“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” Ephesians.1:7

 

In times gone by, when a soldier was captured, held hostage and made a slave during war-time, often a sum of money (or a ransom) had to be paid. And it is with this vivid imagery in mind that the writer to the Ephesian church uses the word “redemption”.

 

But it’s maybe at this junction that we need to ask and answer the question, “redeemed from what?”

 

REDEEMED FROM SIN 

We were dead

 

In Christ we are redeemed (set free, bought back) from both the penalty of sin (“the wages of sin is death” Romans.6:23) as well as the power of sin (“we are no longer slaves to sin…we were set free from the power of sin” Romans.6:7)

 

Sin is no longer our master! Colossians.2:13 tells us that “he has forgiven all our sin.” And when the bible says “all”, it’s not figurative or metaphoric. All means all. That means past, present and future sins are forgiven in Christ!

 

REDEEMED FROM THE LAW

We were disobedient

 

Before Christ, we were slaves to the law and in its eyes, we stood guilty and condemned because we have all fallen way short of its perfect standards.

 

The law acts like a prefect standing over a student tasked with cutting the grass of a massive field equipped only with a small pair of blunt scissors, and accusingly pointing out each moment when the job wasn’t properly done. Just like this, the law is always correct and true but it is powerless to save or help us, it can only point out our sin.

 

But praise be to God that Christ was perfection attaining to the fullness of the law. And then when he died in our place, “he canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross” (Colossians.2:14)

 

Romans.7:6 confirms this great news by saying, “now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power”

 

REDEEMED FROM THE DOMINION OF DARKNESS

We were doomed

 

Like a boxer with its opponent on the ropes, the enemy uses guilt and shame and sin as it’s left and right hooks and many of us have been in the ring for way too long. The scriptures call satan, “the accuser of the brethren” and he never stops reminding us of where we are weak and have fallen short.

 

But on Good Friday, just as our weary legs and battered hearts were about to give way, Jesus picked up the cross to walk up the hill called Calvary. He entered into the ropes on our behalf, looked the enemy straight in the eye and slammed the cross into the middle of the ring declaring “it is finished!” with one fell swoop!

 

Colossians.2:15 puts it this way, “he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities, putting them to public shame by his victory over them on the cross”

 

Eugene Peterson as this magnificent take on this above verse, “He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.”

 

And this is why it’s called the Good News of Jesus! It truly is spectacular news! We have received the fullness of redemption because of the work of Christ.

 

One final way to bring further freedom and joy to our hearts is to ponder this simple but profound illustrative story told many times over the years:

 

Once there was a little boy who made a toy sailboat. He carefully carved the hull from a block of wood and painted it blue. Then he fitted it with a mast and sails. When it was finished, he decided to try it on the lake in the city park.

It was a beautiful day. The boy tied a cord to the front of the boat and set it in the water. The wind caught the sail and hurried the boat away. Soon the boat came to the end of the cord. But a puff of wind blew so hard that the cord broke, and the boat sailed away toward the far side of the lake. The boy cried, but the boat was gone.

Several months later, as the little boy was walking through the city streets, he passed a pawnshop. There in the window was his sailboat! It was scratched and dirty, and the sails were torn. But it was definitely his own boat! Someone had found the boat and sold it to the pawnshop owner. Now it had a price tag of R1000 on it.

The boy hurried home and gathered up all his money. He hurried back to the shop, and bought the boat. He took it home, cleaned it, and gave it a fresh coat of paint and a new sail. Then as he looked happily at it, he said, “Little boat, you are twice mine. I made you, and I bought you.”

 

 

Blog written by Gabe Phillips

Gabe and Fiona lead the Life Changers Milnerton and City congregations