The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his101/redeemed.arj/REDEEMED.TXT

Text File | 1991-05-05 | 9KB | 144 lines

REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD

To redeem means to ransom; to relieve from captivity by a price; to pay the
penalty of; to atone for.

"...Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...But
with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot " (1 peter 1:18, 19).

"For Thou (Christ) wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev. 5:9).

God has no other way of dealing with sin or the sinner save by blood. His word
declares, "Without shedding of blood is no remission." (Heb. 9:22).

The Bible is God's word. It reveals His will to man. It tells of the great
eternal God; how He created the heaven and the earth; how He made man in His
own image and in His own likeness, a holy being, a living soul. (Gen. 1).

It tells of the beautiful garden home in Eden God prepared for man, in which
was every kind of delicious fruit bearing tree. In the midst of the garden was
the tree of life, also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. "And the
Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Gen.
2:16, 17).

How long man lived in this holy state and enjoyed the love and fellowship of
his creator, we are not told. But God's word records that through the wiles of
Satan, the old deceiver, the arch-enemy of God, man was tempted and dared to
partake of the forbidden fruit, the penalty for which was death. Thus he
brought upon himself the wrath of God for his sin of disobedience (Gen. 3).
God's word records, "By one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom.
5:12). Every descendant of Adam inherited his sinful nature. "All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). "It is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one" (Rom. 3:10). Sin is of Satan. It separates the soul
from God, the source of eternal life. God's word declares, "The wages of sin
is death" (Rom. 6:23).

In yielding to Satan's temptation to disregard God's command, man came into
bondage to Satan. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to
obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness? (Rom. 6:16). "Sin is the transgression of the
law" (1 John 3:4), and cannot go unpunished. His law decrees, "The soul that
sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:20). To uphold the law, justice must be meted
out to the transgressor. Only through death, the shedding of the very life-
blood, can the demands of the law be met. God's word declares, "Without
shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. 9:22).

Under the old covenant, to save the guilty soul from death, God commanded that
the blood of a perfect lamb, one without blemish and without spot, be shed and
offered on the altar as a sacrifice to atone for his sin. God said, "The life
of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to
make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement
for the soul" (Lev. 17:11).

Man in his sinful state cannot appear in the presence of God to plead his own
cause; he must have a mediator, one who is worthy to approach God in his
behalf, one without sin. God's Word declares, "There is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom
for all" (1 Tim. 2:5, 6).

While God is a God of wrath and judgment, He is also a God of love, of mercy
and of great compassion, "not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). "As I live, saith the Lord God, I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his
way and live" (Ezek. 33:11). Knowing man's guilt, that he deserved only His
wrath, still God loved him and yearned to bring him back to Himself. "God
commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us" (Rom. 5:8).

"God so loved the world, that Me gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent
not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through
Him might be saved" (John 3:16, 17). Jesus said, I came forth from the Father,
and am come into the world" (John 16:28). He came for the one purpose of
offering His own life-blood a sacrifice to atone for the sins of a lost world.
"Once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself" (Heb. 9:26). He said, "l came not to judge the world,
but to save the world" (John 12:47).

Jesus said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14, 15). "For He hath made Him to be
sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him... Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree that we,
being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness" (2 Cor. 5:21: 1 Peter
2:24).

"Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He
might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Behold Him there on the Cross in agony,
suffering, bleeding and dying in our place, pouring out His own lifeblood to
atone for our sins. He was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our
peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on
Him the iniquity of us all" (lsa. 53:5, 6).

When Christ said from the Cross, "It is finished", and bowed His head and
died, He had finished the work His Father sent Him to do, "The Son of man
came... to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt.20:28). The demands of God's
law had been met. Christ had, in our stead, satisfied all the demands of the
law. He shed His own life-blood to atone for the sins of the world. He said,
"My blood... is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Mat. 26:28).

"Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, He was buried, and He
rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3, 4). "To
Him gave all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth
in Him shall receive remission of sins" (Acts 10:43). "Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12). Jesus said, "I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6).
Only through His Blood is there redemption from sin. "Ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things, as silver and gold but with the precious Blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18, 19).

After Christ had purchased our redemption from Satan's bondage with His own
Blood on Calvary, He entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own Blood
He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us" (Heb. 9:12). "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them"
(Heb. 7:25).

Friend, do you know Christ as your own personal Savior? Are you trusting alone
in His shed Blood to atone for your sins? If not, you will stand condemned
before Him at the judgment; not only because of your sins, but because you
have neglected or refused to receive Him as your Savior; the one whose Blood
atoned for your sins on Calvary, "He that believeth on Him is not condemned:
but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18).

If you have not yet received Christ as your Savior, do it now. Turn your eyes
to Calvary, and see Him there in your place, bearing your sins in His own body
on the Cross, paying your sin debt with His own Blood, that you might not
perish but have everlasting life. Open your heart to Him now and receive Him
as your own personal Savior. His Word declares, "As many as received Him, to
them gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on His
name" (John 1:12).