1/10/21 - The Great Salvation / REDEMPTION

Redeemed, redeemed, now I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am.

I am redeemed and so happy in Jesus, No language my rapture can tell. I know that the light of His presence With me does continually dwell.

His child and forever I am. Amen.

Good morning. Shall we look to the Lord in prayer? My God, our Father, once again it's our privilege to come before Thee and to look into Thy Word about this great salvation that Thou has made available to us through Christ. May He be honored and always say we thank You in His name. Amen.

So we're continuing on the theme of the great salvation, the words we find in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 3. And we looked first at how God is responding in this great salvation to our need. So He found us guilty in our sins and His response was forgiveness. Then our responsibility is to forgive others. He found us condemned in our sins, condemned, and so God justified us through Christ, justification. And then we saw that our responsibility is not to judge others.

So now we're going to look at the third aspect of salvation that has to do with our need as well. It's our need as far as being servants or slaves to sin, and God has an answer for that, and that is redemption. And then, of course, if we've been redeemed, then we're to serve the Lord as servants of Him.

So let's look at this first aspect of our need as servants of sin. And many people don't accept this regarding themselves. So it's important, the Word of God is true for all of us. And in John chapter 8, the Lord Jesus said in verse 34, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." Whoever commits sin or practices it, lives in sin, is a servant to sin.

Now the Lord is saying this in response to something the Pharisees had said in verse 33. They answered Him, "We be Abraham's seed and we're never in bondage to any man. How saith thou, 'You shall be made free'?" You see, we don't want to accept, particularly religious people, people that think they're good and that their religion has made them right with God just because they're churchgoers or church members. They look at their good works and compare themselves with others and think they're pretty good. And so these religious leaders, the Pharisees, were just like that, and they challenged the Lord. He said, "We've never been in bondage to anyone," which was, of course, ridiculous. They've been in bondage first to the Babylonians, then the Medo-Persians, and then the Greeks, and now to the Romans. But in any event, they didn't understand that the Lord was speaking even of something deeper, a bondage of the soul.

And so He explains it to them when He says, "I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant or the slave of sin." In verse 36 He says this, "And if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." So we are all slaves to sin, bound up in sin and slaves to it, slaves to He who is the great tempter, the devil himself. And we're captive. We cannot free ourselves. We cannot free ourselves.

There is a great picture of a man that is bound in sin and under the power of the devil from which he cannot release himself in Mark chapter 5. You have known this or know this scripture, I'm sure. In Mark chapter 5, it's the man in the Gadarenes who was possessed with demons. You say, "Well, that certainly doesn't describe my condition." Well, we hope that it doesn't. However, it does show us what man is when he's a captive to sin, a slave to sin and to Satan, and he cannot deliver himself.

So in verse 1 of chapter 5 of Mark, "They came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit." Now that's true for all of us. We may not be possessed by demons, but we all have an unclean, a sinful spirit, all of us born in sin, shaped in iniquity. Verse 3, "Who had his dwelling among the tombs." So he lived in a graveyard. This is what bondage to sin does. It separates us from all that's good, leaves us in the place of death, separated from God. He lived in the tombs, "and no man could bind him, no, not with chains."

You see, no one could release him. If you're a servant of sin, you know you can go through many different programs that offer to get you off of one type of bondage or another type of bondage that you might be in: drugs, alcohol, pornography, whatever it might, smoking, whatever it might be, anger management, whatever it is. But there is no program that can deliver you from your sin. You are a slave to sin, and Jesus said, "If the Son sets you free, free you shall be free indeed." Only He can do it. They tried to bind him, they tried to control him, and they were unable to do it.

And so verse 5, look how this bondage leaves. In verse 5, "And always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out, cutting himself with stones." You see, sin always leads, bondage to sin doesn't lead to liberty, it leads to a self-destructive lifestyle. He was always night and day in the tombs, crying out. How sad my soul. I remember when I was without Christ, cried out night and day, crying out, lost, not knowing where to turn, a servant, a slave to sin, crying out and living in a self-destructive lifestyle. You see what it says? He was cutting himself with stones. Sin is destructive. It is so very destructive, and men cannot deliver themselves from it. They might try to dress up their lives in different ways and make amendments or changes in life, but nothing will set them free from sin but Jesus Christ.

And so when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped Him and cried with a loud voice, "What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High? I adjure Thee by God that Thou torment me not." Now, of course, these are the demons that are in this man speaking, but this is the condition of humanity. "What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God?" Society, the world is seeking, when He came into the world, to put Him out of the world, that they crucified Him. But He rose again the third day, and His disciples preached the Gospel. It's still preached today, and there's multitudes that believe in Him, and His presence, His presence in the world is through His disciples. But the Lord Jesus is the only one that can deliver this man, but this man didn't want to have anything to do with Him. Why? Because he's a slave to sin. When you're a slave to sin, when you're bound in your sin, it causes you to lose perspective. In fact, in the book of Hebrews, it's called the deceitfulness of sin. There's always this thought that things will better, I can make things better.

