Christ Our Redemption

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Our Father urges us to rightly divide His Word. It isn't hard to veer off to the left or off to the right and emphasize some point all out of proportion with other parts of God's teaching. The Bible is a large book, and history shows us that unless we are filled with the fullness of the Word, people easily take it in pieces and inflate or deflate the importance of those pieces to suite themselves. This is how people try to get out of the importance of obeying the commandments, or being faithful in marriage, or any other teaching or command from the Word of God.

Our text today tells us that From Christ, Christ is made for us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Today, in moving through this passage, we'll look at the issue of "redemption," working through one piece at a time. We'll answer these questions:

1. What is redemption?
2. When is redemption?
3. How is Christ become our redemption?

What is Redemption?

The literal meaning of "redemption" is "to be bought back from." One who admits they have "been redeemed" is one admitting they've been bought back from a bad condition and situation. There's no way to be "redeemed" yet say "but I didn't need Jesus."

On one occasion (Please turn with me to John 8:31-33) Jesus was speaking publically to some individuals who had just then come to believe in Him. He was instructing them, saying, "If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed." But then He said something evoking a heated response from others in the crowd. What was it? "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Some in the crowd were listening closely to what He was saying, and when they heard that whisper about freedom, they were provoked. If the truth makes you free, they realized, then to ignore or rebel against the truth means one already is in bondage. Suddenly one called out loudly, "We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, Ye shall be made free?"

We don't want to admit it do we? Just like those offended Jews in the crowd that day, we want to deny our moral liabilities. We wish to deny our fallenness and sinfulness. We want to deny our need of salvation and a Savior. We'd so much rather, deep down inside, be on a plan where we could be redeemed from nothing instead of redeemed from sin. Maybe that helps answer why we linger in immoral behaviors--sin--so much. Could it be that we haven't completely reconciled ourselves to the fact that we've been bought back from a totally lost situation, that eternal life comes through and only through Jesus Christ?

Redemption involves a transaction about our moral liabilities. It means God upholding the principles—the law—by which He runs the universe by paying a heavy, heavy, heavy price for our sins. So we squirm. We want to be good Americans. You know; pull yourselves up by your own boot-straps, be self-sufficient, indebted to no one, helping others rather than being helped. Oh yes. That's right.

Even our desire to help others could sometimes be, deep down inside, a time when our soul unblushingly shouts to the world "I'm free. I'm a good guy. I've worked hard to get where I am. I'm not in bondage to any man."

Again, could it be that sometimes our constant activity is a subtle means of asserting that we are free? Now don't get me wrong. We are generally a very passive society. Activity is good and laziness is bad. It isn't healthy to be passive or lazy. But isn't there a danger in constant activity too? It can be like a prisoner rattling his chains to demonstrate that he's free. Just picture this: someone standing up and shouting "I'm free," and then you hear the chains rattling. "ch-ch-ch" [simulated sound of chains rattling]. Of course, that's a paradox. If you rattle your chains, you've got chains on; you're not free. But sometimes we'd like to assert that we're free. We don't want to admit that we need the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; that Jesus has bought us back from something.

It's not just a smiley-face thing. You know, there's probably one printed some where, but my Bible doesn't have a smiley-face on it. Jesus didn't just die to show us how much He loves us. He died to pay a penalty. Our penalty—the one that we're liable for. And so what do we do?

Here's another trap. We must ask ourselves whether we have given it all to God. Recently? Are we free now? Or are we relying on a past experience as a claim that we are a son or daughter of Abraham? Now the Jews were relying on their DNA more than a past experience (although being born-Jewish kind-of could fit in like that). But sometimes we could relay on the fact that, years ago, I made a commitment to the Lord. There's nothing wrong with making a commitment to the Lord years ago. But we need to keep on making it over and over again, don't we? Because otherwise we drift back, and we start sliding away. It's so easy to slide away. So does Jesus have our hearts right now; that's what the question is. And that leads us to the next question...

When is Redemption?

Now another question: when is redemption?

Recall what we said at the beginning? People will glom-on to an idea or a doctrine, perhaps take their favorite parts of that idea, and run with those parts instead of the whole of it? Well, it's been done on the teaching of redemption.

People have been firm to hold that redemption is something we already have, that we presently have through Christ. Is it true?

Now some of you might be feeling uneasy just now about the answer. In your mind, you're saying, "I thought we already have redemption in Jesus. But here it comes. He's going to say its not so."

