18. Understanding Our Redemption Pt 6

Understanding our Redemption Pt6: Redemption Accomplished and Applied

1Pe 1:13-21 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (14) as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; (15) but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, (16) because it is written, "BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." (17) And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; (18) knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (20) He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (21) who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

For a while now we have been looking at understanding our redemption as a means of walking in holiness and conducting ourselves in fear while we during our stay upon the earth. But it has also been a means of great comfort and peace as we have grown in understanding that we can rest in God’s redemption because it is the perfect redemption. We have not been given a spirit of slavery leading to fear again but we have been given the Spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out Abba, Father. No longer are we reaching for God in the futility and meaninglessness of works and false worship but you may be asking yourself, what proof is there that Christ’s redemption is real? You say that Christ’s redemption is perfect but what proof do you offer to show that it is true? Verse 21 provides the answers to those questions.

Redemption Accomplished-Through Him You Believe in God

Look at the first phrase. In the Greek the word for believe is a plural noun. It reads, “who through him you are believers in God.” The communities from which the Christians came, would have considered that an odd distinction to make of the Christians. For whether Peter is speaking here to Christian Jews or Gentiles, both nonChristian Jews and Gentiles who were converted to the Jewish faith would have claimed that they were believers in God. The Jews would have been especially offended at such terminology. None of the readers to whom Peter is writing would have testified that they had not believed in God before. And not only that there are many religions that profess to believe in God. This says exclusively who true believers in God are. Act 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

So what is Peter’s meaning?

The key is found in the first two words – “through him.” And to understand how close the connection these two terms are to the whole phrase, let me write it literally as presented in the Greek. Verse 21 actually continues the previous train of thought. Picking up with verse 20: He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for you, the through-him believers of God.

The first phrase of verse 21 is actually an adjective phrase describing the ‘you’ of verse 20.

Christians are the through-Christ believers of God. The redeemed-by-Christ are the believers-through-Christ. Remember what redemption is: To be redeemed is to be purchased or ransomed from a previous state or condition. Peter is saying, “You are now true believers in God, because, one, you know him in your redeemed status no longer being under the slavery of sin, and, two, you know him through knowing Christ.” As slaves of sin, we could not know God because our hearts and minds were dead in our trespasses and sins. Christ’s redemption changed that condition so we can now know God. As a result of Christ’s redemption we have been regenerated. Our hearts of stone have been replaced by hearts of flesh. Stone is dead and lifeless, flesh is living. Furthermore, as Christ fulfills the office of prophet. He as explained God the Father to us. Joh 1:18  No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. I like the NASB translation a little better here. Is says explained him. The Greek word is word we get exegete. Every action and every word of Jesus was the exact representation of our Father in heaven. By knowing Christ, we can now know God.

Who Raised Him From the Dead and Glorified Him

If we are the ones who believe in God through Christ, God is the one who raised Christ from the dead and glorified him so that we would believe and hope in God.

This is not the only place where the resurrection and belief and hope are connected.

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

What is it about the resurrection that produces belief and hope? What does the resurrection signify that justifies our faith and nourishes our hope?

What is it that Jesus did for us? He redeemed us from sin. How? By offering his precious blood as a redemption/ransom payment for us. But that leads to another question: how do we know that his payment, the sacrificing of his life, was sufficient? How do we know that God the Father accepted it? What if during Jesus’ life, he had developed a blemish or two? Think about it: what do we hear from Jesus on the cross? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Those are not exactly the words we want to hear from one making a payment for us. The truth is we don’t know if Jesus’ ransom payment was sufficient without evidence, and his resurrection is that evidence.

1 Corinthians 15 gives the definitive exposition of the importance of the resurrection. Verses 17-19 summarize the consequence for Christians if Christ did not rise.

1Co 15:15-17  Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.  (16)  For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.  (17)  And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

Why are we still in our sins? Because Jesus failed to turn away God’s wrath with his sacrifice. He was not lifted up, not exalted by God; or at least that is the conclusion we are left with. It is only through the resurrection that Christ’s redemption succeeded.

It is also through the resurrection that Jesus reigns as Lord, that he was not defeated by death. The first Christian sermon, which was delivered by Peter at Pentecost, centers on the resurrection, highlighting the great victory of Jesus.

Act 2:29-32  "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  (30)  Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,  (31)  he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.  (32)  This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.

