“gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment.”

In God’s great story of all things, His Word, we see time and time again the Lord buying back / redeeming His people.  Grand moments in the Old Testament during the Exodus immediately come to mind.  Certainly also the life story of Joseph, whose life was…well…challenging to say the least.  Sold into slavery by his brothers.  Gaining a position of authority in a foreign land, only to soon be wrongly accused and thrown in prison.  Waiting years in prison with no notion of ever getting released, to one day using his gift of interpreting dreams to glorify God and help his enemies, Joseph became the vehicle for saving a whole nation and his own family from famine and death.  

God’s redemptive acts are written in history.  His redemptive acts are also very real today and will always hold true.  It is a central theme in Scripture and one that reveals to us exactly Who our Triune God is.  That is, the very God so loving that He does everything in His power to rescue His people back from sin.  Moses and the Israelites.  Joseph in Egypt.  Certainly included are those people in the New Testament.  Christ redeemed Peter just days after he denied Jesus three times; Peter was brought back into relationship with the resurrected Lord and invited into the exciting journey of sharing the Good News.  There’s terrible Saul, chief of sinners as he lovingly calls himself, who was one of the greatest persecutors of the first generation of Christ followers.  Christ met this man on the road to Damascus, redeemed him from his sin, and he became one of the greatest missionaries ever, the great Paul.

Then finally there’s you.  You are included in the great story of ours Lord’s mighty acts of redemption.  All of us are slaves to sin, but in and through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been freed from our sin.  With the cross and empty tomb, Christ regained what was wonderfully meant to be His all along:  you.  The sacrifice of Jesus was the complete and final payment for our redemption.  Because of sin we deserved the harshest punishment:  eternal death.  But Christ took all that punishment Himself with His blood shed on the cross and painful death.  He purchased us back from sin and death’s grip on us through His dying and rising to new life.  And now in Christ alone, we are given true freedom.  You are free to live as God’s child without fear.  Free to draw near to Him, especially when you don’t feel deserving of it.  And in a greater way now, free to bring this amazing story of redemption to others.  

You have been redeemed from sin and redeemed for serving.  That truly is a wonderful truth about each of you.  I thank God for it.

Bought back together in Christ,

Pastor Sam