms of REDEEM in their Thesaurus.
There are several common synonyms for redeemed, all these words mean “to set free from confinement or danger,” redeem implies releasing from bondage or penalties by giving what is demanded or necessary.
The words “deliver” and redeem can be used in similar contexts, but deliver implies release usually of a person from confinement, temptation, slavery, or suffering.
Although the words “ransom” and redeem have much in common, ransom specifically applies to buying out of captivity.
The synonyms “reclaim” and redeem are sometimes interchangeable, but reclaim suggests a bringing back to a former state or condition of someone or something abandoned or debased.
While in some cases nearly identical to redeem, “rescue” implies freeing from imminent danger by prompt or vigorous action.
The words “save” and redeem are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, save may replace any of the foregoing terms; it may further imply a preserving or maintaining for usefulness or continued existence.
Jesus Christ is the great Redeemer of ALL mankind because He, through His Atonement, paid the price for our sins and made possible the resurrection of all people. I know that my redeemer liveth, Job 19:25. I will help thee, saith thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah. 41:14, 43:14; 48:17; 54:5; 59:20.
Jesus Christ paid the price for my sins and has set me free from all power of sin. I live in this freedom by the power of the Holy Spirit as I die to self and seek growth in Christ who daily ministers to those around me.
All Praise to God!
Ron,
Really, really good word study! Thank you! To be “set free” is a great definition for “redeemed.” We are set free in Christ. Free from bondage to the lie that the only life that matters is physical life. Free to discover that there are spiritual realities that far surpass the physical existence.
Good comments and scripture from Jeff, Rich and JEC!
What do I think of when I hear the word “redeemed?”
My toddler sometimes plays too rough with his toys and break them. Wheel comes off, arm comes off, that sort of thing. I like to take the pieces out to my workbench and try to fix them. Drill a small hole here, zip tie or small screw or glue there; now it is functional.
To me redeemed means more than bought at a price, it means being restored to the intent of functionality. As a follower of Christ, a follower of God’s Will, I have been redeemed and can now live as He intended; to love Him and my neighbor. before I accepted His gift, I could not truly live as God intended.
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Chris,
Your broken toy analogy is a great way to look at being redeemed. Certainly our relationship with God was broken and being “born again” fixes that broken relationship.
Nice!