Indeed, the resurrection is what gave the apostles faith and hope. But it gave them more than that. It gave them courage. These same apostles who fled at Christ’s arrest, this same apostle who denied Christ 3 times are the same apostles in Acts who upon threat of beatings and imprisonment said ‘we cannot help but to speak of what we have seen and heard’. They understood that their mission in life was to bear testimony to the risen Lord. Cut out the resurrection and the gospel never goes forth; there is no gospel to go forth. The gospel is that Christ has made redemption for our sins, the proof of that redemption is that HE has risen from the dead and reigns over his kingdom now. For the gospel is not just about the sacrifice Jesus made back then; it is also about the ongoing ministry of Jesus now and his final work to come when he returns, neither of which can take place if Jesus did not rise from the dead.

Peter notes also that Jesus was glorified. He is referring to what he and the other apostles were able to see. They saw Jesus transfigured on the Mountain. Jesus’ resurrection was itself a means of glorification; furthermore they beheld his ascension into heaven, a further means of being glorified. The point is that Jesus did not merely survive death; he conquered it and was exalted over it. As Peter went on to say in his Pentecost sermon:

Act 2:33-36  Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.  (34)  "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,  (35)  TILL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES YOUR FOOTSTOOL." '  (36)  "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

So, we have faith in God because the resurrection of Christ testifies to the completeness of his redemption and demonstrates his great power. Now I want us to also think of the relationship between hope and resurrection. To do this we must consider what the resurrection of Christ actually entails.

It means to rise from the dead, but it is more than that. Lazarus rose from the dead; Jesus raised the son of the widow from Nain and the daughter of Jairus the synagogue ruler. We do not refer to any of those cases as resurrections; they are, rather, resuscitations from the dead. They were brought back to the same physical state in which they originally lived, and eventually they all died again.

But Jesus did not die again, and he did not rise in the same state in which he had existed before he died. He rose with a resurrected, not resuscitated, body. His body was not revitalized; it was transformed.

And here is the point to this discussion: we also shall be like him. We also shall experience the resurrection.

1Co 15:20  But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep..

1Co 15:42-44  So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.  (43)  It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.  (44)  It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

That is our hope – the final resurrection of our bodies, which will take place when Christ returns. That is the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time 1 Peter 1:5. Our hope is not that we will go to heaven when we die. That’s a good thing to take place, but it is not the final stage of our inheritance for which we hope. We ourselves have a final transformation to undergo – our bodies themselves will be in a glorified state. Whereas now we are the people of redemption, we will become the people of resurrection. Now our souls are redeemed, then our bodies will be redeemed.

Rom 8:23  Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

At that time the saying that is written will come true: 1Co 15:55-57  "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? O HADES, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?"  (56)  The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.  (57)  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through Christ we are believers in God. His redemption put us in the right condition in which to know God, and he himself reveals to us what God is like. God raised Christ from the dead and glorified him so that we would have faith in God and put our hope in him.

Did you catch those significant two words – so that? The Greek reads “so that.” Peter’s point is that Christ was raised and glorified for the very purpose that we would believe. Our belief is not incidental in the plan of redemption. God devised the plan of Christ’s redemption in such a way it would produce faith. For it is clear that without God given faith from us, Christ’s work of redemption does us no good.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Romans 3:21,22).

The work of Christ’s redemption did not automatically change the status of everyone in the world. It changed only those whom God has chosen as taught in verse 1, and those whom he has chosen must come forth at some time and exercise faith. How is it that they come to exercise faith?

Redemption Applied

This where we get into redemption applied. Redemption paid is the work of Christ that takes place apart from us. It is a work “out there.” Redemption applied is the work that is done in us. 1 Pet 1:3 gives us a clue of this inner working: 1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,.

God does the work of regenerating us we may then respond to the gospel by faith and hope. Remember, without Christ we are dead in our sins. We are incapable of responding to the gospel.

Tit 3:4-6  But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,  (5)  not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,  (6)  whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

In John 6, Jesus discussing faith, the necessity of God’s inner working, and our final resurrection.

Joh 6:39-40  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  (40)  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

Joh 6:44  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

To have eternal life, one must believe. The one who believes can have the hope of the resurrection. No one, however, can believe except for the work of God in him, leading him to faith.

This knowledge should cause us to be in awe of the grace that God has shown us. Once more we behold the wondrous attention that the almighty God shows to his people. Once more we see how he determines that his desire is carried out.

So why should we be holy? Why should we conduct ourselves in fear during the time of our stay upon the earth? Hardship now, glory to come.

For all who would say they know God or love God or fear God; for all who would say they are earnest seekers of God, then here is your test: what do you say of Jesus Christ? Is he the only redeemer for sin; is he your Redeemer? Oh! that you may know him to be so; for those who know him and his redemption, who have placed their faith and hope in him, will testify that he worthy of that faith.