You remember the nation Israel, how when they were delivered from Egypt, that they always remembered the leeks and the garlics in Egypt? In other words, they didn't remember the bondage and the sorrow, but they always thought upon those things that satisfied the flesh, the carnality in their lives. In fact, let's just turn for a moment and look at that in the book of Exodus, because this is a great illustration that God gives us of redemption, the nation Israel itself. In Exodus chapter 2, Exodus 2, I'll begin reading in verse 23: "And it came to pass in the process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groanings, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them."

So this is after Joseph has died. A Pharaoh arises that knew not Joseph. The nation Israel is now in bondage and captivity, and it's terrible, just like that man in the Gadarenes. They're slaves to Pharaoh. He pictures the devil, the servitude of their life. This is what sin is, it's servitude, it's monotony, and day in and day out. That's why you always go deeper and deeper into sin the longer you live, because there's always a thought that if I just take a little bit more, go a little deeper, go a little further, that then my soul will be satisfied. But all it does is increase the bondage. You can never be free, never be free, never be free, never, unless the Son sets you free. Praise the Lord for that!

And so the Lord said in chapter 3, when He's talking to Moses in verse 7, "And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. Now listen to this: And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians." So this is so wonderful. This is redemption. This is to be liberated. Redemption is all about being set free.

Now you remember how God did it. There's two words that we need to be familiar with. The first is ransom, and the second is to be delivered from our sins by the redemption that we have in Christ Jesus. So someone has to pay in order that we will be set free. What happened in Exodus chapter 12? That was the night of the Passover Lamb. You remember that Israel, just like Egypt and everyone now under this plague, they had to be protected by the blood. The blood of the Lamb was shed. It wasn't enough that the blood of the Lamb was shed, but they by faith had to put, to brush the blood of the Lamb over the doorpost of their house. You see, that's the ransom. A payment was made. A payment has been made to deliver us from our sins. Hallelujah! It's the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Redeemer, and His work on the cross of Calvary is the redemption. He made payment for us.

So in First Timothy 2:5, the Bible says, "There's one God, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all." You see, He's the ransom. He made payment for our sins through His precious, precious blood. But still Israel is not redeemed. They're still in the land of Egypt, in the land of bondage. So it's not just that the price, the ransom, had to be paid. Now there must be a deliverance. And God said, "I've come down to deliver them." And of course, you know, at the Red Sea, the sea parted, and that picture is the death of Christ and His resurrection for us, and they go through on dry ground. You know, when you trust Christ as Lord and Savior, death no longer has a sting, because it came upon Christ, and for us to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

So they went through the Red Sea on dry ground, and then on the other side in Exodus chapter 15, maybe we just look at that because that's where we read the word redemption. In chapter 15, verse 13, "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation." You see, it's not until they're out of Egypt that they are redeemed. It's not until the full acceptance of Jesus Christ, not just what He did on the cross of Calvary, not just the payment that He made there, not just to know that intellectually, but to receive Him as Lord and Savior. And in that death, burial, and resurrection, the payment has been made for our sins, and we're delivered from the power of sin, from the bondage of sin, and from the devil, because Pharaoh, of course, represented the devil.

You know, you cannot free yourself. I just would like to emphasize that. Let's look in Acts chapter, I think 24. Let's see, Acts chapter 26. Acts 26. Listen to what the Lord Jesus said to the Apostle Paul when He called him to be an apostle. He says what I want you to do in verse 18, Acts 26:18, "I want you to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and listen to this, and from the power of Satan unto God." You see, there is a power in sin and through the deception of Satan that we cannot free ourselves from. That's why we need to be delivered. That's why we must be, as God tells us, we must be redeemed.

Turn if you would to Colossians chapter 1, where we have that similar thought. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 13, it says, talking of Christ, God working through Christ, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness." That's redemption. It's redemption through His blood, as Ephesians 1 tells us. It's redemption. We have been delivered from the power of darkness and had translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Hallelujah! You see, it's so necessary to know that you cannot, you cannot free yourself. If you're a kind of a good guy, good gal, and you think you're going to get to heaven because you're good, you're so mistaken. You're a servant of sin. You're held by the powers of darkness, and one of the reasons that you think you're good is the powers of darkness have control of your mind and they have blinded you to the glory of God and how far you've fallen short from that glory. Trust Christ in this moment. Hallelujah! He is the Redeemer. Praise His name!

And so if we look in First Peter chapter 1, Peter was talking to the nation Israel, those that had received Jesus as their Messiah. And in verse 18 he says, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain or empty lifestyle received by tradition from your fathers." In other words, your religion, your religion, even though it's from God, cannot save you, cannot redeem you. That was pointing forward, every lamb that was offered upon Jewish altars pointing forward to the Lord Jesus. And now verse 18, "You've been not redeemed with these things, but you've been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Deliverance! Praise the Lord! Deliverance!

You see, God saw our need. We're in bondage to sin, slaves to sin, bondage to the powers of darkness, to Satan himself. God saw our need and He says, "I must redeem them. I must through Christ pay a ransom to set them free, and then in power I must deliver them through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ." Isn't that wonderful? Praise the Lord for that! That's so wonderful.

