Redemption Through His Blood

Good morning, welcome to NHCC, please open your Bibles to Ephesians 1.

Introduction- Bless God because He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.

“I am who you say I am.”

Paul wants the Christians at Ephesus to be known as they truly are.

The blessings of the Father.

Chosen, predestined.

Duration of the blessing- from eternity past to eternity future.

To the praise of His glory.

How is such blessing applied, how is it realized? What had to be done in order for us to receive the blessings for which God had chosen us and predestined us?

To answer, we turn our attention to the Son.

Read Ephesians 1:7-8- In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight...

Pray.

What is redemption?

New Bible Dictionary- “Redemption means deliverance from some evil by payment of a price.”

OT word translated- “To tear loose”.

In the OT, the greatest single action of redemption was the exodus of God’s people from slavery and bondage in Egypt.

Deliverance from some evil by the payment of a price.

1. Deliverance.

Begin here, redemption involves being delivered from something to something else.

The concept of setting one free presupposes an enslavement.

Things are not as they were meant to be.

Remember Israel, unable to escape the bondage in which they found themselves.

This is the true beginning of the gospel- the discovery that we need deliverance, that something isn’t right within us.

This is no easy feat. We try to dress everything up so that we find deliverance to be unnecessary.

At our core, however, we find ourselves to be lacking, to be broken. Do not ignore what your own experience is telling you. Deliverance is necessary.

Nature of the word deliverance- we must be taken from one place to another.

2. Some Evil.

The existence of sin, but also it’s prevalence.

We can look at sin in a couple of different ways.

Trespass.

Sin is a missing of the mark, living where we are not to live.

Trespassing consists of two errors/dangers.

First, we find ourselves of the beaten path, where we are supposed to be.

Forbidden territory.

Trespassing. In sin, we find ourselves living a life completely apart from how we are supposed to live this life.

Second, every move we makes takes us deeper into the forbidden life.

Every action clothed in sin. Every action driven by sinful motivations.

Romans 8:7-8- For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

We try our best to convince ourselves that this is not true. We dress ourselves up, we deny the sin within us.

Bryan Chapell- “Along a highway near St. Louis, a row of blossoming pear trees lines the border of a state prison. In the springtime all that the highway drivers see is the appearance of beauty, but behind the blossoms are razor wire and imprisonment. We are to understand that this is the Bible’s perspective on the condition of humankind. Each day we can put on the appearance that everything is fine, even beautiful, but behind the appearance is imprisonment to our sin nature from which release does not come except at the price of Christ’s blood.”

This is the nature of the evil from which we must be delivered. We are both sinners and sinful.

We are trespassing, and we have no hope in and of ourselves to find our way back to where we ought to be.

Something must be accomplished on our behalf.

3. Payment of a Price.

Let’s recap- We begin with the discovery that we require deliverance.

Gnawing within- from what do I need delivered? Then comes the difficult moment of further discovery- I need saved from myself.

Immanuel Music- “Save me from me; Let all my ambitions cease; Oh when I am weak; You are near me; Show Your strength and power; In every seed of doubt; Oh God deliver me.”

Here is the root of the heart that is ready to receive salvation. Save me from me. Deliver me from myself. Will salvation come?

Psalm 50:15- ...and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.

What a beautiful promise. Call upon me from your place of trouble, I will deliver you.

But how?

What is the cost for our sinfulness?

Text makes it clear- we are redeemed through the blood of Jesus.

For Israel, blood on the doorposts, the price paid for their sin to be covered.

The pure, spotless lamb paid the price for God’s children.

For us, it’s the death of Jesus.

Truly Man- identified with mankind, one of us, that which man was created to be.

Truly God- perfection. Innocence. No man who is only man can die for another, to remove their guilt from sin. Everyone shares the stain.

God makes the payment, at great cost to Himself.

Any wonder that Paul writes that Jesus lavishes His grace upon us?

4. Outcome.

Forgiveness of our trespasses.

Made clean, made pure, made right.

When we seek forgiveness, we see the relationship that was broken being restored, however imperfectly.

From crying to playing together.

Forgiveness is deliverance from our trespasses. We stand on right ground, on sure footing, before the King of the Universe.

Relationship has been made right. Live as such.

Galatians 5:1- For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Implications:

Consider your status.

Chosen to be holy and blameless.

How? Because of the blood of Jesus.

Consider your value.

Sitting outside of an auction room.

Paintings going for $25. Then you hear of a price of $500,000 for a painting.

What is your assumption? The painting is quite valuable because of the price given.

You have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus.

1 Peter 1:18-19- ...knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Consider your choice.

Have you asked for deliverance from your sins?