This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a Chaplain or a gospel minister in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission – in the United States.
All Scripture quotes are usually taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs (). These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages, or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today’s culture.
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize words in a text, or to make a comment about a biblical text, or emphasize a statement.
Continuing our series on Jesus in this year of our Lord, 2011, I want to remind you and by extension call you to teach about Jesus OUR Redeemer.
When I began this endeavor to refocus on Jesus in January, I said, “mostly they (the coming messages) only apply to those that are truly born of God’s Spirit. They will help you in discipling Christian inmates. Only two of the twelve messages, January’s and February’s, hold current truth even for the unsaved.”
As I now continue with the subject of the redemption of sinners and the One who redeemed them, I want to say that Jesus has ALREADY completely and fully paid for, and in that sense REDEEMED, all those that WILL EVER BE SAVED.
In other words, the unsaved, un-regenerated people that will one day in the future be saved - because God planned and willed their true salvation, from His eternal perspective already have their sins paid for. BUT, that does not mean they are the beneficiaries of salvation’s blessings in their life experience right now. Those blessings, will NOT BE EXPERIENCED by them - UNTIL they truly repent and believe the gospel.
As I bring you this message I want to speak of Jesus the Redeemer in THREE WAYS. 1. What it COST Him to redeem His people. 2. What THE BENEFITS of the redemption He provided to His people are, and 3. JESUS’ HEART as the Redeemer.
1. The COST to the Redeemer:
In 1 Peter 1:17-21, the Apostle was directed by God to write these wonderful words FROM HIM - to true believers, to those in the habit of calling on God as their Father.
17 … if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;
18 knowing that you WERE not REDEEMED with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
19 but (you WERE REDEEMED) with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
The basic biblical meaning of all the words translated “redeem” is: to deliver by the payment of a price. The word for “redeemed” in verse 18, means to release or to set free by the payment of a ransom. The grammar means this actually has happened to the subjects (here, the ones that have called on the Father in faith) at a point in time in the past. That is a wonderful truth. One to praise and continually thank God for, as Psalm 107:2 says: “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,”
The heart of this 1 Peter 1 passage focuses not so much on the benefits of redemption but rather on Jesus, the Eternal Redeemer, and THE PRICE He paid to ransom believers. According to verse 19, it was with HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD. The preciousness is His blood’s exceedingly great value.
When the Bible so speaks of blood, it is another way of saying violent death though bloodshed. The actual physical human blood of the God-Man did not pay the ransom, it is His death that paid for it. Truly, the value of Jesus’ violent death is much, much higher than silver or gold, or all the valuable things on earth.
The second part of verse 19 heightens the idea of preciousness and value by stating Jesus’ unsurpassed moral quality as “a lamb without blemish and without spot.” To the Jewish minds of the original recipients of what we call 1 Peter, a slaughtered “lamb” always conjured up the idea of a substitutionary sacrifice. Jesus’ human life was so excellent that once He paid with it, there was absolutely no more balance to be paid.
In comparing the animal sacrifices that symbolically purified the places of worship on earth with God’s throne in heaven, Hebrews 9:23-26 (English Standard Version) says:
“… it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these (animal sacrifices) but the heavenly things themselves (are purified) with BETTER sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he (a reference to Christ, Jesus) has appeared (or ‘has been manifested’) ONCE FOR ALL at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
The words of the Keith Green song “There Is A Redeemer,” remind us of the great price Jesus paid. They help believers worship their Redeemer.
“There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God's own Son, Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Holy One, Jesus my Redeemer, Name above all names, Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Oh, for sinners slain.”
I strongly urge you to exegete and teach and then have your group sing that song in worship of Jesus! The words of 1 Pet.1:18-19, must have been on Keith’s mind when he wrote that song.
Verses 20 and 21 again focus on Jesus. He was “foreordained (or predestinated)” to pay for the redemption of the sinners He would save before the foundation of the world, but His coming to earth as a human being – His “manifestation” in the first century, was to die and rise again so that His people could believe, and truly be saved.
Now I want to go a little further with the definition of redemption by focusing on Galatians 3:10-14.
2. Here I will also focus on the BENEFITS of the redemption to believers.
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under THE CURSE; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
13 Christ has redeemed us from THE CURSE of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
14 that THE BLESSING of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The heart of this redemptive passage is on the benefits, or BLESSINGS, of being redeemed to those that have truly believed. Verses 10-12 focus on the curse brought by trying to save yourself through perfect and complete obedience to the law of God. Nobody can do it! Therefore to be in that system or that kind of religion, is to be CURSED.
BUT, the Redeemer, Christ Jesus came to redeem His people. That’s where the BLESSINGS all begin. Hear it again in Gal. 3:13.
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
The word for “redeemed” in verse 13, is actually a different word from the one used in 1 Peter 1:18. Although in meaning the two words are somewhat synonymous, the word in Galatians 3:13 really focuses on BUYING something OUT OF THE MARKET.
Actually, this word pictures BUYING A SLAVE OUT OF THE MARKET BY PAYING FOR THEIR LEGAL FREEDOM. In other words, the price paid was so much that it bought the one redeemed out of slavery, and legally removed them from the threat of EVER BEING SOLD AS A SLAVE AGAIN!