But God has something in view if we're redeemed. It's redeemed, we're redeemed for a purpose. Turn to Titus chapter 1, Titus chapter 1, or maybe it's Titus, oh, it's Titus chapter 2, I'm sorry. Titus chapter 2 and verse 11. Look at this, listen to this: "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing or the appearing in glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; now listen, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawless deeds." In other words, living without the authority, refusing God's authority, lawlessness in our lives. You know, you can have a very nice personality but be lawless without God's authority in your life. And so Christ came to redeem us from all lawlessness and "purify unto himself, listen to this, a people, a zealous of good works, a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

You see, redemption has something in view. God wants to redeem us, liberate us from sin, that we might be His servants. And if the Son sets you free, you're free indeed. So the service of the Lord is not a servitude of bondage, it's a servitude of liberty. Praise the Lord! Liberty, liberty!

In fact, you know, there is in the Old Testament, Leviticus 25, I believe it's the Feast of Jubilee. It's every 49, every seven sabbatical years, every 49 years, the 50th year they celebrated the Feast of Jubilee, which was a time of redemption where if you had sold your property, it came back to you. If you had debt, it was, you were freed from it. It was this incredible, incredible time of God redeeming, restoring His people back to their original inheritance. And there is something just comes to mind that on the Liberty Bell that we have in Philadelphia, and is inscribed on that bell from Leviticus 25, let me make sure I've got this, Leviticus, Leviticus 25 and verse 10: "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and this is what's on the bell, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Isn't that wonderful? Contrary to what we see in our society today, there was a proclamation of liberty throughout all the land and all the inhabitants of the land. That's what God is crying out today: liberty, liberty, freedom, freedom for all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we read in Titus chapter 2 and verse 14, "He gave himself for us." He gave a ransom, and ransom was His own life, "that he might redeem us, liberate us from all lawlessness; and look at this, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." See, a Christian does good works because he's been redeemed. Hallelujah! Not in order to get redeemed, but because he has been redeemed. What an incredible thing this is that God has redeemed us through Christ. Praise the Lord! We have been bought with a price that speaks to that ransom that He laid down, and it says, "Therefore, therefore we're to honor God with our lives."

Second Corinthians chapter 5, Second Corinthians chapter 5, I think verse 15. Let me just see if that's right. Second Corinthians 5:15, "And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." In other words, we've been set free, and in our freedom we can serve the Lord. Go back to Romans chapter 6, or we haven't been there yet, but in Romans chapter 6 we get this picture of our slavery to sin and then our redemption from sin and the slavery of it, and then we're to be servants of righteousness, servants of the Lord. Romans chapter 6 and verse 16: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked," Hallelujah! Verse 17, "But God be thanked," Hallelujah! If you've been redeemed, say Hallelujah! "God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." Praise the Lord! Isn't that wonderful? We can serve the Lord in freedom. We can take His yoke upon us, and His yoke is not burdensome. It's not, it's light, it's well-fitting, and we can find peace for our souls as we take the yoke of Christ and submit to Him. This is so, so wonderful.

And then one other aspect of redemption in chapter 8 of Romans, chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, and I'll begin reading in verse 22: "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." You see, after we're redeemed, and we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and we have been set free, and we're serving the Lord, still we're away from Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. We're waiting for the Lord to come, even so, come Lord Jesus. And our spirits within us, these enlightened and living spirits that we've received by being born again, which is something we'll look at later on in His great salvation, that we're alive to God, we want to be in heaven, we want to be in our home, we want to be with our new body, a glorified body. And the Bible tells us that that's coming, and that is the final redemption when He comes to take possession of His purchased possession. We're purchased now. He's going to come and redeem us, body, soul, and spirit, take us to the glory. We'll receive a new body like unto His body of glory, Philippians 3 tells us.

What a day we have! This redemption that God has given us in Christ has met our need. He saw us and had compassion and mercy upon us when we were slaves to sin, in bondage to sin and Satan, and He came and through the blood of Christ He offered a ransom, and through His power in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, He has delivered us. And if the Son sets you free, you are free, free, free, free indeed! Free to serve the Lord, and in that obedience to the Lord and that service to the Lord, that's freedom.

Just in closing, think about it. You know, the planets orbit around the sun. If they all of a sudden decided to take off and say they're going to be free of that gravitational pull, there would be big problems for every one of those planets, right? If Earth took off, we'd all be dead. And so there is a reality in the laws that God has given us where we find freedom. If in the law of music, if there wasn't laws that had to do with harmony, how ugly music would be. So you have to submit to that authority of the harmony of music. It's the same in our lives. Submit to Christ and find freedom, real freedom. You don't have it if you're not completely submitted to Him. It may be a process and is where we continually submit more and more of our lives, but when we do, we find that our freedom and the enjoyment of it is greater and greater for His name's sake. Amen.

Our God, our Father, we thank You. We thank You that there is a Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He has delivered us from sin and the powers of darkness and brought us into His own kingdom, this kingdom of God's beloved Son. We thank Thee, O Lord Jesus, we praise Thee, we worship and adore Thee, and we want to experience that freedom in service to Thee, that liberty to serve Thee. May it be so for each one of us in Thy worthy name. Amen. God bless you.