It is so. We do have, presently, now, redemption in Christ Jesus. But let me explain.

Redemption carries two senses in Scripture. Jesus is both, presently our redemption, and He is our redemption at His second coming. The Bible speaks in particular of the redemption of the body at second coming. But in speaking of redemption at the present, the Bible teaches that we now have redemption in regard to our present relation with God and His plan to repair us in the here and now.

Redemption is not just at the second coming, which the error we could make. But the error that some have made is that redemption is just something that's past. And that would be a mistake too. And if we just said redemption is just here and now, and we're not going to look at the past and we're not going to look at our future, then we'd have another problem.

Redemption in Romans 3:24

Let's look at that. Let's start by turning to Romans 3:24. Now we just have time to take a quick slice here, so don't imagine that we're treating this text in any depth. But let's take a look. What does this verse say? "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

There is something that is in Christ that we can have now. Redemption is in Christ. It's in Christ -now. Justification by grace comes through redemption. It comes through Jesus paying the price for our sins. Not His paying a price so that we can sin, but that He paid a price because we had sinned. The difference is sharp. The redemption price paid by Christ at the cross is not a ticket for sin, but a pass-key to righteousness. It is release from the death penalty that each of us has justly incurred.

And don't forget; what is justification? Not merely what it is almost universally esteemed to be: being counted right irregardless of what one truly is. That's not justification. Remember, justification is being literally, authentically, inwardly made actually right with God. It means a supernatural power unleashed into the soul. It means a clear conscience toward God and man. Oh yes, we are "justified freely by His grace," but His grace is sufficient. It is alive, powerful. It has in itself all things that pertain unto life and godliness. It does not just cover-up, but it washes-through. Our fallen nature is not changed by it now, but our moral faculty is re- ignited; the pilot-light of the soul is turned on again. And old things become new.

Remember Luke 18. The pharisee stood there and said to God, "O, I'm such a great guy. I do all these good, righteous things." And in the back stood the sinner. And he's praying, "O Lord be merciful to me. I'm a sinner." And then the Scripture says that he went home justified; not the other guy. The one that admitted, and repented—he went home made right with God. And there was nothing hanging over his had when he walked through the door of his home. God wasn't up in heaven saying, "Well, I'm going to count this guy right for now, but we'll see what happens." No! When this fellow walked through the door and came into his home, he'd repented, he'd changed, he'd been supernaturally impacted by God, and he was absolutely right with God when he walked in through that door. His face was probably beaming. He knew that God had accepted his plea for forgiveness. And he went down to his house justified rather than the other.

The other man went home saying, "O, I've done all this fasting, and I'm not a tax-collector, and I've paid my tithe, and I went down to the temple today and I did something spiritual." But the other individual was the one who went down to the temple and he did do something spiritual; he gave God his heart. He went home justified. It was an actual change. And so being justified freely as this verse says, through His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; you see how it all fits together as a whole in God's plan.

Redemption in Ephesians 1:7

Now let's move on to another verse on redemption is Ephesians 1:7. Let's go there. Now it's speaking here about Jesus. What does it say? "In whom we have redemption [what?...] through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

Now that says some of the same things that the last verse does. But what's different? Our redemption is from Jesus, and what does it say here? "In whom we have redemption through His blood." It is through Christ's blood that we have redemption. And what about that? His blood represents His life—a sinless life—lived in human flesh over 33 years. And at the cross of Calvary that blood was offered up for us, apart from anything we could or would have done. It was a free gift for us by the Father and Jesus and the Spirit. But did it all end there? Haven't we been finding lately that the blood of the sacrifices was always ministered through the sanctuary system in order to bring atonement? And while Jesus made the full sacrifice on the cross, He is making the benefits accruing to Him through that sacrifice available to us now through His high Priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary. He's not done. He's working right now. The blood must be ministered, not just spilt.

And this verse friends is so interesting to us (and it should be) as Seventh-day Adventists. Why? Notice what it said: "In whom we have redemption through His blood." And because we understand that the work of Jesus is continuing today in the heavenly sanctuary, and that that blood wasn't just shed at the cross and stopped there, but that Jesus has taken it now, all the way into the Most Holy Place, this verse says to me that redemption is a broader process. It's not just focusing on "hey, it's already been done." Jesus is still applying the results so that we'll be redeemed. There's a sense in which we're redeemed now, but there's a sense in which its still coming.

