Blessing of Redemption
Continuing from last month, let's pay attention to what wonderful spiritual blessings we received when we believed in Jesus today. Let's check it out.
Ephesians 1:3
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”
As we saw last time, this spiritual blessing is already given to those who believe. Christianity summed up “DONE” no “DO”
Last month we focused on how we have already been made children of God and how God has become our Heavenly Father.
Today's topic is about redemption.
Ephesians 1:7
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace”
Redemption by the blood of Christ, that is, it says, "We have forgiveness of trespasses" It is written not that it will be redeemed before long, we will receive the forgiveness of sins sooner or later, but it is being received now.
Today let's look at the redemption of sins in the Lord Jesus that we already have. This theme is essential for us to become people who love and appreciate the Lord, and who are forgiving of others. Because those who are forgiven are those who love the Lord. And the one who is forgiven is the one who forgives.
1. What is redemption?
This is a business term, so to speak. It is to buy back things or people that have been taken away because you cannot repay your debts. If it is a person, it is the act of freeing that person from slavery by paying a price.
The Greek word means, “paid in full, canceled.” It was the word merchants wrote on bills when they were “paid in full,” and it was the word stamped on a document declaring that a prison sentence had been commuted. Jesus paid the price in full for every sin we have ever committed.
In other words, redemption means that God in the Lord Jesus bought us and freed us from spiritual slavery.
"As I said, in many cases, people became slaves because they couldn't pay their debts." But once I paid off the debt, I was free. Christ bought us out and set us free by paying a price we could never pay.
There are no outstanding payments. The Lord Jesus paid for it all. So we are free.
What was the price?
It says, "By the blood of Christ." You know, the price is Christ's own blood, or life. And this "blood" symbolizes the great sacrifice that Christ made. what kind of sacrifice? Last month we also learned that Almighty God took an inconvenient, weak, human form. Having the same body as us, he overcame all temptations, never compromised, and lived a sinless and holy life. And that such a pure and holy person gave his life. He was scourged, crucified, bled, suffered, and died. Moreover, the greatest sacrifice was the one-time abandonment of God the Father in on the cross. It was severed. The eternally intimate relationship between God the Father and God the Son was severed. It was a sacrifice and pain that we cannot comprehend.
Jesus paid such a price to free us from spiritual slavery.
This is a price that we can never pay. Because the price of atonement for sin requires the life of an innocent person. Because we can never live a sinless and holy life like Jesus. This price is a price that can only be paid to the Lord Jesus in history.
Grace is free, but its not cheap because somebody has to pay for it. It cost Christ his life. That’s how expensive your ticket to heaven was.
1 Peter 1:18-19
“knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
He paid such a big price, such a precious price, to buy us and free us from spiritual slavery.
2. Next, what does it mean to be freed from spiritual slavery?
→ It means that He set me free from sin and the judgment of sin.
We were enslaved to sin. I was a prisoner of sin. And he was the one who should be judged because of his sin. But he freed us from such slavery of sin.
And today's passage of scripture focuses especially on "forgiveness of sins." Because it says, "I have received the remission of my transgression." In other words, we are free from the judgment of sin because we have been forgiven by the Lord Jesus.
Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Because we have already been forgiven of our sins through Jesus, we will never face the judgment of sin. Jesus paid the full price for all our past, present and future sins. Jesus paid for it all. It wasn't that we paid what we could and Jesus paid what we couldn't. we can never pay. That is why the Lord Jesus paid the price for the forgiveness of our sins on our behalf. How grateful!
3. Then how is it forgiven?
Let's look at other passages of scripture where it is written.
Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,”
→ Our sins have been blotted out. What does this "blotted out" mean? It is an expression that also appears in the Old Testament. It means erasing the handwritten records. In Japanese, it is exactly "to cancel the debt". Cancel means to eliminate, neutralize, to offset something.
"I will be very happy when I have paid off my debt." When I came to the United States, I also paid off car debts and loans.
"But our spiritual debt is beyond what we can pay." It is an unreasonable amount of debt equivalent to the national budget. I had a spiritual debt that I could not pay. But since the Lord Jesus paid all our sin debts on the cross, there is nothing left in our spiritual debt notebooks. It was all wiped out. Therefore, in the eyes of God, he treats us as if it had never existed. I will erase the record. Everything. And just like the Lord Jesus, he regards us as righteous and righteous.
"And how will you forgive me?"
→ They no longer remember our sins.
Hebrews 8:12
“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
If we confess our sins and believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, God will never look back and condemn us. He never brings up our past sins and failures and accuses us of, "What did you do then?" We humans often remember the past and often blame others, saying, "You were like this at that time." But God never does. We do not know how many times we have saddened God. But no matter how great the sin. He never blames us for our sins if we confess them, no matter how many times we have done them.
God chooses to forget our wrongs, our mistakes, our failures.
The Lord will completely forgive you. There are times when we cannot forgive ourselves. But if we admit our sins before the Lord, confess them, and repent, then we can forgive ourselves because He has forgiven us.
God says that it is unnecessary for us to go around with a heavy load of guilt, old hurts, and memories of mistakes.
Thus, through the Lord Jesus, God made a great and precious sacrifice, forgave all our sins, and set us free.
As Ephesians 1:7 says today, "by the riches of God's grace."
what does that mean? It means that we received such love and sacrifice from the Lord Jesus.
Grace is what I desperately need, that I don’t deserve, that I could never repay, but God gives it to me anyways.
And not just a little grace, but an abundance of grace. You gave such a great gift to someone who had no right to receive it. Why? It's because God loves us. No matter who you are & no matter what you’ve done. God loves you, He wants you to return to Him.
We, those who believe in the Lord Jesus, have received such a great gift, and have already received limitless and complete forgiveness. Let us continue to seek to experience this spiritual blessing. Forgiveness is not just for the first time you believe. We experience God's forgiveness every day. We continue to experience how much we are loved and forgiven by the Lord Jesus. A person who experiences this forgiveness becomes a person filled with love and gratitude to God. Also, those who experience this love and forgiveness become those who forgive others. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it. Please accept God's love and forgiveness.
"Also, do you feel that your love and gratitude for God has cooled?" Seek to experience how the Lord loves you and how He forgives you. Paul, who wrote this letter, describes this as the rich grace of God. I was moved again, and in the next section
Ephesians 1:8 (grace), which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
It expresses that he has overflowed the grace of redemption for this sin. Paul is moved by how God has poured out this grace on him. We have the same grace.
"Also, is there anyone who is difficult to forgive?" Instead of focusing on what you can't forgive, focus first on how much the Lord loves you, how much grace he gives you, and how much he forgives you. At that time, we will be changed so that we can forgive.
No matter who you are & no matter what you’ve done -- God loves you.
