Redemption

Freedom is a gift that oppressed people long for. Freedom is a treasure that its possessors must never take for granted. When Zechariah prophesied in song, his opening words were “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68). The word redeem means “to pay a price to set someone free.” Zechariah sang a song of redemption!

Redeem was a familiar word at the time of Christ’s birth. The Roman Empire had perhaps as many as sixty million slaves, and some slaves were fortunate enough to purchase their freedom. Prisoners of war were sometimes liberated by being exchanged for prisoners on the other side; sometimes prisoners of war were freed because their king paid a ransom. In both examples, freedom was gained because a price was paid.

Jesus came to redeem sinners from their sin. Human beings are sinful by nature and there is no way a sinner can escape the power and consequences of sin by himself. We are born slaves to sin (Rom. 7:14). The incarnation was a rescue mission to break our spiritual chains.

The paradox in this rescue mission is that Jesus accepted limitations to liberate us. “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law” (Gal. 4:4). Jesus took on the limitations of time and space, a human body, and the demands of God’s law.

His sinless life qualified Him to be our substitute by dying on the cross for our sin. “In him we have redemption through his blood” (Eph. 1:7). The price of our spiritual redemption was Christ’s shed blood. The writer to the Hebrews says that Christ “died as a ransom” to set us free (Heb. 9:15). Our redemption is not something we deserved—it is provided by God’s grace: we “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). The price of our redemption cannot be measured.

Our spiritual freedom in Christ has two dimensions. First, there is freedom from. Jesus sets us free from the power of sin and Satan, from the penalty of sin, from the guilt of sin, and from the fear of punishment. As we mature in our faith, Jesus will continue to set us free from wrong thinking, from past wounds, and from habits that stunt our growth.

The other dimension is that Jesus redeems us so that we are free to. Because of our new relationship to God and the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are free to obey God’s commands, to love God and others, to forgive those who have hurt us, and to serve others in the name of Christ. We are free to grow into the person Christ intends us to be. We are free to draw on the spiritual wealth that is ours in Christ.

But freedom must not be abused! The apostle Paul cautioned the Galatian believers, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (Gal. 5:13). Redemption does not mean the right to do as I please. It means Christ set me free to do what is right, and that means serving others. Freedom is best enjoyed and appreciated when we use it responsibly and gratefully.

Are you in bondage in some area of your life? Are you tired enough of it to submit yourself to Jesus and let Him redeem you? This is the greatest paradox of spiritual freedom: we are free only when we surrender completely to Jesus.

 See: Immanuel, Jesus, Prophecy, World

Rush

Luke wrote of the shepherds who heard the angel’s message, “So they hurried off [literally ‘came hastening’] and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger” (Luke 2:16). This has been called “the first Christmas rush,” but in today’s competitive commercial society, the “Christmas rush” isn’t that spiritual. Most of the people involved aren’t looking for Jesus. That would be a distraction. It’s more of a desperate, last-minute attempt to find gifts for the people whose names are still on the shopping list. There is so much to do during the Christmas season that some people postpone their shopping until almost the last minute, perhaps hoping to find bargains.

The word translated “found” literally means “to find after searching.” The wise men had a star to guide them to the house (Matt. 2:9), but the shepherds had to search until they found a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a feeding trough (Luke 2:12). It was worth it! They weren’t looking for a last-minute gift to purchase but for an eternal Gift to receive, the greatest Gift of all. No wonder the shepherds glorified and praised God and told everybody about the Baby!

 See: Patience, Pondering, Shepherds