This verse, friends, affirms that the blood of Jesus makes a difference. Being "under the blood" as the saying goes, does not mean to be only covered by it, but it means to be washed by it. It means actual change on the inside too. Not even just so that we can offer to God just "the best that we can do." You know, that's what one of the teachings is. You just become a Christian and do the best that you can do. But the Bible says, in Hebrews chapter six, verse one, that the intention of God is to take us "on unto perfection!" (Hebrews 6:1). Not "unto the best that we can do." Doesn't Jesus deserve more than "the best that we can do?" The best that we can do is nothing! But when the Spirit of God is allowed to live inside of us, heaven will help us; we will live in a way that brings glory to our heavenly Father. We're not going to just give Him "the best that we can do." Because He lives in us, the Father will be glorified by what He does through us. That's a little bit different than "the best that we can do." Christianity is not "the best that you can do." It's letting God do the very best through you.

Let's move to another text.

Redemption in Colossians 1:14-15

Next we come to Colossians 1:14-15 which reads, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." The margin reading there says "first in rank over every creature." This passage begins with most of what was in the last verse we looked at, but then it adds this part about the Redeemer who is "the image of the invisible God."

Now this is linking Jesus again very closely into this process of redemption, isn't it? What do we find here? It's talking about Jesus who is the "image of the invisible God." Turn to Hebrews 1:3. That goes right with this, and will give us some help on this one. What does it say there? Talking now about Jesus, "Who being the brightness of His glory, and the image of His person..." Did I leave something out? Here it says that Jesus is the "express" image of His person," doesn't it? Now the verse we had in Colossians talked about Jesus being "the image of the invisible God," but Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the "express" image of God. And that's so interesting, because when we combine that with 2 Corinthians 3:18 (turn there with me)... You may know that verse already.

Haven't we all heard the saying that "by beholding we become changed?" Let's read the verse: "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Now Jesus is "the express image" of the Father. Now we're changed into "the image of God," or "the same image from glory to glory," by our beholding Him. But now you or I will never become God. We're never going to be Jesus. Jesus is Jesus. But we will, by looking to Him, become more and more like Him. Isn't that wonderful? This is the plan of redemption, friends. It's not "the best that we can do." It's the best that God can do, and it's pretty good. He's going to make us like Jesus! Redemption praises the excellence of Christ by reproducing those excellences in our lives. This happens here and now; it doesn't happen later. Its here and now.

Redemption at the Second Coming

Well, we need to tie this all off. I've got four verses here that all deal with redemption coming at the second coming. In Luke 21:28 it says, "Lift up your heads, your redemption draweth nigh." Remember that verse? So that's putting redemption at the second coming. In Romans 8:23, let's look at that. And what do we have here? "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." So we're waiting for this redemption. Now we found in the other verse that we already looked at, Ephesians 1, Colossians 1, Romans 3, that redemption comes in a real sense in the here and now. But in these verses we're finding that the redemption of the body comes at the end, see? So we have these two aspects that are balanced.

Ephesians 1:14 states that the Holy Spirit seals us until our redemption. And then also in Ephesians 4:30 it says the same thing basically: the Holy Spirit seals us until the day of redemption. So we have this down-payment. We have the Holy Spirit's presence to help us know that we're on that program—that we're on God's program of being bought-back. So we've been bought back now, but the full effect of that comes later. So we can live now, and be right with God and be justified by grace now, but when the end comes, all through our life then the Father will have been glorified because the image of Jesus will have been reproduced in us.

A False redemption?

Now let me take you to another verse here as we're finishing off, in Hebrews 11:35. Notice this. What have we got here? Here is this recounting of these people who were tortured for the gospel, right? What does it say? "Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting [and there's the word. In King James we have...] deliverance [the underlying Greek word is the same as all those other references we've looked at today translated "redemption"]; that they might obtain a better resurrection." Interesting. It says that they did not receive redemption, or they did not receive deliverance; they were tortured but they did not receive deliverance so that they might obtain a better resurrection. Now what are we talking about here? Here are people who could have been delivered. How? They were being tortured, right? All that they would have had to do would be to speak out and say "I don't believe in God." Read Hebrews 11; they're all being persecuted for the gospel. And it says that some people refused to be delivered. They refused that redemption. It was a false redemption. And friends, today there's a false redemption out there for you and me.

