July 8, 2010

Dear Friends,

Last Sunday we observed communion. I spoke on "What We Have in Jesus." I used these verses:

Ephesians 1:7-8 (NIV)
⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
⁸ that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
In Jesus, our freedom has been purchased by His death.

The word REDEMPTION means TO RELEASE FROM CAPTIVITY. It was used of paying a ransom in order to release a person from bondage, especially that of slavery. During New Testament times the Roman Empire had as many as six million slaves, and the buying and selling of them was a major business. If a person wanted to free a loved one or friend who was a slave, he would buy that slave for himself and then grant him freedom, testifying to the deliverance by a written certificate. The word REDEMPTION was used to designate the freeing of a slave in that way.

Jesus paid the price to free us from the bonds of sin. He set us free. He redeemed us. The idea of Jesus as our Redeemer is foreshadowed in the Old Testament by the idea of the kinsman-redeemer. The Kinsman-Redeemer had to meet three qualifications:

* Be related to the one needing redemption;
* Be able to pay the price;
* And willing to do so.

Jesus perfectly met all of those requirements. He identified with us as God in the flesh; He paid the price for our sin through His blood; and He was willing to do that for you and for me! I'm glad He redeemed us, aren't you?

Grace and peace,
Pastor Jim