Redeemed

 

                                                                   

Aloha Dearest Family,

         When I first got born again, I learned that I was sanctified, I was justified, I was reconciled to God, I was righteous and I was redeemed. I didn’t grow up in church so a lot of these words were what I called “church words”. I had to look up each to see what these words meant, and throughout the years I have come to understand and love the true meaning of each. Today I would like to share about redemption. What does it mean to be redeemed and why did we need it?

    To answer these questions, we must go back to the beginning. In the beginning God had given Adam and Eve dominion to rule over the earth. 

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28-30).

 When they disobeyed God’s commandment, this dominion that was originally given to man, was transferred to God’s arch enemy, Satan. The devil has been the ruler of the earth from that time forward.

            “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (I John 5:19)

 Mankind then became “a slave” to the whims and desires of the devil because of sin. The sin of Adam which brought forth death, was transferred to every man (Romans 5:12) for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because of the fear of death, mankind has been in bondage.

            “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14 and 15).

As we can see, the devil has the power over death - not God. God wants us to have eternal life, not death. This is why God sent Jesus Christ. To make us free from the power of the devil. When Christ died, he broke the power that the devil had over us and offered us an endless life. He died for our sins, so the power of death was broken - forever.

In the Bible redemption is defined as - to purchase back; to ransom; to liberate or rescue from captivity exchange for a payment. In Biblical times a ransom was the price paid for the release of slaves. Jesus paid this ransom when he gave his own life on the cross and liberated us from the bondage of the devil’s power.

             “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

 Now we are FREE! Free to live the life God had planned for us. Free to be the men and women we always dreamed of becoming. The devil has no more hold on us because we belong to God and are legal citizens of heaven. We are sons and daughters of God and we will live FOREVER.

                                             Love Always, Ray

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:” (Colossians 1:14)