The devil would love for us to be thinking in terms of being "saved" through a false redemption. He wants us to be bought back—just not from sin! Jesus came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). So let us be sober and watchful, and make sure we're on the Scriptural path of redemption.

Which bring us to one more question that may have come into your mind that we haven't dealt with. How can we have redemption now; how is that different from saying you're "once-saved, always-saved?" Think about that? When we say we have redemption now, some think it implies the other one. Well. What about that?

Once-saved, always-saved" is so dangerous. It steers us away from understanding the great controversy between Jesus and the devil. It does. I'll tell you how it does. The great controversy—it's taking thousands of years, isn't it? Thousands of years! This is ending sin forever. This salvation issue isn't solved by one moment in time when the chemicals in your brain and the electrical activity in your brain just aligns a certain way. Maybe you just heard a big appeal song at the end of an evangelistic sermon. And your heart-strings are tugged real tight.

And I'm not saying God can't work that way, but maybe people get stirred-up and they want to give their heart to the Lord. And in that moment they want to and maybe they do. Every one of us have, at some moment in time, I hope, given our heart to the Lord. Not to say that everyone has this instant moment emotional experience, but there's been some point where we've decided and said, Jesus, now's the time. I am Yours. I don't want to take away from that moment. But its more than a moment; its more than getting stirred-up and coming forward. And we know that. I don't need to tell you that.

There's not just a moment when it clicks, and suddenly everything is locked-away, and all the papers are signed in heaven. When we're "saved" that means we keep growing; we're new creatures in Christ. And so when we say we have redemption now, we're not saying that we're saved forever and that God is stuck with us. When we have redemption we have Christ. When we don't have Christ, friends, we don't have redemption. If you want to confirm that Scripturally you can go to 1 John 5:12-13. We need to have Christ then all the time, don't we? See how important that is?

Redemption in Knowing God

Now I want to close with the opening Scripture and then a short journey to Jeremiah. In 1 Corinthians 1 we read these verses. And did you notice how these verses were talking here in verse 29? Before it talks about Christ being our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption, it gives us this interesting statement: "that no flesh should glory in His presence." When we get right down to it and start talking about salvation, the plan is not that we will all start glorying in His presence over what we've done on the way there.

Not through all this we read about in 1 Corinthians about wisdom, and the greeks were all excited about wisdom. Or knowledge. We're not going to walk through the kingdom of heaven saying, "Thank you. I'm glad I'm here, and I'm going to get to skip the first five years of instruction, of the teaching up here, cause' I've already got that." Nor would we be saved if we could skip those first five years. We're not saved by our knowledge here. But it says "no flesh will glory," and then at the end in verse 31 it says, "according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord." The plan of God is that in this redemption, all the glory goes to God and none of this glory goes to you and me. There's nothing we have to boast about. The only boasting or the only glory, we have, friends, is the glory of knowing God. And the verse that this actually comes from if you'll look it up, is Jeremiah 9:23-24. Let's go there for our last verse.

There won't be any glorying on our own, but what saith the Scripture? "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might." That would sure shut down most waht passes as entertainment today, wouldn't it? But the verse continues: "let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth...let him that glorieth glory in this." You see it right there, don't you? We should glory, brothers and sisters, in that we "Understandeth" and know God. And not only that, because the verse doesn't stop there, does it? It could stop right there, but it would be incomplete. Because why is it glorious to know God? Next part of the verse: "that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment (justice), and righteousness..." And where does God exercise these things? "In the earth." "For. In. These. Things. I delight, saith the Lord."

First Corinthians 1:30 says that Jesus Christ is to us "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." And here we find that the reason that He is our wisdom, the reason that He is our righteousness, the reason that He is our sanctification, and the reason He is our redemption, is because this is the way God is and He's making us into His image. And His image means that, the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, is going to cause Larry to exercise lovingkindness. The Lord who exercises justice (that word judgment there really means justice), He's going to cause you and me to exercise justice. The Lord who exercises righteousness—in the earth—you and me, like Jesus, can exercise righteousness in the earth. Because in these things, the Lord delights, and He's going to put it into our minds so that we delight in the things that He delights in.

And so Jesus Christ is our redemption, brothers and sisters. And He's going to let us go out, and walk out through those doors and into the world. And be a part of the redemption plan. Isn't that wonderful? We're not saving anybody. But we'll reflect Jesus. And Jesus and the Holy Spirit will do the saving.