Furthermore, the grammar of this verb means Jesus has actually completed that kind of purchase at a point in time. That point was when He became cursed and died in the believer’s place ON THE CROSS (made from a TREE). I will come back to this later.
Please teach the benefits of being redeemed by Jesus to your inmates or residents. In Christ Jesus, they are no longer the slaves of sin. They no longer have to serve their old slave master, Satan. By the power and price of His redemption, they will never again be owned by the devil to do his will in sinning! They are set free from a lifestyle of sinning! This truth is real for those that have repented and believed the gospel.
Now, I want to point to JESUS’ HEART as our Redeemer.
I think a great place to see this is from the dramatic story found in the book of Ruth. There we learn about two women, Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth. Because of sin, they had fallen on hard times. They were both widowed. Sin had led Naomi and her husband Elimelech, to leave the land they were not supposed to leave, and move to a place that was forbidden by God.
In the foreign pagan land of Moab, Naomi’s son Mahlon, against God’s directions, married a pagan unbeliever, Ruth.
After being bereft of their husbands and financial support, Naomi and Ruth decided to go back to Judah. There, under Old Testament law, a rescue might be provided for these widows. There were laws that allowed a kinsman to redeem their relative from slavery or debt, another to buy back their lost land for them, and yet another to marry the widow and raise up children, who would bear the name of the deceased husband.
Ruth 2:1 says, “There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, A MAN OF GREAT WEALTH, … His name was Boaz” Another Old Testament law provided food for the poor by allowing them to follow grain reapers and pick up what was dropped. By God’s design, Ruth just “happened” to end up in a field of grain belonging to Boaz! There he took notice of her.
When Ruth came to Naomi with the food she had gathered, she told her about the man named Boaz. Then in Ruth 2:20 we read: “… Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!’ (the meaning is God’s lovingkindness to them as widows and to Ruth’s deceased husband). And Naomi said to her (to Ruth) ‘This man is a relative of ours, one of our close relatives.’ ”
Here is where you can evangelize the yet unsaved. Tell them, the one that needed redemption had to ask the potential redeemer to do it. In Ruth 3::9, Ruth asked Boaz to be her redeemer. In faith, the unsaved must ASK Jesus to save them.
From the tradition and practice of being the kinsman redeemer – as Boaz became in the book of Ruth. The redeemer had to:
1. Be a CLOSE KIN.
2. Be ABLE to pay the full cost.
3. Be WILLING to pay.
Many good Bible teachers therefore see Boaz, who became Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer as A TYPE (or foreshadow) of Jesus Christ. In the story of Ruth, God’s providential care for Naomi and Ruth through the kinsman, Boaz is truly dramatic. You see, the right to buy and redeem the land that had belonged to Naomi’s deceased husband was firstly reserved for the nearest of kin.
Boaz was able financially (cf. 2:1) to rescue Naomi and Ruth. He was even willing to marry Ruth so that the name of her deceased husband Mahlon, would not be cut off and forgotten. BUT, Boaz WAS NOT THE NEAREST kin. There was another that was a closer relative who had as it were, “first dibs.”
Boaz said to Ruth, “Now it is true that I am a close relative: HOWEVER, there is a relative closer than I.” (Ruth 3:12).
As the drama unfolds, the nearer kinsman was financially able to redeem, BUT he was not WILLING to take Ruth as his bride. We read about the conversation that took place between Boaz and the nearer kinsman, in Ruth 4:3-6.
3 Then he (Boaz) said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.
4 And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back (redeem it) in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’” And he said, “I will redeem it.”
5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.”
6 And the close relative said, “I CANNOT redeem it for myself, LEST I RUIN my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”
The Second Person of the Godhead became one of us – totally HUMAN. His name was and is, Jesus. As such, He is our Brother. He became our NEAR-KINSMAN.
He is ABLE to redeem us because He lived a perfect holy human life.
But unlike the closer kin in the drama of Naomi and Ruth, and LIKE Boaz, JESUS WAS WILLING to actually redeem us at an incredibly HIGH PRICE. In redeeming us, He had to bear all our sins in His own body on the cross!
That’s it! Jesus’ heart really WANTED TO redeem us, even at so high a price!
The words of the Southern Gospel song, “He Grew The Tree,” written by Chuck Lawrence in 1982 focus on Jesus as God and as a Man, WILLING to redeem believers at such a great price. It was a price, ONLY HE COULD PAY. Listen to the words of the song.
“He molded and built a small lonely hill that He knew would be called Calvary. Then He made the seed that would grow to be thorns that would make His Son bleed. Then He made a green stem gave it leaves and then gave it sunshine and rain and sheltered it with moss. He grew the tree He knew would be used to make the old rugged cross.”
“… Nothing took His life, with love He gave it. He was crucified on a tree that He created. With great love for man, God stayed with His plan. He grew the tree so that we might go free.” That verse speaks of Jesus truly WANTING to redeem believers and of the benefit of redemption!
Additionally, these God-breathed words from a believer, 4,000 years ago, also focus on the historical Jesus. They are still true for all believers today. Job 19: 25-27 says:
25 … I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,
27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Another benefit and blessing of being redeemed is having a future resurrection body, as Job affirmed in verses 26-27. That fact connects to where we will go next month as we look at Jesus, our Risen Savior.
Rich Hines
Minister to Chaplains, Aurora Ministries’ Chaplain Help Ministry