“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” (Ephesians 1:7-8a)

As followers of Jesus Christ, the word redemption has powerful images of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Redemption has some commercial aspects to it. It can mean to pay a price for something which was once owned by the buyer. This is an important aspect as we come to understand salvation. It also sets in place the cost of the cross.

Let us begin with the need for redemption. Paul would state, “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) The writer of proverbs would also use this language, “The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death.” (Proverbs 10:16) The problems is, as stated by the writer of Ecclesiastes, “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20) Paul would echo this problem, “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’” (Romans 3:10-12) All of mankind is in need of redemption.

The only one who is capable to bring redemption is God. The cost for redemption is death. Not any death could bring redemption to mankind. It had to be a unique death which could pay for all the sins of mankind. To pay the debt, God must become man. This is Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . .. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:1,14) Jesus Christ came to pay the ransom for our redemption in order for us to be given our life back again. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

God purchased us through Jesus’ sacrifice where He paid the price for our sin. The choice is now ours. We can either accept his redemption or we can refuse His redemption. Rejecting God’s offer of redemption means that you will pay the price for yourself. This is not just death in this life, but an eternal death. “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.” (Revelation 20:14) If we accept His offer of redemption, then we will live with Him for eternity. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” (Revelation 21:3-5)

When we accept His gift of redemption, we will walk with Him now and forevermore.

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block