The Bible tells a wonderful story. As you read through it’s storyline, you begin to see that the various narratives and themes are coming together to tell one grand story, God’s redemptive story.
The Story So Far
As you flip the opening pages of scripture, beginning with the narrative of Genesis, you quickly note that God created the universe beautifully, perfectly and with a clear purpose. Man enjoyed an unbroken fellowship and communion with God.
Redemption is an important motif in the narrative of scripture.
Then in Genesis 3 we have the account of the fall. It describes for us how the entire universe was broken and affected by the disobedience and sin of Adam and Eve. Sin and shame then entered the world. As a result, everyone is born a sinner. The curse of sin spread affecting every part of the universe and as such, terrible things like sickness and disease, hunger and famine, floods and earthquakes and all such human disasters are the result of that first sin, the fall.
The fall and the subsequent curse bring a dilemma and a desperate need for sinful man to be saved from their fallen state and nature. The entire creation is groaning and longing for such a time when God will restore and renew everything again. The suspense through the narrative is whether the paradise that was lost will ever be restored. So, beginning from Genesis 3:15, through the rest of scripture we have a record of God’s work of redeeming sinful mankind. Therefore, redemption is an important motif in the narrative of scripture.
What Exactly Is Redemption?
To ‘redeem’ is a legal term that communicates the idea of paying a ransom to secure the release or freedom of something or someone. In biblical and theological terms, redemption refers to the work of Jesus Christ, in rescuing sinful mankind from the slavery and bondage in sin, by paying the penalty (ransom) with his life, such that, those who believe in Jesus Christ are liberated from the guilt, shame and penalty of sin. In his death Jesus, died as a substitute and fully satisfied the wrath of God and freed sinful man, who was dead in sin and unable to help himself.
It is a legal term that communicates the idea of paying a ransom.
J. I. Packer, sums this up perfectly when he writes: “New Testament references to the blood of Christ are regularly sacrificial (Romans 3:25; 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Revelation 1:5). As a perfect sacrifice for sin (Romans 8:3; Ephesians 5:2; 1 Peter 1:18-19), Christ’s death was our redemption (i.e., our rescue by ransom: the paying of a price that freed us from the jeopardy of guilt, enslavement to sin, and expectation of wrath (Romans 3:24; Galatians 4:4-5; Colossians 1:14).”
It is this glorious truth that the apostle Paul gives thanks to God for. He praises God who “delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
God Works to Redeem His People
In the Old Testament, the concept of redemption features in several ways but they all communicate the same general idea. Key among the concepts of the redemption motif, is God redeeming or rescuing Israel, hence the frequent reference to God as a redeemer of Israel (Psalm 19:14, 55:18,72:14, 106:10 Isaiah 47:4, 49:7).
When God brought Israel out of Egypt he redeemed them.
For example, God delivering Israel from slavery in Egypt is the major redemption story, with the Passover pointing to the redemption that Christ would accomplish in the future. The Bible teaches that when God brought Israel out of the land he had redeemed them (Exodus 6:6; Exodus 15:13; Deuteronomy 7:8).
As the Lord declares to Moses, “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD” (Exodus 6:6–8).
Jesus Christ our Only Redeemer
As was already alluded to, Jesus Christ is our redeemer. He was prophesied and promised to come and redeem people from their sins (Jeremiah 23:5-6; Isaiah 53; Zechariah 3:8-10). Further, the sacrifices in the Old Testament provided a temporal covering and highlighted the need for a once and for all sacrifice that would provide eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:11-12; 10:19-22).
Jesus acted as our substitute by offering his own perfect and sinless life.
Jesus acted as our substitute by offering his own perfect and sinless life. He suffered the punishment of our sins. In doing so, Jesus purchased for us freedom, by paying the debt for sin fully and finally (Colossians 2:13–14).
What is left to say but to simply declare, in the words of one famous hymn:
Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through his infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am.
Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
His child, and forever, I am.
