Redemption

Introduction: Redemption, like a river runs throughout biblical history. Man is lost because of sin. Once committed, God needed a way to reconcile man to God. The only way this reconciliation could be done was by the shedding of blood, the blood of the only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Now, the issue guys in the past, and today has always been about how is a man redeemed permanently from his sin. Examine article by Tom Waddle, look at Hebrews 9:12 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

Note, that eternal redemption is a Biblical term. Not simply a theological term. The key to eternal security is the atonement, finished on the cross where Christ died not for some of your sins, but all of them.

Ruckman, Dr. Peter S.. Theological Studies Volume 1 . BB Bookstore. Kindle Edition.

The Need for Redemption

I. By one man sin entered into the world and through sin death. (Rom 5:12 “12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

According to Ruckman’s theololgical studies,”At the great Congress of Religions at the World’s Fair in 1932 (when scores of religions got together to talk about their ecumenical magpie mess to try to bring all men together under the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man), after nearly a week of discussion, Joseph Cook stood up in that group of dignitaries (which included Roman Catholic cardinals and bishops, Greek Orthodox elders and patriarchs, Protestant deacons and preachers, Mohammedan teachers of the Koran, and Buddhist and Hindu gurus) and said, “How cleansest thou this red right hand?” Now, if you don’t recognize the quotation, the quotation is from Macbeth. After Macbeth commits his murder he says, “How cleansest thou this red right hand?” That is, “Now that I have sinned, how do I get clean?” There was no religion that could tell him how to do it permanently.

1. Let’s go back to Genesis 2:15-17 “15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

2. Now turn to Genesis 3:1-7 “1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”

a) This is the origin of sin

3. So when Paul says All men have sinned.

a) All men are under the power of sin, there is none that are exempt. (Rom 8:23).

b) There is none righteous. (Rom 3:10 “10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”

c) The wages of sin is death. (Rom6:23 “23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

4.We cannot redeem ourselves.

a) Isaiah says “But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;” (Isa 64:6)

b) As the Psalmist said “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Psalm 49:7)

c) God required a perfect sacrifice. A lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Pet 1:19 “19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”

5. Only the blood of Christ can redeem us from our sins.

Dr. Ruckman continues in his book

The Romans told him to confess it, get contrition and absolution for it, and do penance for it, but he couldn’t know for sure the thing was gone because he could only hope for heaven and could not know for sure whether he was going to hell or not until he was dead. The Protestants told him to live a good life to amend for his sins. The Buddhists insisted that if he had followed “the noble eightfold path” he wouldn’t have committed the sin, but that never solved the problem. The problem was having sinned against an Eternal Being who lives forever, how do I pay for it unless I make an eternal payment? That is the problem. They had no answer for it. There is no answer for it, unless what the Bible says is true. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). And again, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” Colossians 1:14.

a) We are justified (made righteous) by the “. . . redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:24 “24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”

b) Our sins are forgiven by Christ “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” (Eph 1:7 “7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”

c) Only the blood of Christ could have redeemed us as “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Heb 9:12 “12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

II. The work of redemption requires preaching the Gospel!

1. Redemption requires preaching the gospel

a) We must preach to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the redemptive work of the cross because I need to be heard. (1 Cor 2:4 “4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:”

b) We must preach the gospel because we have been bought with a price. (1 Cor 6:20 “20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

c) We must preach the gospel because we are debtor to both gentile and jew (Rom 1:14 “14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.”

2. Preaching the Gospel requires that preachers must be raised up, trained and sent.

a) Christ proclaimed “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” (Matt 28:19 “19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”

b) We are commanded to do our best to learn and study to the best of our ability “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of the truth.” (2 Tim 2:15)

c) We are commanded to carry on the teachings, traditions, and “ordinances, as I delivered them to you.” (1 Cor 11:2), As Paul commanded the Corinthians.

III. The work of redemption requires the Gospel be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

a) We must not be ashamed of the Gospel and preach it with the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 1:16 “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

b) As Christ told his disciples, it is “the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63 “63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

c) As Paul told the Thessalonians, “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” (1 Thess 1:5).

d) How can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? (Rom 10:14 “14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

III. Although redeemed, we are still waiting for the redemption of the flesh.

1. We groan waiting for the final redemption of the flesh

a) Though we are saved, we are “. . . waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

2. We have been saved and received “. . . the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Eph 1:14 “14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

3. Though we wait for the final redemption of the flesh we, are secure and should “. . . grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Eph 4:30 “30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

Conclusion: Redemption was necessitated by the fall of man to sin Christ purchase our salvation with the precious his precious blood. Once saved, we all should have the desire to repay the debt we owe as Paul said being debtor to both jew and gentile. There is no greater purpose, no greater work than to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to take part in the ministry of reconciliation.