“Redemption Song”
Pastor David Moore
Old Testament reading: Deuteronomy 7:6-15 (NIV)
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.
The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath He swore to your ancestors that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.
But those who hate Him he will repay to their face by destruction; He will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate Him.
Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.
If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep His covenant of love with you, as He swore to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land He swore to your ancestors to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young. The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.
New Testament reading: Ephesians 1:4-8 (NIV)
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Paul thinks it is foundational to our thinking, our understanding of ourselves as followers of Jesus. Today, I want to focus on what Jesus did, in hope that we will gain gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ, on the Cross. The word we will explore today is redemption. ~D. Moore
As Christians, we know–at least I hope we know–that we cannot cleanse ourselves, living a good life, at least a good life by human standards, will not ever make up for sins committed in the past. ~D. Moore
Definition of Redemption
1. To buy back.
2. To set free by paying the ransom.
3. To deliver from sin and its penalties, as by a sacrifice for the sinner.
4. To make amends or atone for.
According to Scripture, we are captives, we are all in prison because of our sins and guilt, we need someone to free us. ~D, Moore
We are in captivity, we need someone to pay the ransom, to redeem us from our captivity and into freedom. ~D. Moore
The Bible says we are under the law until we are born again. We are under the curse of the law. ~D. Moore
We are supposed to forgive when someone sins against us, so why can’t God just do that? Because God is holy, and we are not. Some things cannot just be forgiven away. ~D. Moore
When we sin against the 10 Commandments, we are disobeying the divine law which is the fundamental reality of the universe. If there is no divine law, there are no absolute standards. If there is no God giving laws, then there is no diving judge who makes sure the universe is running and operating accordingly to righteousness. If there is no law and no judge, then violence, racism, oppression, aggression, those are just words, whose meaning is relative. If God doesn’t exist, then any particular deed is not any better or worse than another deed. ~D. Moore
God set up forgiveness thousands of years before His Son could come to make things right. ~D. Moore
There is a holy God and not holy us. This is a problem that has to be rectified not by us, but by God. ~D. Moore
Our sins are debts that none can pay but Christ. It is not our tears, but His blood; it is not our sighs, but His sufferings, that can testify for our sins. Christ must pay all, or we are prisoners forever. ~Thomas Brooks
Every sin is a debt, and that means when you forgive someone you can only forgive someone by absorbing the cost of the sin. ~D. Moore
Every sin comes at a cost, and no one can forgive without absorbing the cost; otherwise, it really isn’t forgiveness. It is just playing nice for a while. ~D. Moore
God’s love meets God’s holiness on the Cross. Forgiveness, real forgiveness and love is always a sacrifice. It costs something, better for us and for God. The Cross was the price, it was how God absorbed the cost of forgiveness. ~D. Moore
God loves everyone, but forgiveness is difficult. Why the Cross, if there was another way to adhere God’s love and holiness? The Cross is absolutely necessary. Jesus gave His life because we were absolutely headed to hell and needed the intervention of the Cross. ~D. Moore
Scourged, mocked, crucified, forsaken. ~Jeff Syverson “He experienced sorrow, grief, extreme pain and the sense of abandonment and being forsaken by the Father as he bore our sins on the Cross. It is our sin that made the Cross necessary.”
Does your life show how God has richly blessed you with His glory and grace? ~D. Moore Everything that happens to us is evidence of His glorious grace and love. ~D. Moore
You are the best thing to show off the glory of God in all the universe. ~D. Moore
Paul says God forbid that I should boast except in the Cross of Christ my God. The Cross has to be glorious to us otherwise we’re just going through the motions of faith. The blood Christ shed was for you, that is why you are valuable, it is proof you are loved. ~D. Moore
God bless you. Pray and think about what God did to save you from yourself. Have a great week.