Ephesians 1:7-8a
“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.”
Today I want to focus on the hope of God’s redeeming love because of what He did for us in Christ Jesus. You will notice that the verses I want to study with you in this post do not necessarily have the word “love” in them. However, I believe that these New Testament passages clearly demonstrate the message of God’s love toward us by illustrating how we are redeemed through faith in Jesus.
So what does it mean to be redeemed? Outside of Christianity, “redeem” and “redemption” have really only one main use: to earn something or win something. For example, we redeem coupons or loyalty points at stores to earn money off our next purchase or some free bonus item. Or you redeem airline miles to get a free flight for your next vacation. You might occasionally hear the adjective form of this word used when talking about someone’s or something’s “redeeming quality”—a characteristic of a person or thing that gives it value even though it would otherwise be perceived as negative or bad. Within Christianity, though, “redeem” has a much different meaning. Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary does a great job describing how Christians use “redeem”:
2: to free from what distresses or harms: such as
a: to free from captivity by payment of ransom
b: to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental
c: to release from blame or debt : clear
d: to free from the consequences of sin
As the opening verses from Ephesians 1 say, we as Christians are redeemed through the forgiveness of our sins by the grace of God. We are freed, extricated, helped, cleared, and released from the consequences of our sins because of God’s great and gracious love towards us. In other words, being redeemed means we are washed clean from the guilt and death that sin brings.
Ephesians 1:7-8 also expand on the idea of God’s love being a gift, like I discussed in my last post. These verses explain that because Jesus died for us (“through His blood”), we have redemption through being forgiven for our sins “in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” Being redeemed, or cleansed, from our sins is the ultimate gift we can receive. It is grace being lavished on us—what an amazing, undeserved gift! Our hope as Christians is not based on what we can do or achieve, but on what we’ve been gifted.
And just as God’s love is given to us through the person and work of Jesus Christ, He is also the embodiment of our redemption from sin:
1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
Because of God’s love, we are able to be saved into Christ who becomes our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. The context of this verse is Paul explaining that God is the one who chose this plan of redemption for us. Our hope is in who HE is and on what He has done out of His great love.
Galatians 3:13-14
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Here in the middle of a discussion on faith versus works of the law, Paul again uses language of Christ redeeming us by taking our place on the Cross. He became a curse for us so that we may have the blessing of faith and receive God’s Spirit. This is what true love looks like! It is being given a second, third, and umpteenth chance that we can never earn on our own. This is the only way to have real, lasting hope—through Christ’s precious, redeeming blood:
1 Peter 1:18-19
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.
To show our love, we often give people valuable or precious gifts. Jewelry made of silver, gold, or other precious metals or gems is one way throughout history that people have tried to demonstrate the value of love in the gifts we give. Yet we were redeemed by something so much more valuable, so much more precious—the love of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Christian friend, what hope we have in our Savior!
How often do you think about having been redeemed? How often do you cherish the invaluable gift of Jesus in your life? How often do you rest in the hope we have because of the blood of Christ? I know that I do not consider these things enough. I so often focus on the everyday tasks set before me or the trials in my life and others’, rather than taking time to stop and remember these Gospel truths. Studying these passages on God’s redeeming love helps me reorient my heart to cherish the hope and promises found in Christ. These verses turn my soul to praising Him for His love, grace, and work in my life, no matter what else is going on. My prayer is that you are encouraged to take time to do the same!
In my next post I will walk through some of the ways we have been designed and called to love. I can’t wait to study more of what God’s Word has to say about how His love should change us, and until then, thank you for joining me here on Speaking Truth!
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