UNDERSTANDING REDEMPTION
We were bought with a price; the very life of Christ that we might be called the redeemed of the Lord and one with God
Text: Ephesians 1:7
To “redeem” means to pay a price to purchase someone or something. In Bible days, it meant claiming, repurchasing or buying back a lost relative. It is translated in Greek as apolutrosis which means deliverance. Here are some things to understand:
1. Redemption means Jesus Christ, through his sacrificial death, purchased believers from the slavery of sin to set us free from that bondage. (See Romans 6:18).
2. Redemption always involves going from something to something else. In this case, it is Christ freeing us from the bondage of the law to freedom of a new life in him.(See Romans 6:22).
3. Redemption also means “to obtain release by the payment of a price.” The price (or ransom). For us, Christ’s precious blood obtained our release from sin and death. (See Ephesians 1:7).
For redemption to occur there must be a price paid for there to be a transition. Every one who has believed and accepted Christ is redeemed and we were redeemed through the blood which is the life of Christ.
In Ephesians 4:30, the word seal means by context, God’s mark of possession and ownership till the coming of Jesus again. What this scripture means is that the Holy Spirit is the reason why we should be very sure that when he comes, we are going to be raptured; not because of or by works but because of the seal, the Holy Spirit. The idea is to understand that the Bible is making us know that there is the promise and there is the inheritance. The men of faith of old in the old testament were looking for the promise. We have obtained the promise in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of adoption who makes us worthy to receive.
STUDY THIS: Mathew 26:26, Romans 3: 23-25, Ephesians 1:3-7, Titus 2: 14
DECLARE THIS: I walk in the reality of who I am. I am the redeemed of the Lord. Glory!
SING ALONG: The Song of The Redeemed by Dolapo Lawal
ACTION POINT: Spend some time reflecting on the work of Christ in redeeming you. Let it move you to worship.