SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/5/2018
9:11 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “The Meaning of Redemption”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph.
1:6b-10a
Message of the verses: “which He freely
bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom
and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His
kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration
suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all
things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”
In
our last SD I promised to talk about another term for redemption, a term that
once you see it may make you think of having someone pay a ransom to get a
person out of being a slave. MacArthur
writes: “The other term for redemption, lustroo (along with its related forms),
meant to release from captivity. It
carried an even stronger meaning than agorazo
and is behind the noun rendered here as redemption. The word was used to refer to paying a ransom
in order to release a person from bondage, especially that of slavery.” When we go back to the original sin that took
place in the Garden of Eden we know from Scripture that every person who was
born through the loins of Adam is born a sinner. When Jesus died on the cross to pay for our
dept that we all owed because we are all sinners He purchased sinners from the
slave market of sin that is all that have or will accept Him as their Savior
and Lord. In John 8:34 we read what
Jesus said about this “"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the
slave of sin.” Paul writes in Romans
3:10 “The scriptures endorse this fact plainly enough. There is none righteous,
no, not one (Phillips).” Paul writes
later in Romans 7:14 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh,
sold into bondage to sin.” In Romans 8:20 we see “The world of creation cannot as yet see reality, not because it chooses
to be blind, but because in God’s purpose it has been so limited—yet it has
been given hope (Phillips).”
John
MacArthur writes “Sin is man’s captor and slave owner, and it demands a price
for his release. Death is the price that
had to be paid for man’s redemption from sin. Biblical redemption therefore refers to the
act of God by which He Himself paid as a ransom the price for sin.”
Here
is what Paul says in Romans 6:18 about redemption as “our having been freed
from sin: and become “slaves of righteousness.”
We, who are believers in Jesus Christ, go from being slaves to sin to
being slaves of righteousness. That is
truly a wonderful transition.
“3
Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who
gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil
age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.” (Galatians 1:3-5). “Christ 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 (Gal. 3:13).” “It
was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do
not be subject again to a yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1).”
“13 For He rescued us from the domain of
darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:13-14).” As we look at these verse on redemption it
seems that many of them come from the beginning of Paul’s letters, and it could
be to first of all remind those believers that they surely have redemption
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We
have one more section from Scripture to look at and that comes from the book of
Hebrews 2:14-15 “14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He
Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had
the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death
were subject to slavery all their lives.”
In
our next SD, Lord willing, we will begin the next section “The Elements of
Redemption,” and will begin by looking at the first sub-section under that main
section “The Redeemer.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am so happy to be once again reminded of
how it is that the Lord Jesus Christ saved me, as I suppose there are times
when I take it for granted, and so it is good to be reminded what Christ did to
save my soul so that I can praise Him for this great salvation.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to
study this very wonderful, but difficult book of Ephesians as God is stretching
me as I go through it.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Salt Sea” (Joshua 15:2).
Today’s Bible question: “Who was the mother of Benjamin?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/5/2018 10:00 AM
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