59. (Finally) Find Freedom (Redemption #1)
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches of His grace, which He made abound toward us...” (Ephesians 1:7-8).
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Redemption— in the ancient world— meant “freedom.”
We toss it around, along with other “church words,” without really thinking too much about it…
But the word is deep.
And, as Jesus was called our Redeemer… it was a word that linked Jesus to freedom- to a freedom from the yoke of bondage.
Furthermore, redemption not only means “freedom,” it means freedom now in this life, not later after you die…
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This week’s talk is up and (after a short intro last week) it starts a new series of talks…
About redemption.
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Redemption is a common “Bible word,” a term we read a lot and even mention a great deal, but it’s one of those words we don’t really understand.
The word was in common use in the ancient world. Specifically, the word redemption “was used in slave markets to refer to the price paid either to purchase a person, or to purchase that person’s release.”
We toss it around, along with other “church words,” without really thinking too much about it…
But the word is deep….
Outside of the church today, we see the word used in pawn shops. When someone comes to “free” their property which has been held; they pay the redemption price and their property is loosed to them.
(You’re probably beginning to make theological connections even now.)
And, as Jesus was called our Redeemer… it was a word that linked Jesus to freedom- to a freedom from the yoke of bondage.
But, there’s something we need to catch ABOUT redemption…
In seminary I learned about “the law of first mention,” a precept that tells us to really comprehend something in the Biblical narrative, we need to dig deep into the first time we see the word or concept introduced.
To understand the redeeming work of Jesus and to comprehend everything achieved by His blood, we need to travel way back through the Old Testament to the book Exodus. The story of Israel's freedom provides incredible insight into the life Jesus offers each of us.
In this talk, we discuss what it means that—
👉 Thousands of years ago, a people living in real time + real space found themselves in a jam, with no way out…
👉 God intervened, and redeemed them in their lifetime (I.e., they didn’t wait until they died + went to heaven to experience what He had for them)
👉 It wasn’t an easy journey, for sure… but was something they had to proactively choose
👉 The people closest to Jesus looked back at THAT story to define what Jesus did for us, 2,000 years ago…
This story is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
In THAT story, we learn that redemption not only means “freedom,” it means freedom NOW in this life, not later after you die…
