Redeemer’s Ultimate Sacrifice

Pastor Jeanne Stewart, Oklahoma

 

   There was once a young woman who thought she loved a young man that sadly she had never seen. This young woman was sightless and she despised her life because she was blind. Loathing overtook her and she hated everyone except this caring young man. He had always been there to meet her every need. She had promised him, ‘… if I could only see the world, I would marry you.’

 

   One day someone provided a pair of eyes for this unsighted young woman. Following the surgery as bandages were removed, she was able to see everything, including this young man who loved her so dearly. As a result he then asked her, ‘… now that you can see the world will you marry me?” The young woman stared at him. Observing his scarred and closed eyelids, she realized that he too was sightless. She had not imagined that he too was blind. The prospect of gazing at her mirror image now in his sightless wounds for the rest of her life led this young woman to refuse his longing for marriage.

 

   Days later, dejected, the young man left word for her: “Take good care of your eyes my dear; for before they were yours, they were mine.”

 

   In this story let us look into the hidden lesson and not just the obvious. Observe with me the virtuous surrender of the loving young man and how it compares to the sacrifice of our Redeemer Jesus Christ. Then let us compare the young woman’s attitude with the Church world today.

 

Self Surrender ~

 

   Such devotion we detect within the young man’s care! The scars of his loss outline the deep piercing of his gift of surrendered sight for another which denied his own. How could the young woman gaze at the scars of the wounds and not realize the precious love of that sacrifice? The love she thought she had for him was only invented to obtain an end. How could she not share in his suffering and now meet his every need?

 

During this Christmas season before another year comes to an end, we celebrate a birth. This is not just any birth, but our Redeemer’s birth. Jesus was born to bring us life – in His death. The thought still overwhelms me – God clothed Himself as humanity so that the human race could be covered once again by its Creator’s covering. Our Redeemer had to be birthed just like humankind to experience everything we need to overcome the curse of death’s ransom. The Immanuel (God with us) Jesus brought everything He is in heaven to everything we are on earth. This was His act of self surrender for the ultimate sacrifice for atonement as Redeemer.

 

Faith is God Revealed Through Jesus ~

 

God worked through Jesus to create faith so we would know the "Living Redeemer," not just read about Him. He is the “Living Word” made flesh to whom we must listen and truly hear by our heart’s spirit. We then must pursue Him by that faith given that is God’s through the power of His Holy Spirit today. By accepting every decision we base on the scriptures as truth, we will discover that the justice and judgments of God are holy, as He is Holy. Realizing the sacrifice that was given holds us accountable unto our Redeemer. Through our devotion and love to Him we become holy by faith in Jesus as God’s only begotten Son.

 

Selfish Acts vs. Forgiving Action ~

 

Many in the Church today are full of their own selfish opinions. People all too often take on a religious form of haughtiness and contemptuous indifference. In our daily lives the things we say and way we act make a great difference to those around us in their understanding of rules and regulations. Sometimes our words and selfish acts stand in harsh contrast to the forgiving actions of God’s mercy and grace.

 

We would ask, “Why”? But truly we know why. The Church Age is coming to its end and Jesus is going to step out on the clouds and call His Bride home to Himself whether they are prepared or not. 

 

In Revelation chapter 3 the message for the lukewarm and complacent church is finding the separation of soul and spirit among people. The young woman in our story has shown us the cold emotions of her soul without the compassion of her heart. We the church must show with outward expression the inward impression that anything that is not of faith is considered sin.

 

Only a Redeemer who has made the sacrifice can pay the ransom for evil and immorality. “Whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:27-28)

 

The Cost in Giving ~

 

   All organized churches of our world today truly must understand the cost of their surrendered pledges of allegiance to the One True God and His way of salvation. The humbling of soul to seek the face of Jesus as Redeemer comes under God’s authority in a commitment of covenant with the Redeemer. But like most church goers today, the difficulty is in the surrendering of outward wants and desires for His sake. Their inward submission of self-satisfaction outweighs their commitment. “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God… you do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

 

The cost is still the humbling of virtue and character. We deserve nothing in eternity that our Redeemer has not already paid the price for, as He invites us to, “Come… you who have no money…” (Isaiah 55)

 

   Just as the Lord told Thomas in John chapter 20, to touch His scars, He invites us to touch His scars. They are not really His, but ours. And then as we decide to reach out to Him in appreciation of the ultimate sacrifice He has made for us, we will sense the power of His loving mercy. He does not want us faithless any longer in lukewarm religious performance, but to believe in His care as we gaze upon the scars of His wounds.

 

Our Redeemer’s main concern is His Church ~

 

   Jesus loves us so passionately that He calls us His Bride. We are to be, “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:27) Our Lord sits at the right hand of our Father God interceding for us that we, His Bride, will make ourselves ready for His coming. (Revelation 19:7) Jesus our Redeemer will help us, but we must desire to prepare ourselves to walk continually more closely with Him, our beloved Bridegroom. It is not just about us anymore but reaching out to others who can not see their place within His Church. Many believe in God but few know Jesus in relationship as Lord and Redeemer. We must live our faith and speak His truth with pure motives.

 

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8) The literal meaning of double-minded is, the divided in heart or mind. It is like the young woman in our story whose heart was divided by what she thought she wanted and what she truly needed. “He will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my new body I will see God. I will see Him for myself. Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes.” (Job 19:25-27)

 

~ Ending Prayer ~

 

   Father God we humble ourselves to come boldly before Your throne where You are high and lifted up in all authority over us. You invite us to speak with You, to call upon Your name even to cry unto You because of Your Son Jesus who was birthed to live among us to show us the way to forgiveness and eternal life with You. You have made Yourself approachable in every promise of Your Word. We exalt You for reaching to us in our frailty and weakness, giving us Your power and presence. At this joyful time of the year help us to remember our Redeemers birth brought to us His Ultimate Sacrifice; forgiveness of sin. Amen.